PragerU, also known as Prager University, is an American right-wing,[1] conservative YouTube channel and nonprofit organization that publishes "5 Minute Ideas" videos, or "courses", covering various social and political topics. Founded by radio talk show host Dennis Prager and screenwriter Allen Estrin, the channel's videos are narrated by various conservative personalities. PragerU notes on its website that it is not a real academic institution.[2]
History[]
PragerU was founded in 2009 as a nonprofit organization by author and radio talk show host Dennis Prager, and screenwriter Allen Estrin, in order to further Prager’s conservative views. They originally considered creating an actual university, but this was deemed to be too costly. PragerU is based in the San Fernando Valley, and it had around 50 employees as of January 2020.
Since a lawsuit over the use of a photograph in 2013, PragerU has used animation in its videos. According to its CEO, Marissa Streit, a group of approximately 500 students called "PragerFORCE" promotes its videos. PragerU reached a billion views in 2018.
In July 2019, PragerU representative Allen Estrin attended then-United States President Donald Trump's Social Media Summit, along with other conservative organizations and people such as Charlie Kirk and James O'Keefe.
Controversy[]
Misinformation[]
PragerU has been criticized for its spread of misinformation on multiple topics, such as climate change.[3]
Beliefs[]
Many people have accused PragerU of being "Far right" and have criticized it for being anti-feminist[4], pro-capitalist[5], as well as racist and anti-queer, In the case of the latter, Dennis Prager said that Pride (the celebration of LGBTQI+ identity) is "totalitarian".[6]
Funding from billionaires[]
Much of PragerU's early funding came from hydraulic fracturing billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks[7]. Two members of the Wilks family currently sit on PragerU's board.[8] Because of this bias, PragerU has created and uploaded several pro-fossil fuel videos.[9][10]
Quotes[]
- "Babies are lovable and innocent, but they are not good: They are entirely self-centered -- as they have to be in order to survive. “I want mommy; I want milk; I want to be held; I want to be comforted, and if you do not do all these things immediately, I will ruin your life!” That’s not goodness; that’s narcissism."
- "Throughout history, the primary purpose of art was to elevate people - through beauty, artistic excellence, and emotional depth. To the left, the primary purpose of art, sculpture, and music is to shock. That's why so much contemporary art is meaningless, and involves the scatological, meaning urine and feces. Yes, urine and feces."
- "When was the last time you heard a child referred to as obedient? It’s probably been a while. That’s too bad, because the best research tells us that obedient children are happy children."
References[]
- ↑ https://www.allsides.com/news-source/prager-university
- ↑ https://www.prageru.com/faq
- ↑ https://www.distilled.earth/p/how-prageru-built-a-climate-disinformation
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In8jWBlc8xo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VjKD_z5Av0
- ↑ https://www.bizpacreview.com/2023/01/31/dennis-prager-lgbtq-pride-is-totalitarian-1328972/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20191201141534/https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-22/dennis-prager-university-conservative-internet-sensation
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20190214050110/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/prager-university
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJWq1FeGpCw
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Teja5YNCo
