Michael Medved | |
|---|---|
 Medved in 2016 | |
| Born | (1948-10-03)October 3, 1948 (age 76) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Yale University (BA) San Francisco State University (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Author, political commentator, radio show host, film critic |
| Spouse | Diane Elvenstar |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | David Medved (father) |
| Website | michaelmedved |
Michael S. Medved (born October 3, 1948) is an American radio show host, author,political commentator, and film critic.[1] Histalk show,The Michael Medved Show, issyndicated from his home stationKTTH inSeattle.[2] It is available viaCable Radio Network’s channel CRN1.[3] It was syndicated viaGenesis Communications Network[4] until GCN’s closure on May 5, 2024.[5]
Michael Medved was born on October 3, 1948, inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Renate (née Hirsch) andDavid Bernard Medved. His father was aNavyveteran and scientist. Raised in a Jewish home, his family's origin isGerman andUkrainian.[6][7][8] The surname Medved means "bear" in manySlavic languages. Medved was raised inSan Diego, California,[9][10] where his father worked as a defense contractor forConvair andNASA. After the family moved toLos Angeles,California, he attendedPalisades High School. Medved enteredYale University as a 16-year-old undergraduate. He received his B.A. with honors in 1969, and later attendedYale Law School, though he did not finish hisJ.D. degree.[11] Medved volunteered for the 1968 presidential campaign ofRobert F. Kennedy, and was present athis assassination.[12][13]
After his first year of law school, Medved left to work as a head speechwriter for diplomatJoseph Duffey in his unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate,[14][15] and then for four years as a speechwriter andpolitical consultant. Afterpolitical campaign work, including a position as an aide to CongressmanRon Dellums, Medved worked in advertising, and coordinated a campaign to recruit more African Americans and Hispanics to the police departments ofSan Francisco,Oakland andBerkeley.[11]
After writing more than 40 articles for the bookThe People's Almanac, Medved wroteWhat Really Happened to the Class of '65?, withDavid Wallechinsky. Focusing on the post-graduation lives of 30 of Medved's Palisades High School classmates who were featured in a 1965 cover story inTime, the book became a bestseller in 1976. The book also became the basis for a weekly television series onNBC that ran for 13 weeks in 1978.[11] As a result of some screenwriting work for feature film projects and television miniseries, Medved joined theWriters Guild of America.[citation needed]
Medved wroteThe Shadow Presidents: The Secret History of the Chief Executives and Their Top Aides (1979), a study of the leadingWhite House assistants since the establishment of the presidential staff in 1857. The book included interviews with the chiefs of staff of presidentsTruman,Eisenhower,Kennedy,Johnson,Nixon, andFord. After the interviews, Medved continued his involvement in politics, befriending Ford's chief of staff,Dick Cheney, affiliating himself with theRepublican Party, and campaigning forRonald Reagan in 1980.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 After Words interview with Medved onThe 10 Big Lies About America, December 6, 2008,C-SPAN | |
| Presentation by Medved onThe 5 Big Lies About American Business, December 9, 2009 |
In 1984, Medved wroteHospital: The Hidden Lives of a Medical Center Staff, which was discussed inTime, onABC'sNightline, andGood Morning America. The book focused on 30 staff people who worked together in a California teaching hospital. In collaboration with his brother, Harry Medved, he wrote four satirical books about movies:The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (1979),The Golden Turkey Awards (1980),The Hollywood Hall of Shame (1984) andSon of Golden Turkey Awards (1986).
In November 2008, Medved released his eleventh nonfiction book,The 10 Big Lies About America: Combating Destructive Distortions About Our Nation. The follow-up volume,The 5 Big Lies About American Business: Combating Smears Against the Free-Market Economy, was released in December 2009.[16]
As a film reviewer, Medved hosted a weekly spot onCNN (1980–83) and a show on BritishChannel 4 network,The Worst of Hollywood. His commentary centered on what he considered bad movies, particularly in "The Golden Turkey Awards". The film selected by the Medved Brothers as The Worst Film of All Time,Plan 9 from Outer Space, has become acult classic.
In 1984, Medved joinedSneak Previews, the weekly movie review show originated byGene Siskel andRoger Ebert, co-hosting it for 12 years withJeffrey Lyons.
In 1993, Medved became chief film critic for theNew York Post, a position he held for five years, during which he reviewed more than 700 movies for the paper.
Afterward, Medved played a prominent role in some movie-related controversies. He became an outspoken defender ofMel Gibson's film,The Passion of the Christ (2004), which had been criticized as antisemitic by many prominent Jewish groups. AfterGibson's DUI arrest in July 2006, Medved wrote that he felt "betrayed" by Gibson's antisemitic outburst and urged Gibson to seek "reconciliation" with the Jewish community.[17]
Some film critics, including Roger Ebert andJim Emerson, criticized Medved for mentioning the "right to die/assisted suicide" theme inClint Eastwood's Oscar-winningMillion Dollar Baby, viewing Medved's statements as aplot spoiler. Medved said that the inclusion of this theme in the film was "deeply misleading" because it was marketed as aRocky-esque tale of a plucky female underdog in the boxing arena.[18] He said he carefully avoided revealing the final turn in the plot, but felt honor-bound to inform his listeners and readers about the movie's content and point of view. Ebert criticized Medved, saying he "has for a long time been a political commentator, not a movie critic."[19]
While focusing on the theme of his next novel,Hollywood vs. America, radio talk show hostRush Limbaugh interviewed Medved and then asked him to guest-host his talk show.[citation needed] In 1996 Medved was offered his own local show on a major Seattle radio station. In his 2005 autobiographical bookRight Turns: From Liberal Activist to Conservative Champion in 35 Unconventional Lessons, Medved says he welcomed the chance to speak to a wider audience about politics and morality, which were a focus of his writing. The show broadcast from Seattle and syndicated throughSalem Radio Network.
His three-hour daily show was broadcast on 200 stations coast to coast and reached more than 4.75 million listeners weekly.[20] For ten consecutive years,Talkers Magazine listed Medved as one of its "Heavy Hundred" most important American talk show hosts, and in 2011 tied for eighth place in its ranking of talk hosts by audience size.[21] Salem Radio announced on November 8, 2018, thatSebastian Gorka would take Medved's time slot in 2019. Medved said that his show would continue in a "new format"[22] at the same time (3–6 p.m.Eastern Time). His show continues in that time slot on fewer stations,[23][24] but as of 2022, Medved remains in theTalkers Heavy Hundred, at position 92.[25]
Medved describes the show as "Your Daily Dose of Debate", often focused on listeners who call in to debate issues with the host. Guests have included people generally considered left of center, includingNoam Chomsky,Michael Moore,John Shelby Spong,Oliver Stone,Warren Beatty,Ralph Nader,Barbara Boxer,Al Gore,Madeleine Albright,Ben Cohen,George Galloway,Thom Hartmann,Naomi Wolf, andAl Franken. Guests generally considered right of center includeRobert Spencer,Condoleezza Rice, andDinesh D'Souza.
Medved describes himself as "your cultural crusader on politics and pop culture" and common themes on his show include current events, politics, American history and the entertainment industry. He reviews four or more new movies or DVD releases per week. The program also includes a weekly "Disagreement Day", focusing on callers from around the country who wish to contest anything Medved has stated in his written articles or on the radio, and a monthly (when the moon is full) "Conspiracy Day", when callers from across the country expose what they consider the "hidden forces" behind "perplexing and painful present events". He gives historical perspective to current events on the show, and has recorded vignettes on major historical events and people in U.S. history, such as theAmerican Revolution andAbraham Lincoln.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| Booknotes interview with Medved onHollywood vs. America, December 27, 1992,C-SPAN |
Medved writes a regular column forUSA Today and is a member of the Board of Contributors forUSA Today's Forum Page, part of the newspaper's Opinion section. He writes occasionalop-ed pieces forThe Wall Street Journal and blogged daily atTownhall. He also wrote the 1992 bookHollywood vs. America, a condemnation of violence in cinema.[26]
Medved reportedly rearranged his schedule in 1993 to "devote time to a run for Congress".[27]
In October 2007, Medved drew fire from critics[citation needed] after publishing a controversial column about the history ofslavery in the United States, in which he wrote, "No, it's not true that the 'peculiar institution' featured kind-hearted, paternalistic masters and happy, dancing field-hands, any more than it's true that America displayed unparalleled barbarity or enjoyed disproportionate benefit from kidnapping and exploiting innocent Africans."[28]
Medved has argued that American Jewish voters do not necessarily embrace candidates based on their support for the state ofIsrael as much as they passionately oppose candidates based on their identification with Christianity, especially theChristian Right.[29][30] He has also said that theOrthodox community, which he says is less than 10% of the U.S. Jewish population, "gives nearly as disproportionate support to Republicans as their Reform, Conservative, and secular Jewish neighbors give to Democrats" and that this is because "The Orthodox feel no instinctive horror at political alliances with others who make faith the center of their lives".[30]
Medved criticizedDonald Trump's2016 presidential campaign, taking aNever Trump stance.[31] He continued to criticize Trump after the election.[32]
In 2024, when Trump was elected to a second term, Medved said, "Trump understood far better than anybody on the other side did that the American people were angry, that they were in a bad mood", adding, "They wanted change."[33] He also said that issues like immigration and the economy were also deciding factors in Trump's reelection.[33]
Medved is married to Diane Elvenstar Medved; the couple have three children. Diane is aconvert toOrthodox Judaism.[34][35]
In 1991, Medved co-foundedToward Tradition in Washington state with Orthodox rabbiDaniel Lapin and lobbyistJack Abramoff.[36] In October 1994, it co-sponsored the conference "Toward a New Alliance: American Jews and Political Conservatism", with 300 attendees, featuring panelistsGrover Norquist (Americans for Tax Reform),Ralph Reed (Christian Coalition),William Kristol (editor,The Weekly Standard), andDavid Horowitz (Center for the Study of Popular Culture). Also with Lapin, Medved helped revitalize thePacific Jewish Center, an Orthodox synagogue inVenice, California. For fifteen years, Medved served as president of PJC, which states that its mission is outreach to unaffiliated and disconnected Jews. In his bookRight Turns: Unconventional Lessons from a Controversial Life, he states that his commitment to religion led to his conservative political outlook. He is abaal teshuva (returnee to Orthodox Judaism).[37]
In November 2007, Medved became a senior fellow at theDiscovery Institute, hub of theintelligent design movement.[38][39]
On January 30, 2015, Medved announced during his live radio broadcast that he would take an indefinite leave of absence from the show to undergo treatment forthroat cancer.[40] He returned to the air on April 21.[41]
Medved endorsedDemocratic presidential nomineeKamala Harris in the2024 presidential election.[42]
unconventional lessons from a controversial life Michael Medved'.
