Dennis Prager, the conservative talk radio host who has been off the air since suffering a debilitating fall in November, will return in June.
Prager, whose nationally syndicated show aired locally from noon to 3 p.m. on AM 870 the Answer before his injury, will come back to host the third hour of that time slot starting June 3, Salem Media announced last week.
“I’m really feeling much better, as you can hear,” the author of “The Rational Bible” said in a voice recording played during a March 7 health-update video featuring son David Prager and Prager University Chief Executive Marissa Streit. “My voice is practically normal, which is really exciting, because I intend to go back on radio. … And my beloved son — one of my beloved sons — my beloved son David is here with me and I can’t tell you how much he has done for me. … OK everybody, looking forward to being with you often.”
At the time that recording was played, Dennis Prager was 15 weeks post-injury. Before his fall, he’d had spinal fusion surgery that resulted in a “pretty stiff situation” with his back, Streit said in a Feb. 14 video update. He hit his head when he fell but suffered no brain injury, she said.
The spinal cord was another story. “It was not severed, but it was injured, and was injured at the top of his spinal cord, at the area of C3 and C4 that also controls his diaphragm,” Streit said, noting that Prager could not move below his shoulders at the time.
“He is talking a lot to people in the rehab facility that he’s at right now,” David Prager, chief development officer for Prager U, said in the same February video. Nonprofit Prager U bills itself as a creator of “free educational content promoting American values.” “He’s all there. He’s 100% there. When you hear him on the radio, you’ll say he hasn’t skipped a beat.”
Dennis Prager is still undergoing “extensive” rehab, Salem Media said in its release.
“Dennis may have some physical limitations at the moment, but his wit, wisdom, insights and passion are as strong and as clear as ever and we are delighted at his spirit and resolve to return to his audience,” Phil Boyce, Salem’s senior vice president of spoken word, said in the release. “We want Dennis to remain a part of the Salem family and want his millions of loyal fans to continue to hear his voice.”
When Prager returns to radio, it won’t be on the exact same show that he left. Salem Media announced last week that “The Charlie Kirk Show,” hosted by the founder of the conservative Turning Point USA student movement, will take over Prager’s affiliate stations — including 870 AM — beginning next Monday.
“Affiliates of Charlie will continue to get the Kirk show with no interruption, and affiliates of Dennis will soon get Charlie Kirk as a strong and able replacement,” Boyce said in the release. The two men had been broadcasting live at the same time of day before Prager fell.
This is the final week on the show for Carl Jackson, who has been the primary fill-in host during Prager’s absence.
