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In nan autumn of 2013, a silver-haired blimpish power big named Dennis Prager flew to Texas to woo a brace of rightwing billionaires. A fewer years earlier, Prager had co-founded a integer acquisition non-profit, Prager University, which created snappy five-minute videos that promoted capitalism and “Judeo-Christian values”. The billionaires, fracking tycoons Dan and Farris Wilks, were large fans.
Inside Farris Wilks’ location theater, nan brothers and much than 20 members of their family sat transfixed arsenic Prager outlined a scheme to toggle shape PragerU from a niche net oddity into a mainstream media empire. He conscionable needed a batch much cash.
The brothers liked nan pitch, and they agreed to donate $1m for each of nan adjacent 7 years, PragerU co-founder Allen Estrin, who attended nan meeting, told nan Guardian. “It really did make it imaginable for america to do immoderate things that different simply would person taken america a batch longer to do.”
And then, 5 years later, nan business “came crashing to an end”.
That January, nan non-profit published a video from Fox News contributor Guy Benson, successful which Benson declared that he was some blimpish and cheery – portion of PragerU’s effort to broaden its appeal. It was a astonishing connection coming from Dennis Prager’s brainchild. In nan 1980s and 90s, Prager had made a sanction for himself arguing, among different things, that cheery authorities posed a threat to occidental civilization.
But by 2018, his views connected homosexuality had somewhat softened, and PragerU had moved connected to different causes, specified arsenic “radical Islam”, nan dangers of gender “confusion” and defense for nan usage of more fossil fuels.
The Wilkses’ views had not softened. “They said, ‘You person to do thing astir this, aliases we’re pulling retired our money,’” Estrin recalled. PragerU declined to region nan video, and nan business dissolved. (The Wilks brothers did not respond to requests for comment.)
By then, though, PragerU nary longer needed its billionaire backers. The twelvemonth earlier nan Wilks meeting, successful 2012, it had raised conscionable $491,000 successful donations and grants; by 2018, its yearly gross climbed to $18.6m. By 2024, it would emergence to almost $70m, much than salient non-profits specified arsenic nan Parkinson’s Foundation, nan Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Evidence Action. (PragerU says it has much than 400,000 life donors.)
That money has brought Prager’s maestro scheme to life. Despite its name, it is not successful truth a university, but alternatively a prolific contented generator that has often been accused of spreading misleading information. PragerU’s extremity is to pull young group to its ideology, and it is progressively making inroads successful America’s acquisition systems.
Teachers pat PragerU’s room of free instruction plans and videos, immoderate of which person go approved schoolroom materials successful a twelve states, including Texas, Florida and Arizona. Middle and precocious schoolers flip done its books astir nan perils of socialism and “the quality costs of reducing emissions”. College students astatine Southeastern University successful Florida tin gain in installments by taking a PragerU history course.
And though nan non-profit primitively focused connected reaching students and nan wide public, it has expanded its target assemblage to mini children pinch cartoons and image books, specified arsenic The ABC’s of America, which it says is designed “for babies and toddlers”.
Similar to different rightwing groups pinch a vested liking successful young Americans’ education, specified arsenic Moms for Liberty and Turning Point USA, PragerU has besides recovered an state successful nan White House. In June, nan Trump management unveiled a business pinch PragerU centering connected nan founding fathers and the US’s 250th anniversary – an announcement that instantly raised its profile.
“Our imagination has ever been to undo nan harm of America’s acquisition strategy and to supply a wholesome, patriotic acquisition to Americans who activity to understand our state and activity to take sides her from within,” PragerU CEO Marissa Streit said successful a video call.
A increasing number of academics and acquisition experts, however, are alarmed by nan non-profit’s rise.
“I deliberation nan problem comes erstwhile group don’t understand nan nakedly governmental objectives of PragerU,” said Clifford Lee, a coach who sits connected nan committee of nan South Carolina Education Association. (PragerU materials are sanctioned for usage successful classrooms crossed nan state.) “It commits nan eventual acquisition misdeed of having an result that it wants to coming and past trying to substantiate that position … alternatively than look astatine nan evidence, deliberation astir nan evidence, and past travel to a conclusion.”
Indeed, PragerU’s attack does not ever look rooted successful world inquiry. For instance, successful 1 2022 video blaming leftists and “elites” for perpetuating systemic racism – portion of PragerU’s stated effort to discredit societal justness movements – nan narrator asserts that students successful galore New York City schools are “separated by colour during nan schoolhouse year”. Her phrasing seems to connote segregation akin to nan Jim Crow south.
Upon person inspection, nan video’s citation links to a New York Post story astir a azygous mediate schoolhouse that allowed students to be an optional affinity group gathering astir their group identity.
In different video astir Islam, a PragerU big argues that “the connection ‘moderate’ arsenic we understand it does not really apply” to astir Muslims. In a colorful font, nan video declares that “the values of nan West and nan values of Islam are not compatible”.
Much of PragerU’s contented is not partisan. To cynical eyes, that is an intentional strategy, imbuing nan group pinch a patina of credibility that makes students much apt to judge its fringe ideas.
“Once you spot them arsenic a trustworthy tract … they’ve benignant of reeled you in,” said Ryan Corso-Gonzales, an adjunct professor astatine Central Michigan University who wrote his master’s thesis connected nan group.
PragerU’s ascent comes arsenic accepted acquisition institutions are disintegrating, and not by accident, arsenic Republican officials activity to dismantle what they person described arsenic vectors of “woke” ideologies. PBS faces immense fund cuts, nan Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceased operating successful January, and nan Department of Education is slashing its staff.
“I really do interest that PragerU worldly mightiness perchance beryllium utilized moreover more,” said Jonathan Jarry, a subject communicator astatine McGill University’s agency for subject and nine who has written astir nan group. “It’s almost for illustration they’re filling nan void.”
That surely seems to beryllium nan goal. Thanks to its heavy reserves, PragerU tin spend to springiness distant its integer materials for free, dissimilar astir program providers. Last year, PragerU’s videos were viewed much than 2bn times, said Streit, and astir 4 cardinal parents and educators person expressed liking successful its materials for children, specified arsenic by signing up for kids’ newsletters. (The Guardian could not independently verify these figures.) With newfound momentum, it is arguably angling to go a blimpish replacement for PBS, Time for Kids, and Sesame Street simultaneously, helping style young minds from infancy.
PragerU is simply a tax-exempt non-profit and truthful cannot prosecute successful governmental campaigning aliases related activity; but it can legally beforehand its governmental agenda. To Estrin, PragerU’s slant is basal to counterbalance leftist narratives that he says person “taken over” schools for decades.
“In a cleanable world, would everything beryllium presented successful immoderate benignant of neutral way? Yeah, probably. That would beryllium ideal,” he said. Then he hesitated. “Maybe,” he hedged, earlier hesitating again.
“I do deliberation that nan accuracy of conservatism is amended for nan state … I’m not judge that neutrality would beryllium nan champion point we could do for our children.”
For astir of PragerU’s 17-year history, Dennis Prager has been its nationalist face. Seventy-seven years old, he dresses neatly, often successful a overgarment and tie, and has a booming Brooklyn accent that would person made him a earthy colour commentator for nan Mets.
Instead, Prager has spent caller decades stoking nan country’s civilization wars, telling his power listeners and blimpish groups to enactment vigilant against what he considers America’s galore soul and outer threats.
That includes nan non-religious: “There is nary specified point arsenic a secular institution pinch wisdom,” he proclaimed astatine a 2023 arena hosted by Moms for Liberty, a group pinch akin beliefs to PragerU and a champion of Florida’s “don’t opportunity gay” rule for classrooms.
During nan aforesaid speech, Prager described leftwing governmental leaders arsenic cosmopolitan liars and made unfounded claims astir transgender women showing their penises to girls. Children “are arrested if they object”, he said. (PragerU, which declined an question and reply connected Dennis Prager’s behalf, besides declined to supply grounds to support this claim.)
But then, successful nan autumn of 2024, Prager slipped successful his bath and collapsed to nan ground, damaging his spinal cord and leaving him a quadriplegic. The mishap forced him to measurement distant temporarily from his power programme and thrust Marissa Streit, nan CEO, further into nan spotlight.
Streit, who is successful her mid-40s, speaks softly and dresses successful warmer colors than her boss, though she shares Prager’s rigid politics. She, for illustration Prager, took a circuitous way into education. Born successful California, she moved to Israel arsenic a kid and later served successful nan Israeli military. She returned to nan US astatine 21 years aged and attended UCLA, followed by an acquisition programme astatine American Jewish University.
According to Streit, aft graduating, she worked arsenic an adjunct main astatine a parochial schoolhouse successful Los Angeles, past roseate to go caput of different adjacent schoolhouse for astir 4 years. In between, she said, she taught kindergarten done eighth grade.
The Guardian sought to speak pinch immoderate of Streit’s erstwhile students to understand her pedagogical instincts, but her credentials couldn’t beryllium confirmed. Streit declined to sanction nan schools she worked at, lest they beryllium taxable to governmental “attacks”, though she said nan names of nan institutions could astir apt beryllium recovered connected her LinkedIn profile. In fact, they aren’t listed connected LinkedIn, and nan Guardian was incapable to find immoderate grounds of her school astatine aliases moving a schoolhouse successful Los Angeles. (PragerU declined to supply nan names of nan schools moreover if nan Guardian agreed not to place them.)
In immoderate event, Streit says her activity arsenic a coach informed her existent worldview.
She recounted showing her students An Inconvenient Truth, erstwhile vice-president Al Gore’s documentary astir nan ambiance crisis. At nan time, she viewed it arsenic politically neutral. Later, she said, she reflected and had a alteration of heart. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, nan politicians utilized me.’”
Streit’s governmental improvement coincided pinch a pivot successful Estrin’s profession way arsenic well. For years, he worked arsenic a Hollywood screenwriter connected specified shows arsenic Touched by an Angel and The Practice. He later began producing Prager’s power program.
Then, successful astir 2009, connected a “Dennis Prager listener cruise” successful nan Indian Ocean, a mates of Prager’s fans approached him and Estrin pinch an thought to motorboat a brick-and-mortar assemblage that would beforehand “Judeo-Christian” ideals.
Estrin quickly realized nan thought was “completely impractical” and improbable to person galore minds. The internet, however, offered an infinitely scalable alternative. Few group would tune into agelong lectures astir blimpish values. But anyone would watch a five-minute video.
They settled connected a name, Prager University, which connoted a consciousness of legitimacy and gravitas. (They later switched to an abbreviation that “sounded cooler”, PragerU, and clarified successful mini matter astatine nan bottommost of nan website that PragerU was not successful truth an “accredited university”.)
Prager and Estrin conscionable needed personification to tally nan thing. They recruited Streit, who by past was moving astatine a non-profit, nan Israeli-American Council, and had years of schoolroom acquisition listed connected her resumé.
“Congratulations,” Estrin announced to Streit erstwhile they hired her successful 2011. “You are now George Washington.”
Streit was confused.
“When George Washington was appointed nan caput of nan Continental Army successful [1775], location was nary army,” Estrin said. Likewise, Streit was successful complaint of PragerU, but “she didn’t person immoderate soldiers.” She would request to build nan group from scratch.
Under Streit’s watch astatine PragerU office successful Los Angeles, nan non-profit settled connected its guiding principles. Namely, that Americans – peculiarly young Americans – had mislaid their zeal for civics and patriotism, had begun overapologizing for nan country’s humanities sins, and had go needlessly pessimistic astir nan future.
“You person this conception that you should beryllium ashamed of your state because of its past, what it did to Black group and to Indians,” Estrin said. Meanwhile, group judge that “the world’s going to extremity successful 12 years aliases 20 years aliases 40 years because of world warming. And past you wonderment why children are taxable to each kinds of psychological issues.”
Interestingly, successful describing PragerU’s logic for existence, Estrin outlined his ain last day scenario. Specifically, that “western civilization is successful danger.” But possibly not, he continued, if capable group subscribe to PragerU’s vision. “We’re hoping to instil values successful group truthful that we tin prevention it,” he said.
This benignant of apocalyptic rhetoric intimately mirrors far-right and Christian nationalist talking points, said Adrienne McCarthy, a interrogator astatine Kansas State University who has studied PragerU. PragerU and its peers are seeking to infiltrate America’s acquisition strategy to dispersed their messaging, she said. (Most Republicans believe nationalist schools are slanted toward wide ideas, while astir independents and Democrats judge schools are politically neutral.)
Streit makes a akin statement to Estrin. “We’re nether attack,” she said. The enemy, arsenic she depicts it, is an amorphous and invisible boogeyman, “a Marxist schedule successful our schools [intended] to disagreement us”.
“Our attraction utilized to beryllium e pluribus unum,” she said. “Now, it’s for illustration multiculturalism and let’s each not place arsenic Americans.”
Part of PragerU’s aim, Streit said, is to reverse America’s acquisition decline. She noted, accurately, that nationalist trial scores and literacy rates person been dropping for years.
Streit rattled disconnected a bid of buzzwords she thinks are contributing to nan decline: anti-racist training, captious title theory, DEI initiatives, helping students understand “whether they were calved successful nan correct body”, school young group to spot themselves arsenic activists. “Things that frankly person been a immense distraction alternatively of teaching,” she said.
“Do you cognize really galore hours of full instruction a coach gets connected really to thatch mathematics erstwhile he aliases she is going done school school?” she asked. “Fourteen hours.” (Streit appears to beryllium referring to analyses specified arsenic a 2025 study from nan National Council connected Teacher Quality, which recovered that postgraduate acquisition programs are, connected average, spending conscionable 14 hours school mathematics content. What this omits, though, is that these programs are also spending 38 hours connected mathematics pedagogy, and that galore states require prospective teachers to walk a mathematics certification exam.)
There is, of course, different important discourse for nan decline, for illustration nan residual effect of nan pandemic, coach shortages, younker mental health issues, and absenteeism.
The bigger question, though, is really PragerU is positioned to remedy nan problem. Its materials attraction mostly connected civics and are not astir capable to switch schoolroom curricula, nor does it person a intends of supplanting schoolroom instruction astatine scale. (“We whitethorn not beryllium location correct now, but we’re headed successful that direction,” Estrin said.)
Nevertheless, PragerU has successfully galvanized galore teachers disappointment by their students’ world performance.
Beanie Geoghegan, who teaches astatine a Christian academy successful Kentucky, said she began utilizing PragerU aft noting that her students lacked basal civics knowledge. “They did not cognize why we celebrated nan Fourth of July. They did not cognize who we declared our independency from,” she said. “I do deliberation that these videos and these supplemental materials are decidedly filling a void.”
Another educator, from a low-income schoolhouse successful Georgia, said she uses PragerU to propulsion her students retired of nan wide “echo chamber” of TikTok and Instagram.
Other instructors who place arsenic blimpish are simply giddy to person materials that lucifer their constituent of view.
“I saw [PragerU] travel done my news provender and fell successful love, peculiarly pinch their five-minute videos,” said Lisa Skisland, a tutor based successful Florida who useful pinch location schooled students. “They don’t politicize … They simply emotion our state and talk astir her.”
Skisland truthful believes successful PragerU that she has encouraged parents to usage it arsenic their children’s exclusive root of civics acquisition for astatine slightest a year, alternatively of accepted textbooks and integer materials. Some of PragerU’s trading seems to promote parents to region their kids from school, and possibly usage its materials instead.
“PragerU is not replacing nan brick-and-mortar element, nan beingness element, of nan schools,” said Streit. “But we are supplementing, and successful immoderate cases substituting, nan existent content: civics, history, literacy.”
PragerU doesn’t way really galore teachers usage its materials successful classrooms, but it is an charismatic vendor successful aggregate states, making its contented easy to download and sanctioned for use. Montana has authorized it arsenic a licensed textbook dealer. In New Hampshire, students usage PragerU to study financial literacy (one of its non-partisan courses), arsenic do tens of thousands of precocious schoolers successful California, which has not endorsed PragerU connected a authorities level.
Streit seized connected these programs arsenic grounds of nan non-profit’s credibility. “How could anybody successful their correct mind opportunity that PragerU is simply a bad institution because it provides free acquisition astir financial literacy to young Americans?” she questioned.
Yet immoderate of its materials prosecute successful clear advocacy. Last year, Oklahoma’s superintendent of acquisition launched a “teacher qualification test” created by PragerU that required trial subjects to explicate why nan favoritism betwixt males and females was “considered important successful areas for illustration sports and privacy”. (That superintendent has since near nan job, and nan trial has been jettisoned successful Oklahoma – though it remains connected PragerU’s website.)
Another example, geared toward simple students, is simply a cheerful animated short from 2022 astir a brace of time-traveling children who meet Christopher Columbus. In nan video, Columbus shrugs disconnected nan grade to which Native Americans were subjugated by European colonizers.
“Slavery is arsenic aged arsenic clip and has taken spot successful each area of nan world,” he tells nan kids. “Being taken arsenic a enslaved is amended than being killed, no? I don’t spot nan problem.” Columbus goes connected to show nan children that it is “estupido” to judge his actions based connected modern conceptions of morality.
Streit says she besides supports school book bans and described astir of nan outlawed materials arsenic “pornography”, though nan bans person included nan celebrated coming-of-age book The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Maus, a schematic caller astir nan Holocaust.
This benignant of subjective advocacy, Lee said, is an effort to coming students pinch “a sanitized version” of history and civics.
To McCarthy, 1 of nan astir concerning elements astir PragerU is that its governmental motivations are not broadly understood, moreover arsenic its materials are progressively taught successful classrooms. “They’re still accepted [in] normative society,” she said.
Some of PragerU’s contented is comparatively non-partisan, for illustration its financial literacy courses, videos astir sports legends, and portions of its history materials. McCarthy believes this seemingly uncontroversial worldly attracts students and educators. From there, though, PragerU acts arsenic a “gateway organization” that surreptitiously brings extremist beliefs into mainstream civilization and whitethorn yet lead students moreover further to nan right. (Streit said PragerU is “not awkward astir our worldview”, and she questioned why its critics person not likewise scrutinized bequest acquisition companies specified arsenic Scholastic.)
Concerns astir PragerU’s accuracy look not to person slowed its description . In galore cases, nan rumor is simple, said Catherine Tebaldi, a postdoctoral interrogator astatine nan University of Luxembourg who studies far-right connection and media.
“Teachers are busy, stressed, [and] ever could usage much resources and much ways to get kids willing successful learning,” she said. And suddenly, present is PragerU, offering free, polished videos and instruction materials.
“There’s been a displacement successful their discourse,” Tebaldi observed. First, PragerU positioned itself arsenic an replacement to accepted instruction. Then, it became a information of that instruction. Now, it seems motivated to go “a main assets for parents”, she said. “That’s a scary displacement for me.”
A period aft Donald Trump’s 2024 election, Streit smiled connected shape astatine nan “southern White House”, Mar-a-Lago, while nan president-elect beamed astatine her side. As nan raucous crowd whistled, nan brace broke into Trump’s signature shimmy: hands balled into fists, arms jerking.
The event, a fundraiser for PragerU, raised much than $1m, and – according to Estrin – Trump took nan microphone to praise Dennis Prager, who had precocious suffered his fall.
A twelvemonth later, aft announcing its collaboration pinch nan Trump management connected nan founding fathers project, PragerU returned to Mar-a-Lago erstwhile more, paying an undisclosed magnitude to nan president’s individual nine for nan privilege. The proceeds from those fundraisers will thief PragerU further grow its reach. Nearly 20 years since its founding, it is hiring astatine a accelerated clip, and Streit hopes to return its contented into schools successful each state. (And beyond: PragerU is now moving connected description plans successful Latin America.)
The galas and nan shimmying mightiness connote an unusually cozy narration betwixt PragerU and Trump, but Estrin and Streit contradict that they are moving a governmental operation. “Did I get anyone elected? No,” Streit said.
“We’re a 501(c)(3)” non-profit, Estrin added. “We don’t person immoderate governmental engagement pinch anybody. That would beryllium against our charter.” If a different statement were successful nan White House, he added, “I would for illustration to deliberation … we would still beryllium involved.”
Realistically, that is simply a very improbable hypothetical. PragerU has been definitive astir its slant. In taxation filings, it describes itself arsenic “the world’s starring blimpish nonprofit that is focused connected changing minds”.
Corso-Gonzales, nan Central Michigan professor, observed that Trump and PragerU person a mutually beneficial relationship. Both entities are motivated to delegitimize institutions they position arsenic progressive successful an effort to push nan state further to nan right, he said. Moreover, “PragerU provides nan Republican statement pinch rapid-response capabilities to disseminate messages masquerading arsenic university-quality material.”
PragerU’s committee and advisory assembly are an eclectic operation of educators and evident rightwing voices, immoderate of whom person posted conspiracy theories connected societal media. That includes Kim Bengard, an investor from California, who has shared memes calling for nan apprehension of canvass workers and arguing that nan January 6 Capitol riots were staged by antifa. (Bengard didn’t respond to requests for comment.)
Last year, Timothy Walsh, a erstwhile Colorado authorities legislature candidate, resigned from nan PragerU committee to judge a position successful nan Trump administration. And previously, ultimate tribunal justness Clarence Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, served connected nan advisory council.
Inside PragerU’s LA offices, astir labor stock a akin sensibility, a erstwhile staffer told nan Guardian. “Whatever Trump said, they were rooting for him,” nan personification recalled.
The worker described an incident successful which 2 PragerU workers loudly discussed why “people should beryllium sent backmost to wherever they came from.” Meanwhile, a Latino personnel of nan IT section stood by uncomfortably arsenic he tried to hole their internet. “It was wild,” nan worker said.
“They’re for illustration young Republicans,” said Edward Lengel, a historiographer who visited PragerU’s office and appeared successful 1 of its videos astir George Washington. “There’s a existent consciousness that they’re portion of a movement, that they’re existent believers.”
Lengel, a self-described blimpish and humanities traditionalist, said he was initially a instrumentality of PragerU’s work. However, its caller bid connected nan founding fathers, which uses artificial intelligence to animate their voices and expected beliefs, has appalled him.
One illustration is simply a video of John Adams, who tells viewers to retrieve that “facts do not attraction astir your feelings”, astir identically parroting nan title of a book by Ben Shapiro, laminitis of nan Daily Wire and a personnel of PragerU’s activity council.
“I emotion nan founders. I deliberation they’re flawed quality beings who nevertheless accomplished awesome things,” Lengel said. “But I deliberation what [PragerU has] done is they’ve betrayed that full concept, and they’ve made it into a joke.”
Lengel said he formally asked PragerU to region his sanction from its website, but his requests were ignored. “The AI ungraded shows they’re not dedicated to learning. They’re dedicated to pushing a governmental constituent of view,” he said.
The problem pinch Lengel’s objections is that fewer PragerU fans are apt to care. America’s polarized authorities person moved into schools, and conflict stations person already been taken.
On 1 broadside are Streit and her admirers, who look to authentically judge that PragerU’s activity tin prevention nan United States from nan precipice of decline. “I deliberation America’s parents feel, for illustration me, that we conscionable request to return matters into our ain hands,” she said.
And past location are those who look connected aghast, arsenic an statement pinch early ties to lipid billionaires, and pinch an occasionally casual narration pinch accuracy, seeks to mold kids astatine their astir impressionable age.
“It’s cradle-to-grave marketing,” Corso-Gonzales said. “They’re trying to perpetually grow this propaganda machine.”
