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

“It Gets Worse Every Year,” Says Seattle Resident of Drug Scene on Third Avenue

Jonathan Choe
March 30, 2023
They’re Back On Wednesday, crews were polishing the sidewalks on 3rd Ave near #Seattle City Hall and there were zero tents in sight. Today, a few new tents have already popped right back up and the street hustlers are back. Open air drug use with Mariners fans walking by for Opening Day. Keep sweeping @MayorofSeattle. No other options. Gotta separate the criminal element from the actual homeless who need help. Still waiting for Councilmember Andrew Lewis (@CMAndrewJLewis) to come out with me for a walk through the hood. #Seattle Just Yesterday Aside from the open air drug use which is everywhere, 3rd Ave & Cherry St was looking better. This is just one block from #Seattle City Hall. Mayor needs Read More ›

Tents Creep Back Around Formerly Clear International District Encampment

Jonathan Choe
March 30, 2023
Day After Sweep This evening, the fence is up at the former King St. homeless encampment on @WSDOT property after Wednesday’s clear out in #Chinatown-ID. But multiple tents, a couch, and a generator have already popped up on the other side. These sidewalks are city of #Seattle‘s responsibility. How soon until crews move in and clear this out? Unreal. Residents and biz owners are afraid @govinslee will surrender #CID again. They want @mayorofseattle to continue with on going sweeps. These are the folks who have refused housing options. Still no sign of Councilmember Tammy Morales (@CMTammyMorales.) @JoeMcDermottWA @kcexec @seattlecouncil @kccouncil @CMSaraNelson @CMTMosqueda @D5Juarez @WAStateCommerce The Other Side At the former Jackson St. encampment in #Chinatown-ID, crews were still cleaning the Read More ›

Parents Question WSDOT Leader Over Inaction on Dangerous Ship Canal Encampment

Jonathan Choe
March 30, 2023
Washington State Department of Transportation Confronted Thursday, The Washington State Dept. of Transportation (@WSDOT) gave some members of the media a final tour of the U. District side of the Ship Canal Bridge encampment before it gets fenced off. Some parents showed up to direct pointed questions at WSDOT Region Administrator Brien Nielsen. Otherwise, outreach workers say 14 homeless men and women were placed into housing situations that met their needs. Unfortunately for the folks who showed up recently to this encampment, they did not get housing they wanted so are headed back on to the streets of #SEATTLE. Otherwise, no sign of KCRHA CEO Marc Dones. Have not seen him at a sweep since the 10th and Dearborn removal Read More ›

Police Arrest Man With Baseball Bat Threatening to Kill in Downtown Seattle

Jonathan Choe
March 30, 2023
Attempted Baseball Bat Attack I know Mariners Opening Day is right around the corner, but what happened to me Wednesday morning had nothing to do with America’s past time. I’m on 3rd Ave near #Seattle City Hall, following up on the progress being made to keep tents off the streets. The area has been looking decent. Then I noticed a guy with a mini torch set up trying to light his meth pipe. I go over to interview him. As I am recording, this maniac wielding a baseball bat comes charging at me from across the street saying he wanted to kill me. You can hear the fellas warning me to get out of the area. I have never seen Read More ›

Burien Coalition Forms to Address Crime and Homelessness Crisis 

Jonathan Choe
March 30, 2023
Dozens of frustrated neighbors and business owners are mobilizing in Burien. They formed a coalition on Monday evening to address what they consider to be a failure on the part of city leadership to deal with public safety related to the homelessness crisis. According to attorney John Kannin, the coalition is preparing to launch a class action lawsuit against the City of Burien to recuperate their losses due to a homeless encampment around city hall and the library. Kannin says that taking legal action is “the only way to get any traction.” Although it is set to be cleared by the end of the month, the encampment has been a thorn in the side of the city due to its Read More ›

International District Residents Say Politicians Are Out of Touch With Their Reality

Jonathan Choe
March 29, 2023
Calling Out Politicians Jay Yanamura watched Wednesday morning as @WSDOT crews cleared the King St. encampment in the #Chinatown-ID. He also hoped some elected officials would show up to support this Asian American community as it tries to heal and move forward from all the dangerous homeless encampments that were allowed to flourish on state property. Especially Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) since he showed up to meet with parents at John Stanford Int. School near the Ship Canal encampment, and took a victory lap with a PR event at the 1st. Ave Bridge encampment. But the Governor never showed up. Once again, politicians only coming to #Chinatown-ID when they want dim sum or a photo opportunity during Lunar New Year. Read More ›

14 Accept Housing and Shelter as Ship Canal Encampment is Finally Cleared

Jonathan Choe
March 27, 2023
Sweeps All Week Day 1 in the books at the Ship Canal Bridge encampment on the Wallingford side, right across street from John Stanford Int. School. @WSDOT crews expect to be on this for a few more days. Then on Thursday, they move across I-5 to tackle the U District side. This type of undertaking in the same week is unprecedented for The Washington State Dept. of Transportation. But critics say Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) should not be taking a victory lap since he allowed this all to flourish under his watch. If anything, he should be on an apology tour. Later this week, WSDOT is also moving in to clear two notorious homeless encampments in #Chinatown-ID.#Seattle @MayorofSeattle @kcexec @KC_RHA Read More ›

International District Business Owners Welcome Encampment Clearing After Crime and Violence

Jonathan Choe
March 26, 2023
Breaking Washington State Dept. of Transportation finally SWEEPING two notorious #Chinatown-ID encampments on Tuesday. One at King St. and the other on Jackson St. All on @WSDOT property. These camps have been linked to drug deals, fires, a meth lab explosion, shootings, overdose deaths and other crimes. Residents and biz owners have heavily criticized @KC_RHA CEO Marc Dones for slow outreach due to his “housing first” ideology, disappointed in Mayor Bruce Harrell (@MayorofSeattle) for not taking control from the state sooner, and say Gov. Jay Inslee( @GovInslee) should not be taking a victory lap since he allowed situation to flourish for so long. Summit Sierra High School students also walked through this insanity for nearly a year. This Asian American Read More ›

Michael Medved Interviews Stephen Meyer on Return of the God Hypothesis

Michael Medved
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 Read More ›

Conserving Great Ideas

An Interview with David Gelernter on Great Minds with Michael Medved
Michael Medved
January 4, 2019
To be a conservative, says Yale polymath David Gelernter, is to “give due credit to the ideas that created the civilization we live within.” A simple and beautiful summary. In a new podcast episode of Great Mind with Michael Medved, Dr. Gelernter talks with our host Mr. Medved about the shocking irresponsibility in the failure to introduce young people to the Read More ›

Stephen Meyer on the Return of the God Hypothesis

Assessing the Scientific Case for God on Great Minds with Michael Medved
Stephen C. Meyer
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 Read More ›

Stephen Meyer’s Next Frontier

Stephen Meyer on Great Minds with Michael Medved
Stephen C. Meyer
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.

Richard Weikart on Hitler’s Religion

Michael Medved inteviews Richard Weikart on Whether Hitler was a Christian
Richard Weikart
September 13, 2018
Adolf Hitler is long dead. Nevertheless, his name is still invoked every day as a rhetorical smear. By drawing usually dubious connections to Hitler and the Holocaust, partisans charge their opponents with guilt by association. This unfortunate cultural twitch has even been canonized as Godwin’s Law or reductio ad Hitlerum. At the top of the list, Hitler’s supposed Catholicism is often used as Read More ›

Religious Robots and Free Americans

Michael Medved and David Gelernter on Human and American Exceptionalism
Michael Medved
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 Read More ›

The Conception of Braveheart

Michael Medved and Randall Wallace Revisit Braveheart and the Making of Transcendent Films
Michael Medved
May 31, 2018
Michael Medved and long-time friend Randall Wallace discuss the fortunes of the once robust business of movie entertainment and the current exodus of writers and directors toward television. The ensuing conversation revisits the birth of the idea of Braveheart in Edinburgh Castle, the initial meeting with Mel Gibson, and the importance of having the conviction to be faithful to one’s Read More ›

The ‘War on Women’ Failed in 2012

And there's no reason to believe it will work in 2014. The exit polls tell the real story.
Michael Medved
April 17, 2014
President Obama is suddenly upset about the alleged wage gap between men and women, but he’s not responding to a national economic crisis. Instead, he is attempting to revive the “war on women” theme that, according to Washington wisdom, helped carry Democrats to victory in 2012 and might do again in 2014. If this narrative were true, the White House Read More ›

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

Stephen C. Meyer
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 Read More ›

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

Stephen C. Meyer
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 Read More ›