Dennis Prager

Interview: Radio talk-show host Dennis Prager shares his views on several controversial topics plaguing America

05/26/96

Al Roker

CNBC, Inc. Burrelle's Information Services

HOST: Al Roker

AL ROKER: Good evening, everybody. Welcome to another half-hour extravaganza we like to call here on CNBC the AL ROKER program.

I'm looking forward to this interview with this--our--our guest tonight because, you know, I just feel I'm working too darn hard, you know. I got the "Today" show I do the local news here in New York and then I got this show and I do other stuff, and--and I don't need to work really hard. And on interviews, you got to work hard. You know, you got to draw things out. Well, that's not the case with our guest tonight, Mr. Dennis Prager ...

Mr. DENNIS PRAGER (Author, "Think a Second Time"): No.

ROKER: ...a noted author who's got a book out, "Think a Second Time." He's also got a fabulously successful radio program, KABC in Los Angeles. For a while, he had a--an e--a late-night talk show on television, and he is here to make my life simple. Dennis.

Mr. PRAGER: And I--and I volunteered it. I--I did. I--I...

ROKER: I'm--I'm very impressed.

Mr. PRAGER: Yes. Yes.

ROKER: We--just--we--right before we got on the air, I--you know, he--Dennis, you--you know, you've been in LA now 20 years. You...

Mr. PRAGER: This--that's right, this month.

ROKER: You're from--you're from New York.

Mr. PRAGER: Yes.

ROKER: And I'm talking about--we're talking about the difference between New--New York and LA. And you had an interesting thought about--because I--I'm not crazy about LA, because there's no city.

Mr. PRAGER: There is no city.

ROKER: It's just a sprawl.

Mr. PRAGER: Yes. It's a sprawl. That's what I love about it, though. Listen to this.

ROKER: OK.

Mr. PRAGER: Where can you live--I mean this sincerely--in the world wherein you have a simple middle-class home with a little pool, as I do, and Jacuzzi and you're five minutes from where you work...

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Mr. PRAGER: ...five minutes from your children's school, five minutes from anything? I mean, that's amazing. It c--it could only happen in LA, because there's no downtown. I mean, there is a downtown; I take it back.

ROKER: Yes.

Mr. PRAGER: My--my friends in LA should only hear this. There is a downtown, but nobody goes there. And--and--and--really. It's--I love it for that reason. It's just little pockets of places.

ROKER: Right.

Mr. PRAGER: This area has its own shopping center, its own movies, its own everything. Then this area has its own everything. And we don't spend our--our time living in cars quite as much as--as people think we do.

ROKER: Ah. Well, see, I always thought--well, we--we don't want to talk about where we live.

Mr. PRAGER: OK.

ROKER: But now here you are. You're on--you're on the radio. You're successful. But you're not--I mean, generally, it seems now to be successful in talk radio...

Mr. PRAGER: Yes.

ROKER: ...you've either got to be a liberal...

Mr. PRAGER: Mm-hmm.

ROKER: ...or you've got to be a--a raging conservative or a raging liberal...

Mr. PRAGER: Right. Right.

ROKER: ...one--one or the other. You don't like to consider yourself either.

Mr. PRAGER: I'm a raging moderate. Yeah, I am. I'm enraged, but--no.

ROKER: That's right.

Mr. PRAGER: No. I--I a--I--I--you know, to those who know me are listening in LA--say, `Oh, Prager--oh, he's--he must be conservative.' See, the problem is people assume if you're not liberal, you're conservative or if you're not conservative, you're liberal.

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Mr. PRAGER: Well, for example, I'm for raising the minimum wage. Well, that makes--does that make me a liberal? Well, on the other hand, I--I want to protect male-female marriage--OK?--which is--and I--and I--yet, I have gay callers calling me for advice in their relationships, but I don't believe in same-sex marriage. So you--you--you see, in America today, you almost have to be on one extreme or the other, and it's not healthy.

ROKER: But--but why? Why do we have to be?

Mr. PRAGER: Because of sound bites. The people are used to it. So-and-so I can pigeonhole. He's conservative, he's liberal, he's deh, deh, deh, deh, deh, deh, deh. But to have a nuanced view on things is not allowed if you're given eight seconds of thought. That's why I love a talk show. I could actually develop an idea. I mean, you know, it's radical for American media.

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Mr. PRAGER: Develop an idea? You know, who does that? I--for example, yesterday I raised the question, `Should the FDR memorial show him on a wheelchair?' You know, it's an issue. It's a fascinating issue.

ROKER: Sure. Yeah.

Mr. PRAGER: And I said, `Ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not, there are great arguments for both sides. The argument that he should be shown in a wheelchair is a great pedagogic argument. Look at the greatness achievable. So what if you're in a wheelchair? It means nothing. On the other hand, he didn't want the world to see him in a wheelchair. Shouldn't we be honest to the way he wanted to be depicted?' Those are both excellent arguments.

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Mr. PRAGER: But you would think if you hear one side, `Oh, you hate the handicapped. Oh, you hate history.' You know, maybe they have a good--they have a good point. You know, that's possible.

ROKER: Why--but why is it--does it seem s--all of a sudden, this, quote, "hate radio," you know, the--the idea...

Mr. PRAGER: Yeah.

ROKER: ...that people, you know, are just spewing venom--you know, the people...

Mr. PRAGER: Mm-hmm.

ROKER: ...like Bob Grant and others who--who have thrown this out. Why has that become so popular?

Mr. PRAGER: I don't think it's nearly as popular as it's made out to be. I know on my station it does not exist.

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Mr. PRAGER: It does not exist on a sister station of ours in Los Angeles, and frankly, it doesn't exist on our rival.

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Mr. PRAGER: On my biggest rival, it doesn't exist. I--I think it's really dependent upon the producers, and here's something I--I--I--in other words, the executives.

ROKER: Mm-hmm.

Mr. PRAGER: If one ever hears hate radio--and--and I mean hate as opposed to a guy who's passionate; passions are allowed on eith--in either direction.

ROKER: Sure.

Mr. PRAGER: But where there's venom or where, you know, you hang up on callers or go gargle with razor blades, as the old--you know...

ROKER: Mm-hmm. The old Joe Pine idea.

Mr. PRAGER: Yeah. The old Joe Pine idea. You know whose fault that is? That's the fault of the--of the people at the radio station. There's a choice of people who make sense out there. If you want to put somebody on like that--I--I--I hold the local station responsible for putting on such people. But I must tell you, I think it's not fair--not that there aren't a lot of jerks in my profession--my con--I--I'm convinced that every profession has an exact percentage--it's divine, it's a proof of God's existence--every profession has the exact same percentage of morons, geniuses and mediocrities--it does--from psychiatrists to talk show hosts to plumbers to doctors to lawyers. It's amazing. And so I don't think my profession's any different.