Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Blue Yeti ·
June 20, 2012 at 6:20pm
This week on Uncommon Knowledge, one of our most requested guests: Radio host, columnist, conductor, and best-selling author Dennis Prager discusses why evil is normal, why the left appeals to Americans, what God wants, why Islam can be reformed, and his new book, Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph. Settle in folks, this one's a keeper.
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Comments:
May '11
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Very interesting interview. I appreciated the Hitchens challenge in the middle. I didn't see that coming and I thought it afforded a great opportunity for Prager to further explain his argument. And it made for good television. Thanks Peter!
May '12
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Mr. Yeti,
Why so blue? Cheer up!
"Always look on the bright side of life/[whistling]."
Try some ELO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjPqsDU0j2I
Loved this interview.
Can there be a similar link to EconTalk? That site rocks too!
And may your moustaches never go grey!
Dec '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
A standing ovation of one in my office.
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Edward Smith: Can there be a similar link to EconTalk? That site rocks too!
And may your moustaches never go grey! · 2 hours ago
Working on that. Also, I don't have a mustache...
May '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Blue Yeti, what happened to the link to the audio RSS feed that used to be at NRO?
Jan '12
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Dennis didn't make his case as to why liberty, in God we trust and E pluribus unum are only American values. I understand they are on the seal of the US but that does not make his case.
As a European (because I'm a Brit and live in the UK) I could not connect with his idea that Europeans are leftists although many are.
It is as if I asserted "Honi soit qui mal y pense" ("Shamed be he who thinks evil of it) is Britishism because it is the motto of the English chivalric Order of the Garter. I'm sure that many people from other countries can identify with that motto.
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
One standing ovation will do. Thanks, King.
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Duane: You can get the audio version here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/UncommonKnowledgeAudio
Dec '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Stephen Bishop: Dennis didn't make his case as to why liberty, in God we trust and E pluribus unum are only American values. I understand they are on the seal of the US but that does not make his case.
As a European (because I'm a Brit and live in the UK) I could not connect with his idea that Europeans are leftists although many are.
It is as if I asserted "Honi soit qui mal y pense" ("Shamed be he who thinks evil of it) is Britishism because it is the motto of the English chivalric Order of the Garter. I'm sure that many people from other countries can identify with that motto. · 26 minutes ago
Listen again, Stephen. He said that American values are universal. However, Americans either don't know what they are, don't preach them, or have gradually rejected them in favor of leftism. And, most unfortunately for the western world, Europeans have adopted leftist values over the last many decades, making those who adopt American values the outsiders of society and second or third tier political back-benchers.
Dec '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
That right there is why I'm the Western Chauvinist (note to Stephen: not the American Chauvinist). Only in the west, with its foundation in the classical era and in Judaism and Christianity has the pluralistic, human dignity enhancing, liberty-loving society been established as the ideal, and largely actualized.
If we lose our identity to the counterfeit trinity offered by the left -- equality for liberty, secular society for "in God we trust," and multiculturalism for e pluribus unum -- the west is finished. Dennis is right.
May '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Blue Yeti
Duane: You can get the audio version here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/UncommonKnowledgeAudio · 20 minutes ago
Thanks, Blue Yeti, that worked. Where did I miss the link originally? My problem is that I have to get stuff in pure mp3 form without various file wrappers due to all the different types and places I get audio. For example, I am currently listening through Garry Wills' 'What Paul Meant" from an mp3 CD, and I transfer it to my mp3 player via direct MSC connection; the device shows up as one more drive in Windows Explorer.
I don't do iPod or iTunes because I often have to grab stuff where it isn't available in mp3 form (e.g., Mitch McConnell's recent AEI speech) by recording it digitally (mp3Mymp3) and then placing the file on my player. The one thing I ever got from iTunes got orphaned when I had to replace my computer because the program wouldn't sync.
Jun '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Great interview, Peter. You really got to the essentials very well with Dennis.
I am very enamored with Dennis Prager and have been a member of his Pragertopia for years now. I think that he is really unique in this country. I don't know of anyone who has more clarity on the issues that concern me. What do you think? You've interviewed so many people. Is there anyone else like Dennis? Does he stand alone in the area of the culture that he has staked out?
I really think he would make a great senator. His resume only needs this kind of political experience to complete the journey. He could shake things up in D.C. He is unafraid, strong willed and clear thinking, but he is moderate in his temperament and considerate in his approach to members who are on the other side of this important debate that is going on now in our country.
What he has put together in this book is a sure-fire approach to dealing with the sources of our discontent. There is so much interest these days in the founding fathers and Dennis has found (re-discovered?) the key.
Oct '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
It was quite a surprise to see that Prager was on the show and I think I had more anticipation and excitement at the beginning of this interview than any other-at least over the recent months.
About the clip of Elizabeth Warren's remarks: the problem was what she said about entrepreneurs getting rich on their own. That's why she's wrong. It's a straw man argument. The case for free enterprise isn't that people can get rich on their own, living in absolute autonomy. Plus, those business owners also paid for the roads and the education-in fact, they pay more than everyone else. It's actually the rest of us that don't pay.
Dec '11
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
He did indeed make this case. America is a land of immigrants that came together specifically because they shared respect for these big ideas. Unlike the rest of the world, ethnicity and cultural identity were not the raisons d'etre.
I especially appreciated Prager's observation: "Most people prefer security to liberty." I would only add that most people fail to realize that liberty provides security.
Edited on June 21, 2012 at 3:34amMay '10
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
Regarding Prager's point that liberty brings significance and satisfaction to man, no one has a better gift for expressing that sentiment than Charles Murray. See his Irving Kristol lecture at AEI a few years ago, and his own recent appearance on UncK -- especially the quote Peter has him read to close the interview. So beautiful it hurts, given our problems.
Jun '12
Re: Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson: Dennis Prager
What is evil? My reading have led me to believe it is goodness spoiled from a conscience that was poorly formed.