Michael Medved

Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth & Poverty

Michael Medved is a nationally-broadcast talk radio host, podcaster and best-selling author. With an audience growing to 5 million weekly listeners, his daily three-hour current events and pop culture show has placed for two decades among the ten most important talk shows in the United States. His daily podcast, “In the Light of History,” available with his radio show (commercial-free) to a growing list of subscribers, provides historical context for the news and analysis he covers. 

He is also the author of thirteen non-fiction books, including the national bestsellers What Really Happened to the Class of '65?, Hollywood Vs. America, The Ten Big Lies About America, and, most recently in 2018, The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic. Its companion volume, God's Hand in America, is to be published later this year.

He is a member of the Board of Contributors of USA Today, and his pieces appear frequently in The Wall Street Journal and Commentary. 

Following publication of his three books on films, Medved served for six years as Chief Film Critic for the New York Post, and for twelve years as co-host of Sneak Previews, the weekly movie review show on PBS television. His commentaries on hot-button issues and reviews of new films are available in his free weekly newsletter and on his website, MichaelMedved.com.

 Born in Philadelphia, Medved attended public schools in San Diego and Los Angeles before entering Yale at age 16. After completing his degree, with honors, in American history, he attended Yale Law School where his classmates included Bill and HIllary Clinton. Later, during 17 years as a synagogue president in the Los Angeles area, he co-founded Pacific Jewish Center and the Emmanuel Streisand School - later renamed Yeshivat Ohr Eliyahu. Since 1996 Medved and his wife, psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Diane Medved, have lived in the Seattle area, where they raised their three children, and now enjoy helping with their two small grandchildren.

Archives

Michael Medved Interviews Stephen Meyer on Return of the God Hypothesis

Michael Medved and Stephen C. Meyer
April 1, 2021
In a series of segments on the Michael Medved show, Stephen Meyer discusses his latest book, Return of the God Hypothesis. Segment 1: Medved prompts Meyer to explain why the God hypothesis has necessarily returned as science has advanced in the last century. Meyer explains how three major findings in recent scientific study point to a powerful, designing intellect behind the universe. (Air date: 2/12/21) Segment 2: When did we get the idea that science is at war with belief in God? When Medved poses this question, Meyer describes how this so-called “warfare model” arose fairly late in the history of science. He also explains that it diverges sharply from the thinking of the founders of modern science, many of whom embraced religious faith and found inspiration for their …

Stephen Meyer on the Return of the God Hypothesis

Assessing the Scientific Case for God on Great Minds with Michael Medved
Stephen C. Meyer and Michael Medved
September 27, 2018
Biology reveals evidence of design, Dr. Stephen Meyer explains in this conversation with Michael Medved, but it can’t take us very far in identifying the source of that design. Proponents of intelligent design have been clear about that. For an idea about who or what the designer might be, you need to turn to other scientific fields — physics and cosmology — that consider the ultra-finely tuned laws that permit a livable planet in the first place. The awesome design extends from the origin of the universe, down to the tiniest particles. Drawing from physics and cosmology, Meyer sketches the evidence for theism. Show Notes Timestamps more closely approximate the audio than the video. 03:05 | Doesn’t “The Return of the God Hypothesis” confirm the …

Stephen Meyer’s Next Frontier

Stephen Meyer on Great Minds with Michael Medved
Stephen C. Meyer and Michael Medved
September 26, 2018
Steve Meyer is well known as a leading proponent of intelligent design, the scientific alternative to theories of unguided biological evolution. He talks here about his exciting and important next book. Meyer is ready to advance the discussion of why life exists to a whole new level.

Religious Robots and Free Americans

Michael Medved and David Gelernter on Human and American Exceptionalism
Michael Medved and David Gelernter
June 14, 2018
Of his many specialties, in this episode Michael inquires into David Gelernter’s professional preoccupation: artificial intelligence. Gelernter recalls the pioneering role of his father, warns of the perils of letting children be captive to flickering screens, and remarks on whether AI robots can be spiritual seekers. Gelernter also emphasizes the key role of the Judeo-Christian Western tradition in creating a free and idealistic context in which technology is primed to explode. A Polymathic Mind Yale computer scientist David Gelernter is truly a great mind whose interests and knowledge similarly know no bounds. He is a novelist, painter, political commentator, religious thinker, and much more. His books include Drawing Life: Surviving the Unabomber, 1939: The Lost World of the …

Stephen Meyer on the Michael Medved show discussing teaching intelligent design and academic freedom

Stephen C. Meyer and Michael Medved
October 8, 2013
Dr. Stephen Meyer on the Michael Medved show discusses two recent incidents involving the idea of academic freedom. The first is a scandal at Ball State University, in which physics professor Eric Hedin was, against university policy, censored for his interdisciplinary course Boundaries of Science. The second is the cancellation of an elective, not-for-credit Philosophy course offered at Amarillo College titled “Evolution vs. Intelligent Design.” The decision to cancel the course at Amarillo College was the result of bullying by a local agnostics and atheists group called the Freethought Oasis. Dr. Meyer also engages questions from callers about research presented in Darwin’s Doubt, and about the establishment of intelligent design (ID) as a scientific theory. …

Stephen Meyer on the Michael Medved Show discusses materialism and how it affects our constitution

Stephen C. Meyer and Michael Medved
September 26, 2013
On the Michael Medved show, Dr. Stephen Meyer discusses the conflict between the materialistic worldview espoused by such thinkers as Darwin, Marx, Freud, and the principles articulated in the Constitution. Stephen Meyer is the author of The New York Times best selling book Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the case for Intelligent Design (HarperOne, 2013). For more information on the book and to order your copy visit …

Column: Fondly remembering Grandpa’s taxes

Michael Medved
November 27, 2012
Americans have always reveled in nostalgia about the music, fashion or favorite foods of bygone eras, but a sudden yearning for the high tax rates of yesteryear seems new and strange. While some opinion leaders pine openly for the tax system that once claimed a big majority of income from top earners, their cozy, communitarian vision offers a deeply distorted view of those good old days. In his defiant “Twinkie Manifesto,” professor Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winner in economics, affectionately cites “the ’50s — the Twinkie Era” for “lessons that remain relevant in the 21st century.” He particularly applauds the fact that “incomes in the top brackets faced a marginal tax rate of 91%,” and later 70% in the 1960s. He associates that …

Should U.S. Back the Party of Lawyers?

Michael Medved
September 12, 2012
The Democrats who gathered in Charlotte tried to cast themselves as the party of working people, or of struggling middle-class families, or of aggrieved and downtrodden Americans in every corner of the economy. In presidential politics, however, a more accurate designation would identify the Dems as the party of lawyers: with the re-nomination of Obama and Biden, all six available spots on the last three national tickets have gone to working attorneys. Reaching all the way back to 1980, 14 of 18 Democratic nominations for president and vice president went to members of the bar. The domination of party leadership by the legal profession would have looked even more lopsided had Al Gore managed to complete his studies at Vanderbilt Law School before capturing (at age 28) the congressional …

What the Evangelicals Give the Jews

Michael Medved
May 1, 2012
Many Jewish voters this November will find themselves at a crossroads: Will they accept their deep disappointment with Barack Obama and vote for his reelection, or will they overcome their own discomfort with Christian evangelicals and vote for the Republican candidate? The irrepressible argument about the appropriate relationship between the Jewish community and Christian conservatives has returned with a vengeance, forcing a fresh response to a fundamental question: Should Jews view our born-again fellow citizens as natural allies or inevitable adversaries? Unfortunately, the familiar grounds of this debate rely for the most part on inaccurate assumptions and proceed inexorably to illogical conclusions. Advocates of cooperation and coalition-building — call them …

Romney and the Real Wealth Gap

Michael Medved
February 3, 2012
The biggest challenge for Mitt Romney isn’t that America hates the rich; it’s that the public hates the undeserving rich, and deeply resents privileged punks and politically connected connivers who never performed constructive service to make their millions. If the GOP contender convinces people that he amassed his fortune through hard work, building businesses and creating jobs, they’ll cheerfully forgive his vast wealth (just as they did with former Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy) and even accept the surprisingly low (but entirely legal) percentage he paid in federal <taxes as a quirk of our crazy system that he pledges to reform. If, on the other hand, the impression solidifies that the former governor got ahead through …

The Secrets of Tebow Hatred

Hoping that the hero stumbles in terms of personal integrity seems cruel, but it's more acceptable to expect onfield performance that gives evidence of mortality.
Michael Medved
January 14, 2012
The NFL is generously stocked with forgiven felons, including millionaire wife beaters and dog killers. So how did a clean-living quarterback with deep commitments to charitable service and miraculous last-minute victories become the most controversial player in the league? It’s easy to see why legions of loyalists lavish love on 24-year-old Tim Tebow, who leads his underdog Denver Broncos in a crucial playoff game against the New England Patriots on Saturday night. Yet other fiercely focused fans feel no hesitation at expressing their contempt and loathing for a remarkable athlete whose behavior on field and off exemplifies the values of hard work, fearlessness and concern for the downtrodden. A popular website called TebowHaters.com serves as a clearinghouse for denunciations, …

GOP is Missing Opportunity with Latinos

Michael Medved
September 26, 2011
The most disappointing moment in the televised GOP debate two weeks ago in Tampa came when none of the presidential candidates managed to provide a strong, positive answer to an audience question about how Republicans should build support among Hispanic voters. This feeble response ought to worry all conservatives who hope to defeat Barack Obama in next year’s elections. According to exit polls, received 67% of Latino votes in 2008, and if he replicates that success in 2012 (when the growing Hispanic population will make up aneven larger share of the electorate) his victory will be assured. Republicans can feel encouraged, however, that the Gallup Poll shows Obama’s approval among Hispanicsdipping below 50% for the first time. But spreading …

Embracing Observance of Sabbath

Michael Medved
August 15, 2011
THE GIFT OF REST: REDISCOVERING THE BEAUTY OF THE SABBATH By Sen. Joe Lieberman, with David Klinghoffer Howard Books /Simon & Schuster, $26, 236 pages Reviewed by Michael Medved   If you’ve ever felt the yen to celebrate a Jewish holy day in a festive, traditional style, this marvelous book will enable you to approximate the experience – without calories from rich, filling food or risks of leaving wine stains on the white tablecloth. Your host, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, comes across as a chatty, good-natured, Old World uncle who’s free with advice, anecdote and sentimental reminiscence. Like most conversations around a religious family’s Sabbath table, the discussion rambles and wanders, with amusing, earthy or insightful asides of sometimes dubious …

Media Coverage Distorts Issues in “Settler” Murders

Michael Medved
March 16, 2011
Distorted media coverage of the recent terrorist assault on the Israeli community of Itamar compounded the pain of an unspeakably brutal crime. On Friday night shortly after 10 PM, just hours after the commencement of the Jewish Sabbath, two knife-wielding intruders broke into the modest one story home of the Fogel family, murdering the mother and father in their bed along with their three month old baby girl. They then stormed one of the children’s rooms, slashing to death two boys, ages three and eleven. Two other sleeping children – aged two and eight – managed to survive when the terrorists fled the scene before they entered the other bedroom. The oldest child, a twelve year old daughter, also escaped death because of her participation in a Sabbath program of her religious youth …

Reality Shatters Obama’s Happy-Talk Agenda

Michael Medved
February 2, 2011
With America’s chief Arab ally teetering on the brink of chaos and collapse, with unemployment stubbornly stuck above 9 percent, with an entire economic system facing cataclysmic breakdown unless Congress simultaneously cuts spending and raises the debt ceiling, will President Barack Obama persist in his feeble efforts to rally the nation with expensive programs for solar panels and high-speed rail? In his State of the Union address, the president suggested that this is our “Sputnik moment.” Actually, it’s beginning to feel like our “fall of the shah moment.” In the spirit of an embarrassing television relic of the unlamented ’70s, discerning White House observers might proclaim: “Welcome Back, Carter.” Administration apologists insist …

What the Mariners and America Have in Common

Michael Medved
September 16, 2010
Those of us who love the sport insist that baseball’s status as our distinctive “national pastime” means that a visit to any major league game can help place America’s present predicament in proper perspective. That’s particularly true if your favorite team has been going through a lousy season that mirrors the nation’s own recent economic and political struggles. My hometown Seattle Mariners certainly qualify as major flops in the world of baseball: Though tabbed by many pre-season experts as likely winners in the American League West, they’re mired deep in last place, 25 or so games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers, while scoring fewer runs than any team in baseball. If any club could sour you on the pleasures of the …

Lives of Toil and Stress, Not Self Indulgence

Michael Medved
August 12, 2009
In pop culture, images of wealthy executives usually connect the execs with yachts and swimming pools, golf-courses and ski lodges, Gulfstreams, and absurdly expensive restaurants. A more accurate portrayal would emphasize long hours, BlackBerry interruptions, punishing stress, lost sleep and missed family occasions. In ground-breaking work, Dalton Conley, chair of the sociology department at New York University, reveals that “it is now the rich who are the most stressed out and the most likely to be working the most. Perhaps for the first time since we’ve kept track of such things, higher-income folks work more hours than lower-wage earners do.” In the New York Times (September 2, 2008) he cited a study by economists Peter Kuhn and Fernando Lozano, showing that since 1980 the …

The Michael Medved Show: Signature in the Cell

Michael Medved and Stephen C. Meyer
June 29, 2009
Dr. Meyer discusses the information revolution and the challenge it presents for Darwinism with Michael Medved, expounding the argument for intelligent design from information. Transcript Speaker 1 (00:06):And now America’s number one show on pop culture and politics. This is the Michael Medved show. And Michael Medved (00:15):Another great day in this greatest nation on God’s green earth, where so many of the great issues facing this nation, you hear on the side of change on the side of Obama aneurysm, the frequent chorus you will hear is science says, the scientists say we are following science. That was certainly the case with the huge cap and trade bill that was rammed through the house of representatives on Friday, still a chance to beat this thing. And I …