Schooling kids at PragerU

Summary

Today, Explained: Schooling Kids at PragerU – Detailed Summary

In the August 4, 2025 episode of Today, Explained, hosts Sean Rameswaram and Noel King delve into the controversial collaboration between PragerU, a conservative nonprofit organization, and the U.S. government, particularly focusing on their influence on educational content in schools. This episode provides an in-depth analysis of how PragerU’s initiatives are reshaping American education, the implications of this partnership, and the broader political context surrounding these developments.

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1. The Decline of Public Broadcasting and the Rise of PragerU

** Sean Rameswaram** opens the discussion by referencing a historic moment from 1961 when President Kennedy’s FCC Chairman, Newton Minow, criticized commercial TV programming as a "vast wasteland" (00:04). This critique led to the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), responsible for iconic programs like FRESH air. However, due to significant budget cuts, CPB announced its shutdown for the following year (00:38).

Sean Rameswaram contemplates what will fill the void left by CPB, suggesting that PragerU might be poised to take its place, especially in shaping educational content:

“What’s taken its place? If you ask this White House, they might say something like PragerU.” (00:59)

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2. PragerU’s Infiltration into Educational Content

The episode shifts focus to PragerU’s recent ventures, particularly their partnership with the White House and various state governments to introduce conservative-leaning educational materials into K-12 classrooms.

Terry Gross discusses a screenshot shared by Seth Kotler, a history professor, showing an AI-generated video of John Adams speaking distortions of his actual beliefs:

“I most certainly never said that.” (03:29)

These videos present historical figures expressing modern conservative sentiments, aiming to promote a specific interpretation of American history.

Seth Kotler criticizes this approach, arguing that it oversimplifies and sanitizes historical complexities:

“It just collapses any of that gap between the present and the past and just turns these people from the past into people who we can just unquestioningly and unproblematically just celebrate and love.” (10:41)

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3. The Content and Intent of PragerU’s Educational Videos

PragerU’s videos often present a counter-narrative to widely accepted historical interpretations. For instance, one video featuring Christopher Columbus defends the act of slavery by suggesting it was a common practice globally and historically:

“Slavery is as old as time and has taken place in every corner of the world.” (20:32)

Laura Meckler from The Washington Post explains that PragerU aims to minimize the role and impact of slavery in American history, focusing instead on positive aspects like abolition and the achievements of the Founding Fathers.

Seth Kotler elaborates on how these videos omit critical aspects of historical figures’ lives, thereby presenting a one-dimensional and glorified version of American history. He emphasizes the importance of teaching history with its inherent complexities and multiple perspectives:

“What this does is it just collapses any of that gap between the present and the past and just turns these people from the past into people who we can just unquestioningly and unproblematically just celebrate and love.” (10:41)

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4. PragerU’s Strategic Partnerships with States

PragerU has established partnerships with approximately eight states, including Louisiana, Florida, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Montana, Arizona, South Carolina, and Idaho, to provide their educational content to schools. These partnerships do not mandate the use of PragerU materials but make them available as approved resources.

Laura Meckler highlights the strategic importance of these state-level partnerships:

“The states are the heart of the PragerU plan.” (23:19)

In Oklahoma, Education Commissioner Ryan Walters has expressed enthusiasm for incorporating PragerU’s materials to counter what he perceives as leftist indoctrination. This move aligns with broader political efforts to influence educational narratives at the state level.

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5. Broader Political Context and Implications

The episode situates PragerU’s activities within the larger framework of the current administration’s policies aimed at reducing liberal influence in public institutions. This includes defunding public broadcasting and promoting conservative viewpoints in education and media.

Laura Meckler discusses how these actions reflect an overarching attempt to combat "woke ideology" and reshape American cultural and educational landscapes:

“They see that in lots of different places and they’re going after it in all sorts of different ways...” (24:45)

She also points out that despite these efforts, many educators continue to strive for a balanced and multifaceted presentation of history in classrooms, challenging students to engage with multiple perspectives.

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6. Conclusion: The Future of American Education

The episode concludes by pondering the long-term effects of PragerU’s influence on American education. While PragerU’s content is readily accessible and popular on social media, its integration into school curricula raises questions about the balance and objectivity of historical education.

Sean Rameswaram reflects on the juxtaposition of PragerU’s rise with the defunding of public broadcasters like PBS:

“It's funny to think of the preponderance of PragerU in maybe state curriculum or even online at the same time as the federal government just defunded PBS essentially.” (24:27)

Laura Meckler emphasizes the importance of maintaining a diverse and unbiased educational framework to ensure that students receive a comprehensive understanding of history:

“If students are being challenged to consider things from multiple points of view, then that’s not a bad thing necessarily.” (24:45)

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Notable Quotes

• Seth Kotler:

  “It just collapses any of that gap between the present and the past and just turns these people from the past into people who we can just unquestioningly and unproblematically just celebrate and love.” (10:41)

• Laura Meckler:

  “The states are the heart of the PragerU plan.” (23:19)

  “If students are being challenged to consider things from multiple points of view, then that’s not a bad thing necessarily.” (24:45)

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Implications for Educators and Parents

This episode serves as a cautionary tale for educators and parents about the potential for ideological bias in educational materials. It underscores the necessity for vigilance in curriculum development to ensure that historical education remains balanced and inclusive of multiple perspectives.

Sean Rameswaram encapsulates the critical concern:

“What are they trying to say about US History if not accurate things about what historical figures may have actually said?” (09:53)

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Overall, the episode of Today, Explained provides a comprehensive examination of PragerU’s strategic foray into American education, highlighting the tensions between public broadcasting funding cuts and the rise of ideologically driven educational content. Through expert interviews and critical analysis, the hosts shed light on the significant implications for the future of historical education in the United States.

Transcript

[Sean Ramaswamy]

In 1961, President Kennedy's FCC chairman, Newton Minow, gave a speech deriding commercial TV programming.

[Laura Meckler]

I can assure you that what you.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Will observe is a vast wasteland. He wanted to do something about it. Is there one person in this room who claims that broadcasting can't do better? So Congress created something called the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. You might not have realized when you were interacting with the cpb, but it happened all the time when you were tickled by Elmo. Happy International Choke Day when someone moved you on the drive home. This is FRESH air.

[Terry Gross]

I'm Terry Gross.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

CPB is the reason you're hearing my voice right now. But due to big, beautiful cuts, the organization announced on Friday that it would be shutting down next year. What's taken its place? If you ask this White House, they might say something like prageru, what is Pragerus on Today explained.

[Gabrielle Burbe]

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[Sean Ramaswamy]

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[Terry Gross]

Scrolling Blue sky as I do and came across this screenshot that Seth Kotler, who's a professor of history, had posted.

[Seth Kotler]

My name is Seth Kotler. I'm a professor of American history at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

[Terry Gross]

And it was this very clearly like AI slop image of John Adams.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

John Adams from history.

[Terry Gross]

John Adams from history. The famous John Adams.

[Seth Kotler]

Because I live in Oregon, I get posts from the Oregon Republican Party frequently. And they had been posting these AI generated videos of the founders. And this one was a video that they posted of John Adams.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

I am John Adams, blunt, stubborn, and the indispensable voice for independence in the Continental Congress.

[Seth Kotler]

And when I clicked on it and watched it, he said, facts are stubborn.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Things, and whatever may be our wishes or inclinations, they cannot alter the state of facts. In other words, friend, facts do not care about our feelings.

[Seth Kotler]

He most certainly never said that. No. It just struck me as such a strange and absurd thing for someone to put in the mouth of John Adams.

[Terry Gross]

It's actually a catchphrase from Ben Shapiro, who is a conservative, like, right wing influencer.

[Laura Meckler]

Okay, forget about the disrespect facts. Don't care about your feelings.

[Terry Gross]

And at the end of the videos, and the videos are pretty short, they're a couple minutes, it says that they were brought to you by Prageru in partnership with the White House. And it says the White House is grateful for the partnership with PragerU and the U.S. department of Education as part of the production of this series called the Road to Liberty. We now are excited to launch today the Founders Museum, 56 Signers of the Declaration, 20 Key Events of the American Revolution, and six Ladies of the Revolution. And Prageru has been working diligently on creating videos. And when you use that QR code, you get to view the amazing pictures come to life telling their own stories. The full videos are these little vignettes, I would call them, of different revolutionary era figures.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Good day, friend. I am Benjamin Franklin. I'm Thomas Jefferson. Born on Virginia soil. You've no doubt seen my name. I made certain King George did not miss John Hancock.

[Terry Gross]

Almost like a puppet. It's like the mouths move, but the rest of their faces don't move a ton.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

My proudest title is always Patriot. Now the charge is yours. Guard Liberty will for once lost it is lost forever.

[Terry Gross]

These are part of like a museum exhibit thing in the White House, as far as I can tell. I haven't gone there in person to see it, but it's kind of just like a hallway in the White House where the walls have these paintings that I'm not even totally clear on whether those are AI or if they're like real paintings, but they might be real. And then they're showing like Revolutionary War portraits, things like that. And under them they'll have this little description and A QR code. And if you scan the QR code, that's what brings you to the Prageru videos. From now and on, we are going.

[Laura Meckler]

To remember our nation's history and it's.

[Terry Gross]

Really going to matter. And we're not going to let anybody have a nation with amnesia, certainly not America.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

What is Prageru and how did they get into the White House?

[Terry Gross]

Prageru, which I only recently learned the U does not stand for university. It's not a university, which I knew, but I kind of thought they were maybe just calling it Prageru University. It's Prageru is a nonprofit organization that makes conservative content. They really specialize in these short little videos that are like edutainment. They say on their website the mission is to promote American values through the creative use of digital media technology and edutainment. It's gotten a name for itself over the years because a lot of the videos they talk about climate change in kind of the denialist bent.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Climate is a very convenient way for governments and institutions to get involved in nearly every aspect of a citizen's life. The science does not support that fear.

[Terry Gross]

They do quite a bit of what could be read as slavery. Apologism.

[Laura Meckler]

And now for a brief history of slavery. Here's the first thing you need to know. Slavery was not invented by white people. Here's the second thing you need to know. White people were the first to formally put an end to slavery.

[Terry Gross]

What radical Islam and the woke have in common.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

The two ideologies have distinctive rituals. Islamists shout Allahu Akbar and death to America. The woke shout black lives matter and I can't breathe. Islamists pray to Mecca. The woke take the knee.

[Terry Gross]

The CEO of PragerU has called it medicine for the mind.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

And how did they get wrapped up in the White House's business?

[Terry Gross]

Prageru and I would say this administration are aligned in quite a few ways. The preoccupation with wokeness something that makes this story pretty interesting and timely right now is there are a couple things that are happening simultaneously. So in March, Trump signed this executive order. He was calling for the dismantling of the Education Department. And that's something that education secretary Linda McMahon supports. And Linda McMahon was at the launch and spoke at the launch of these Prageru Road to Liberty videos at the White House.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

It is one thing to learn cursive and read the Declaration of Independence, as every student should, I think. But it is another to grasp why 56 men risked everything for what it said and to love as they did in a way that inspires our sacrifice.

[Terry Gross]

So she's kind of throwing her support behind it. It's something that conservative groups have been complaining about or accusing the Department of Education of for a long time, saying that they're using taxpayer money to indoctrinate children. So this concern that kids are consuming content that is somehow woke leftist indoctrination has been long standing. And then Prageru comes in and says, hey, we have lots of content that is fighting the. The woke mind virus of today, and you can use it in your schools.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

What are they trying to do with these videos? What are they trying to say about US History if not accurate things about what historical figures may have actually said?

[Terry Gross]

So I talked to Seth about this and asked him what he made of this.

[Seth Kotler]

As a historian, the main focus seems to be organized around the idea of this kind of monochromatic depiction of who these people are, that they're all just admirable and wonderful because they're patriots. And so occasionally, it will introduce some more complexity into the story. Like, for example, the video about William Whipple from New Hampshire, where they note that he, because he believed in the foundational principles of the American Revolution, he freed his slave.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

In my letters, I shared my hope that slavery would end. And so I myself freed Prince, who was my own servant. How could I fight for liberty and deny it at home?

[Seth Kotler]

And that is true. They don't mention that William Whipple was a wealthy, important person in New Hampshire because he made a killing in the slave trade. And they also don't mention that Prince Whipple, the man who he claimed to own, had to petition for his freedom. And that William Whipple didn't grant that petition and didn't grant freedom to Prince Whipple until, I believe it's 1781 or 1782. Prince Whipple protested for his freedom and fought for his freedom. And so by not including that in the story, it just turns William Whipple into a great guy who just did the right thing and erases Prince Whipple and his activism that he did, along with other enslaved people in New Hampshire. So it gives, I assume, it's intended just to make people just feel lots of good feelings and positive thoughts about the men whose names are on the Declaration of Independence. And not to ask any deeper or further questions about all of the complexity of that moment and of the Patriot movement, I'm all in favor of people feeling a sense of connection and identification across time with people in the past. But that connection and identification for it to be meaningful has to have some degree of complexity to it and a sense of both how these people in the past are recognizable to us, but also how they're quite different from us. And that, to me is what studying history is all about, is trying to understand that how both of those are always in operation. And what this does is it just collapses any of that gap between the present and the past and just turns these people from the past into people who we can just unquestioningly and unproblematically just celebrate and love.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

That was Seth Kotler, history professor at Willamette University. You also heard from Reporter Sam Cole, 404 Media Co We've been talking about Prageru and the White House, but they've really set their sights on the States and we will too, when we're back on TODAY Explained.

[Gabrielle Burbe]

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[Sean Ramaswamy]

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[Terry Gross]

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[Terry Gross]

This is Today explained.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

AI John Adams debut at the White House is not Prageru's first time partnering with the government Washington Post education reporter Laura Meckler has been following PragerU's partnership with states for a couple years now.

[Laura Meckler]

Well, we first heard about this when states were starting partnerships with Prageru to bring that content to K12 classrooms. And it was already, you know, under being criticized well over a year ago with people saying that this content was essentially biased in a conservative direction and there were concerns about this content coming into public school classrooms.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Who's behind Prageru? Is there like a Mr. Prager? A Mrs. Prager?

[Laura Meckler]

There is a Mr. Prager. It's this guy.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

A Mr. Yes, it's always a Mr.

[Laura Meckler]

It's Dennis Prager. He's this conservative talk show host who started this whole thing we live in.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

In the Post Order universe known as the Post Christian. And I'm Jewish, so I'm not speaking even as a Christian, but it's a Post Christian world and Christianity rooted in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament Judeo.

[Gabrielle Burbe]

Christian values represented Order.

[Laura Meckler]

It was founded in 2009. His partner was the screenwriter named Alan Estrin, who you may not have heard of, but you know, their goal really was, you know, both educational and political. You know, they viewed the educational system we have now as being too liberal and too Dominated by those ideas. So they were going to counter it.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

How would you like to learn a lot in a short amount of time? A major infusion of knowledge in say five minutes? Sound like something that might interest you? If so, you've come to the right place.

[Laura Meckler]

But at first they were for college students, and then in 2021 it started to expand into younger students.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Your son is watching something, but you think it must be fine. You know, it's only kids shows, so you have some peace of mind. But as you eat the roasted goose, your little sport insists, hey dad, did.

[Laura Meckler]

You know America is racist?

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Your mind goes numb. Your child is being filled with lies. The babe you once held dear. But in that shocking, a man pops into frame. Could it be George Washington here to save your child's brain? He snatched the screen and changed the thing. The something that is true. It's an app with shows for kids. They call it Prageru. Can you give us an example like of a Prageru video that seems to be explicitly trying to provide a conservative narrative in response to maybe a pre existing liberal one?

[Laura Meckler]

Well, I think a good example is like the New York Times 1619 project, which was published to mark the 400th anniversary of the first slaves brought to the well became the United States. And you know, the 1619 project really centered slavery in the American story and said that this was like essential to understanding American history. And a lot of conservatives objected to that, that the idea of framing American history in such a negative way. They were saying, why are saying all of American history is shaped by this? Why not talk about how we got rid of slavery? Why not talk about abolitionists? Why not talk about freedom and all of the other things that were behind the revolution and all of that. So that was the conservative pushback and what we see in these Prageru videos in sort of subtle ways, a bit of a counter to that. So like, you know, there's a video with Christopher Columbus. Don't be alarmed, sir, who is talking to some modern day kid.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

What you from the future?

[Laura Meckler]

How'd you guess? Who are saying, basically I heard bad things about you. I'm sorry, Mr. Columbus, but I heard at school that you spoiled paradise and you brought slavery and murder to peaceful people.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Caramba, those are some accusations.

[Laura Meckler]

And he says slavery is as old.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

As time and has taken place in every corner of the world. Even amongst the people I just left. Being taken as a slave is better than being killed. No, I don't see the problem.

[Laura Meckler]

You have to judge me by the standards that were True at the time.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

How can you come here to the 15th century and judge me by your standards from the 21st century? For those in the future to look back and do this is, well, estupedo.

[Laura Meckler]

The upshot of this video and other Prager videos is to, I think it's fair to say, minimize the role of slavery or how much we should focus on it or how upset we should be about it from our past and try to look on, you know, more, shall we say, uplifting ideas from American history.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

What states are buying into this variety of educational material? If you can call it that.

[Laura Meckler]

There are about eight states that have some sort of partnership with Prageru which keep in mind that these partnerships does not mandate that schools use this material. It sort of makes it available to them through as a sort of an approved content from the state. So it doesn't like require it, but it sort of is a, is a, puts it on a list of available material and we're not really sure exactly how many are using it. That said, about a year ago when we first reported on this, there were a half dozen states that had partnerships of one sort or another, which included Louisiana, Florida, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Montana and Arizona and then South Carolina and Idaho. Maybe those are less surprising. Have since formed partnerships with Prageru as well. In Oklahoma. They actually are quite excited about it. Now Ryan Walters is the very controversial and very conservative education commissioner in Oklahoma and he actually recently said that he wants to use Prageru material to evaluate teachers who are coming from other blue states to make sure that they are actually not bringing indoctrination, at least indoctrination from the left with them.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Thank you, Prageru, for giving kids a shot to live up to their God given potential. Thank you very much. I mean, it sounds like Prager U has the attention of the White House, but the White House wants to like give education back to the states. So are the states like a crucial part of the Prageru plan?

[Laura Meckler]

Well, I think the states are the heart of the Prageru plan. Most education, I mean, despite the fact that Donald Trump says on a very regular basis that he wants to, quote, return education to the states, we're going.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

To be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs.

[Laura Meckler]

The fact is that education is already at the states. Doesn't mean there's not a federal role. But you know, education is run by states and school boards. So they are really the ones who decide whether this material is available or not. I mean, they do have quite a few followers on Their social media, millions of followers when you add it all up together. So I think last year we totaled it. It was about over 11 million across platforms. So they do make their material available directly to viewers, anybody who wants it. So I mean, they're very much. None of this is secretive. This is very much out there. They want people to see these videos. They want people to get their content. They think it's an important contribution to our overall culture and education. So this is not something that you need to like pay money for or that's being hidden. You know, it's very much available.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

It's funny to think of the preponderance of Prageru in maybe state curriculum or even online at the same time as the federal government just defunded PBS essentially. Do you think that's a coincidence?

[Laura Meckler]

Well, yes and no. I mean, I don't actually think these two decisions are directly related in any way, at least that I'm aware of. But I do think they maybe both reflect a larger worldview, you know, which we very much are seeing from this administration a effort to stamp out what they would call woke ideology. And they see that in lots of different places and they're going after it in all sorts of different ways, whether, whether it be pressure on universities to diversify their faculty, whether it be, as they say, defunding PBS and npr, which they think are overly liberal. I mean, all of these are examples of using the power of the federal government to try and, you know, essentially diminish or change institutions that are not ideologically aligned. And that has happened across schools where you saw, you know, bans on conversations about race in classrooms in a bunch of different states past these, you're not allowed to talk about, quote unquote divisive topics and a lot of concern that topics like slavery were not going to be properly taught anymore, or the civil rights movement or all sorts of other things that get at various elements of systemic racism in our country. That said, let's not give it more power than it has. If you go to most education in this country, most classrooms, you have teachers who are doing their best to present a fair minded read of history. The best teachers are challenging their students to look at it from multiple points of view and to understand that there is more than one way to read history. And I think that if it's presented in the context that there are different ways of viewing American history, and I don't think that material that isn't factual should be taught, but I don't think that's really the criticism of most of the Prageru stuff. I think the criticism of most of it is the ideology behind it, the emphasis they put, and that sort of thing. So, you know, if students are being challenged to consider things from multiple points of view, then that's not a bad thing necessarily.

[Sean Ramaswamy]

Laura Meckler, washingtonpost.com Our show today was produced by Gabrielle Burbe, edited by Amina Al Saadi, mixed by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Christensdotter, and fact checked by Laura Bullard. Welcome back, Laura. I'm Sean Ramasvoorham. This is today.

[Gabrielle Burbe]

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