| Mark Levin | |
| Born | September 21, 1957 |
| Show | The Mark Levin Show |
| Network(s) | ABC Radio Networks |
| Style | Talk radio |
| Country | United States |
| Website | http://marklevinshow.com |
Mark Reed Levin (born September 21, 1957) is an American radio host, author, and political commentator. He is the host of The Mark Levin Show, a nationally-syndicated talk show that airs throughout the United States on Citadel Media (formerly known as ABC Radio Networks). Levin earned his B.A. and J.D. at Temple University.[1][2] His book Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto debuted at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list (hardcover nonfiction) the week of April 3, 2009.[3]
Contents |
Career and honors
Beginning in 1981, Levin served as advisor to several members of President Ronald Reagan's Cabinet, eventually becoming associate director of presidential personnel and ultimately Chief of Staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese; Levin also served as deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of Interior. He has practiced law in the private sector, and is president of the Landmark Legal Foundation in Leesburg, Virginia. He holds a B.A. from Temple University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.
In 2001, the American Conservative Union gave Levin its Ronald Reagan Award.[4][5]
Radio host
The Mark Levin Show
Levin began his radio career in 2002 as a Sunday afternoon host on WABC. His radio show, a mix of political and social commentary from a conservative point of view, covers legal issues in some detail, including decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Levin follows the traditional talk radio model of taking listener phone calls throughout the show. In the fall of 2003, his show filled the 6-8 p.m. (ET) timeslot. As of February 2, 2009, his show was expanded to three hours, to take the 6-9 p.m (ET) timeslot.[6]
"Broadcasting from the underground command post," as his opening voice-over booms, "deep in the bowels of the hidden bunker, somewhere under the brick and steel of a nondescript building," although Levin granted that this place is his home. [7] As of 2006, his show is syndicated by ABC Radio on over 150 stations as well as on the XM America Right and SIRIUS Patriot channels. Levin's show has been rated number one in its time slot in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas - Fort Worth and Washington, D.C.[6] According to Talkers' Magazine, The Mark Levin Show is tied for the fourth most-listened to talk show with The Laura Ingraham Show on commercial radio in the United States, with more than 5.5 million listeners weekly.[8]
Levin has participated in the Freedom Concerts, an annual benefit concert to aid the families of fallen soldiers, and he uses his show to promote the concerts.[9][10] Levin is also involved with Troopathon, a charity which sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. [11]
Levin uses Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong" to start each hour of his show.
Levin occasionally has guests on his show, including Republican politicians, conservative pundits and commentators, and right-leaning entertainers such as Jackie Mason, Jon Voight, and Clint Walker.
Other programs
Levin began his broadcast career as a guest on conservative talk radio programs. For many years he was a frequent contributor of legal opinions to The Rush Limbaugh Show, where Limbaugh referred to him on-air as "F. Lee Levin," a tongue-in-cheek reference to the famous defense attorney F. Lee Bailey. He was also a contributor to The Sean Hannity Show and eventually got a radio slot of his own, on WABC, following Sean Hannity's program. Hannity has nicknamed Mark Levin "The Great One." Levin and Hannity remain frequent contributors to each other's programs, often calling in and facetiously referring to each other as "Doctor Hannity" and "Doctor Levin."
Writer
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto
Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (ISBN 1-41656-285-0) was released on March 24, 2009 and became a #1 New York Times best seller for eleven of twelve weeks,[1] as well as #1 on Nielsen's BookScan.[citation needed] The book explores the question, "What is the meaning of the word 'conservatism'?" and discusses many modern perspectives that attempt to claim the title of true conservative principles. Levin spent nearly 16 months researching and reflecting on this topic to present what he believes should define conservatism.[citation needed] The book includes discussion of a variety of issues that, according to Levin, need to be addressed in the United States to return it to the values and principles that aided its quick maturation into a leader and beacon of liberty to the rest of the world. These values comprise what Levin refers to as his "conservative manifesto." The book addresses topics such as taxation, environmentalism, judicial activism, the federal bureaucracy, public education, immigration, entitlements, national security/foreign policy, faith, and the Constitution.
Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish
In 2007, Levin released a non-political book about his dogs, Pepsi and Sprite, but specifically the book was about Sprite, a Spaniel mix that his wife and son persuaded him to adopt from the local shelter in 2004. The book was titled Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish (ISBN 1-41655-913-2). Rescuing Sprite chronicles Sprite’s health deterioration over the 2006 year.
Men In Black: How The Supreme Court is Destroying America
Levin authored the bestselling book, Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America (ISBN 0-89526-050-6) in 2005, in which Levin promotes the thesis that judges (from all parts of the political spectrum) have "legislated from the bench." National Review described Men in Black as "a brief, accessible history of judicial activism and offers possible solutions to curb it." [12] On the other hand, Slate senior editor and legal correspondent Dahlia Lithwick asserted that "no serious scholar of the court or the Constitution, on the ideological left or right, is going to waste their time engaging Levin's arguments once they've read this book." [13]
Other works
Levin was a contributing editor for National Review Online (NRO) from 2006-2007, and continues to blog occasionally on the NRO site The Corner. In addition to his originalist views on the Constitution, Levin holds conservative beliefs on policy and social issues and often ridiculed President George W. Bush and centrist Republicans in Congress for attempts at moderating their views on social issues under the "compassionate conservatism" label.
References
- ^ Levin, Mark R. (2007). Rescuing Sprite. Simon and Schuster. p. 28. ISBN 1416559132, 9781416559139.
- ^ "Mark R. Levin Bio on National Review Online". http://author.nationalreview.com/bio/?q=MjQyMg==. Retrieved on 12/01/2008.
- ^ "Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times. 2009-05-08. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/books/bestseller/besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1. Retrieved on 2009-05-08.
- ^ CPAC Pleased to Present Annual Reagan Award
- ^ Landmark Legal Foundation
- ^ a b Jeffrey, Terence; Allan Ryskind (2006-10-02). "Mark Levin Takes Talk Radio by Storm". Human Events. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_200610/ai_n17193209. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
- ^ http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=281804-1
- ^ . Talkers magazine. May 2009. http://talkers.com/online/?p=71=The Top Talk Radio Audiences. Retrieved on 2009-05-15.
- ^ The Chronicle Christian Newspaper - Your Christian news authority! - Sean Hannity, Freedom Concert comes to Nokia Theatre
- ^ Montgomery Gentry loves country and sings for 'Freedom'
- ^ Troopathon Homepage
- ^ "Men in Black: Mark R. Levin on the Court", National Review, February 01, 2005,
- ^ Dahlia Lithwick, "The Limbaugh Code: The New York Times best seller no one is talking about.", Slate, April 1, 2005
External links
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