Mark Levin
Mark Reed Levin (born September 21, 1957) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, lawyer, and bestselling author. His nationally-syndicated talk show, The Mark Levin Show, airs throughout the United States on ABC Radio Networks.
Professional career
Commencing 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. He has practiced law in the private sector, and is president of the Landmark Legal Foundation in Leesburg, Virginia. His radio career began in 2002 as a Sunday evening host on WABC. Since the fall of 2003, he's been in the weekday 6-8 p.m. (ET) timeslot.[1]
In 2001, the American Conservative Union gave Levin its Ronald Reagan Award.[2][3]
Books and beliefs
Levin authored the bestselling book, Men In Black: How The Supreme Court Is Destroying America (ISBN 0-89526-050-6), in which Levin claims that members of the judicial branch have "legislated from the bench." Slate senior editor Dahlia Lithwick wrote "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." [4]
Levin advocates originalist constitutional interpretation. He also advocates the unitary executive theory, and often accuses members of the Congress of attempting to stack the Supreme Court with "activist judges".
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, often ridiculing President George W. Bush and centrist Republicans in Congress for attempts at moderating their views on social issues under the "compassionate conservatism" label.
In 2007, Levin released a non-political book about his dogs, specifically Sprite, titled Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover's Story of Joy and Anguish. [5]
Contributions to other radio shows
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 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" or "Doctor Levin." (Levin received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Temple University Beasley School of Law.)
Radio show
Levin's radio show is a mix of political and social commentary from a conservative point of view. He also 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. As of 2006, his show is syndicated by ABC Radio on over 150 stations as well as on the America Right and SIRIUS Patriot channels. Levin's show has been rated number one in its time slot in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas and Washington, D.C.[1]
Levin has also participated in several benefit concerts to aid the families of fallen soldiers, and uses his show to promote them.[6][7]
According to Talkers' Magazine, The Mark Levin Show is tied for the fifth-most-listened to talk show in the United States, with more than 5.5 million listeners weekly. [8]
Mark Levin's show uses the guitar riff from Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong" as a theme song and bumper music.
Mark Levin makes his shows available free of charge on his web site in both streaming and DRM-free mp3 formats. This is unusual for a nationally syndicated talk radio show.
References
- ^ a b Jeffrey, Terence (2006-10-02). "Mark Levin Takes Talk Radio by Storm". Human Events. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ CPAC Pleased to Present Annual Reagan Award
- ^ Landmark Legal Foundation
- ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2116087
- ^ ISBN 1-41655-913-2
- ^ The Chronicle Christian Newspaper - Your Christian news authority! - Sean Hannity, Freedom Concert comes to Nokia Theatre
- ^ Montgomery Gentry loves country and sings for 'Freedom'
- ^ http://www.talkers.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=34
External links
- Mark Levin Show, The Official Mark Levin Website
- And Another Thing . . . on National Review Online, Levin's blog
- Landmark Legal Foundation