Dennis Prager Show - If It Hadn't Been for Dennis
Aired: 2025-12-14
Duration: 03:33


=== Call to Talk Radio (03:33) ===

[00:00:00]  I want to tell you about when I first met Dennis.
[00:00:03]  I was living in Cleveland, although I'm from here, and I did a show called Morning Exchange, which was a live show, like a Today show.
[00:00:10]  I think one of the longest-running regional Today type shows in the country at the time.
[00:00:15]  And there was a host named Fred Griffin, who's very good.
[00:00:18]  And I would come in from time to time to be a lawyer to explain the Supreme Court case in lay terms.
[00:00:25]  I was on a number of times.
[00:00:26]  So one day I came in to talk about sexual harassment in the workplace.
[00:00:30]  And there's this big guy sitting in Fred's chair.
[00:00:34]  And he's introduced to me, and I did the segment, and I was good.
[00:00:38]  And Dennis complimented me.
[00:00:39]  It's a live show, by the way, about a two-hour morning show.
[00:00:43]  And as I'm taking off my earpiece to leave, I overheard somebody say, when are you going back to L.A.?
[00:00:48]  I turned around.
[00:00:48]  I said, you're from L.A.?
[00:00:49]  He said, well, not originally, but I live there now.
[00:00:51]  And I said, I'm from LA.
[00:00:52]  He said, what are you doing in Cleveland?
[00:00:53]  I said, well, I'm a lawyer, but I left.
[00:00:55]  I started a business.
[00:00:56]  And I write, not getting anything published, but I'm a writer.
[00:01:02]  What kind of stuff do you write?
[00:01:03]  He said, well, I'm a conservative.
[00:01:04]  And I thought Dennis was a liberal since he was from L.A.
[00:01:07]  And Dennis said, well, I am too.
[00:01:10]  When are you going to be back in LA?
[00:01:12]  I said, well, I come home around Christmas time.
[00:01:13]  This is like June or July.
[00:01:15]  And he said, when you come, contact me.
[00:01:17]  I'll have you on my radio show.
[00:01:19]  And I said, fine.
[00:01:21]  So that night, I'm talking to my mom, who's in L.A., and she loves talk radio.
[00:01:26]  I should tell you, KABC, where Dennis and I work, was the first 24-7 talk station in the world.
[00:01:32]  1965, if I'm not mistaken.
[00:01:34]  And in 1965, she had it on and never had it off.
[00:01:37]  So she knew Dennis from Religion on the Line, which was a weekend show Dennis had for a while.
[00:01:42]  And then, of course, Dennis is a regular show.
[00:01:44]  So my mom and I are talking about family stuff.
[00:01:46]  At the very end of the conversation, I remember meeting Dennis.
[00:01:50]  I said, Mom, before you go, I want to tell you, I met somebody.
[00:01:53]  I know you'll know who he is.
[00:01:54]  He's a talk radio host out of L.A. His name is Dennis Pearson Dennis, Pauper Dennis.
[00:02:00]  She said, Prager, almost blew off my ear.
[00:02:04]  She said, he is by far my favorite host.
[00:02:07]  He had a show called Religion on the Line, and she'd walked him through his whole career.
[00:02:10]  He's asked you to be on his show.
[00:02:11]  I said, yeah, she said he doesn't have very many guests.
[00:02:14]  It's so, what an honor.
[00:02:16]  So fast forward to Christmas, I call Dennis.
[00:02:20]  He doesn't call me back.
[00:02:21]  And Alan, I'm thinking it's a Hollywood thing.
[00:02:23]  You know, you call me, I'll call you.
[00:02:24]  He didn't really mean it.
[00:02:25]  It wasn't sincere.
[00:02:27]  And my mom said, call him again.
[00:02:29]  Yeah, literally, you know, it was a Dennis thing.
[00:02:31]  Yeah, and I called him again.
[00:02:32]  He picked up the phone.
[00:02:33]  He had me on that night.
[00:02:34]  I'm shortening the story, but the general manager, George Green, heard this show.
[00:02:37]  I was on for almost an hour, I think about an hour and a half.
[00:02:40]  I'm flying back to Cleveland now.
[00:02:42]  Plain lands.
[00:02:42]  I walk into my office, phone rings.
[00:02:43]  It's George Green.
[00:02:45]  I heard you on Dennis' show.
[00:02:46]  You were amazing.
[00:02:47]  I said, I was.
[00:02:48]  Oh, my goodness.
[00:02:49]  Have you ever thought about doing talk radio?
[00:02:52]  Come back to L.A. I'll give you a two-day audition.
[00:02:54]  So I fly back after one day.
[00:02:56]  He says, Do you want this job?
[00:02:58]  I said, I think so.
[00:02:59]  He said, well, have a good time.
[00:03:00]  Have fun.
[00:03:01]  Don't speak so damn quickly.
[00:03:03]  And Dennis recommended me to George Green before this happened.
[00:03:09]  When the show was over, I did my thing with Dennis.
[00:03:11]  Dennis said, you were amazing.
[00:03:12]  I said, I've been thinking about doing talk radio.
[00:03:15]  I had a little experience sitting in for somebody for a week a couple of years ago, but nothing came out of it.
[00:03:20]  Would you introduce me to management?
[00:03:22]  He said, I get these requests all the time.
[00:03:24]  I have never in my life introduced somebody to management.
[00:03:27]  In your case, you're that good.
[00:03:28]  I will do so.
[00:03:30]  And if it hadn't been for Dennis, I wouldn't have been on radio.