Dennis Prager Health Update: June 2026

David, thank you so much for jumping on with me. I didn't have a chance to interview Dennis in the last couple of weeks, so we had to skip Dennis's latest thoughts. And I know we've been following that he hasn't been doing so great. So we would love to hear how your dad Dennis is doing, how is he feeling, any progress on his health. Yeah, I'm sorry that he's not here. It's been a rough couple of weeks. He was rushed to the hospital, to the emergency room with a bunch of infections that culminated in him having major problems breathing, major discomfort, obviously as his son who has seen him pretty much every day, it's been immensely difficult to have to observe that. What's also equally, if not more distressing, if it's possible, is that every time he comes into the hospital and is rushed, thankfully it hasn't been that often lately, a doctor looks at us with a very grim face saying, you know, prepare to say goodbye, essentially. And every time, I don't think they realize who they're dealing with, because every time that he's there, he completely beats the odds. And the same thing, thankfully, has happened here. He's back to really good spirits, smiling, watching, you know, now that hockey is over, he's watching the World Cup, getting engaged there. So he's now back, I don't want to say back to, but he's getting much closer to where all of you have seen him on these recordings with you, Marissa. He's not yet speaking consistently, that's just a precaution, but it is unbelievable to see how he's turned around. And again, I have to say, it doesn't shock myself, it doesn't shock Aaron, my brother, or Sue, or anyone else in the family, because we're so, unfortunately at this point, pretty accustomed to him beating the odds, but he does blow away everybody at the hospital. He left a voicemail for some of us this morning. Are you okay if we share it with the audience? Yes, please, I know he'd love for people to hear it. Okay, so let's go ahead and play it. Hi everybody, I'm going to give you an update on my condition. I had a very rough two weeks, and after a bronchoscopy, things changed 180 degrees, and now you can hear my voice, but I have to go back out the vent in a few minutes, unfortunately. That means I can't speak again, but my voice sounds really normal and good. And thank you all for your prayers, and for other help that you've given. I want to echo Dennis's gratitude for everybody's prayers. I do think the prayers are working. I know that they're lifting his spirits, but also, as you mentioned, Dennis continues to be an absolute miracle, and I think the miracles are happening because of the prayers, and the love, and the blessings that he is receiving. And so, for those of you who are listening, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for pouring into our Dennis, and let you know that it's really lifting all of us to know that you care so much about Dennis. Well, to give you some context, to piggyback off them, or to give you some context of that recording, he had to do a test today, and that required the use of his voice. And as soon as I heard that it was good, they said, well, we have three minutes that you can have him speak. Make it a good three minutes. And I said, given how much people are praying for him, people need to hear that those prayers are working. So, I know that you'll continue praying because of that, because it is working, as you heard. Hearing his voice felt impossible a week ago, just to give you a sense of how dire the situation was. David, you mentioned that he's still in the hospital. Are the doctors talking about possible release? Do you think he's going to be able to go home? Yeah, they have been talking about release. They're looking towards, you know, about four or five days from now. Releases are very rarely done over weekends. So, we're approaching Father's Day weekend, so that's probably not going to happen through the weekend. But if current trends hold, they absolutely feel comfortable with him going home. Well, that would be great. I know that he would very much love that. You mentioned Father's Day. It's hard to not think about Dennis also during Father's Day, as he's been like a father to our nation in so many ways. Some folks call him America's grandpa, which I think is a fair description. We are doing a huge Father's Day campaign because we think fathers are so important. I also want to recognize fathers-to-be, young men who haven't gotten married yet. Go get married and have children and build our nation. We need strong, amazing men to become fathers. And you are, of course, a father as well, so I want to wish you a happy Father's Day. And as you've been talking, I know, yesterday to your dad about upcoming Father's Day, any interesting wisdom that you can share with us? Well, you know, my brother and I were actually doing an event in one part of the country earlier this, or last month, I should say, and we were thinking about some of the lessons that our father imparted on us as we were thinking about fathers. So the two things that came to mind when we were discussing this was, for me, number one is not to outsource your parenting. I think there's this sort of belief that at one point or another, well, if we just fix the schools, everything will be fine. If we just get everyone to watch PragerU Kids, everything will be fine. I mean, definitely do that. But that's not the only thing you should do. You definitely can't outsource parenting and values are undeniably going to come from your parents in many ways, obviously more so even in some cases your father. I would say number two is that kids will mimic and mirror your behavior. I think that's one of the great benefits of being a father is that you learn that very quickly. They will do as you do, not as you say. And that forces men, myself included, to have to be much more upstanding people because we know that we play a significant role in crafting human beings and how they will ultimately be moving down the road. If I may, I just have to share a great story because one of the things that always blows my dad away, blew him away with me, blew him away with my brother is that we would tell him something that we learned that stuck with us. And he just does these like, that's amazing. I can't believe that stuck with you after all these years. So many years ago, 30 years ago, my dad had a very short-lived television show, national TV show. And one of the reasons it was short-lived was because the people who wanted him to, who had him do shows said, Dennis, you got to do the, you know, the shows with the bikini clad women. You got to have, you know, crazy families on your show, things that get ratings. And he said, I want to talk about, you know, God, ethics, and morality, not necessarily up until PragerU, a ratings boost. So, you know, he ultimately said that sticking to my values and doing what I was put here on earth to do was more important than wealth and fame. So wouldn't you have it a few weeks later, we were flying to New York and because he forewent all of this money from this television show, the entire family flew coach class to New York. And as we're walking into coach, who should we pass? Jerry Springer, for those of you who remember Jerry Springer for doing shows about screwed up families and the bikini clad women. And I just remember thinking, what an amazing distinction that my dad chose, you know, the noble route, which led us to coach class versus the route of just, you know, fame, easily fame and fortune. And he could easily justify itself. So even though that was 30 years ago, when I was, you know, barely a teenager, I still think about that story a lot. So it just shows you how important fatherhood is in shaping your kids, your kids belief system and value systems. It's so interesting in my household. It's, I think of a similar example of how the dad in the house is so good at the scaffolding and leading by example, where I usually give the lectures and I do more of the talking, but ultimately it is oftentimes the responsibility that my husband exhibits for my children to grow up and watch as he behaves. And oftentimes it's not so much in what he says, or even the number of minutes or hours in the day that he spends with the kids, but it's what they know that he does in order to protect them and defend them and provide for them. It's that scaffolding, it's the behaviorism that they watch and they see that dad engages in that truly shapes their character. On that note, I just want to wish you and your entire family a meaningful and happy Father's Day. Thank you for everything that you do here for us here at PragerU and for taking care of Dennis, of course, your dad. Dan, thank you, Marissa, so much for doing everything to get my father's message out there. I know that's been tough for him to do it himself these last 18 months, and you've obviously been the reason that his message is still getting out to the world. Well, thank you, of course. And for all of you who are listening, again, wishing you a very happy Father's Day. We have a little video for you. It's called Thank You, Dad. And it's part of our Father's Day Fatherhood campaign that we have created through PragerU. We'd love for all of you to watch this ad, share it with your friends, and of course, engage in our Fatherhood 101 campaign here at PragerU. Take a look. We are so close. Don't give up, sweetie. An incredible battle in the elite women's race. Today will be enough to hold on for a world championship. Thank you, Dad. We still have work to do. Okay, team, we have an ambitious day. Let's get to work. Thank you, Dad. Never hit a girl. Why won't you give me your number? Leave me alone. Leave her alone, buddy. Will you marry me? Yes, of course. We're reminded that every good gift comes from you. Amen. Prayers up! The electric atmosphere. He's a leader on this team, and his faith is really inspiring the whole team. I think you mean the whole stadium. Thank you, Dad.