Right Turns: From Liberal Activist to Conservative Champion in 35 Unconventional Lessons

by Michael Medved

Nationally syndicated talk-radio host and noted film critic Michael Medved has taken an extraordinary journey from liberal activist to outspoken conservative. Along the way he has earned millions of admirers—and more than his share of enemies—with his disarming wit and slashing arguments on issues of pop culture and politics.

In the candid, illuminating Right Turns , Medved chronicles the lessons and adventures that changed him from a Vietnam protest leader to an optimistic promoter of American patriotism, from secularism to religion, from adventurous single guy to doting husband and father. He skewers leftist orthodoxy, revealing why the Right is right and why his former colleagues on the Left remain hopelessly wrong on every cultural, political, and social issue.

Genres: Politics, Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Autobiography

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

American radio show host, author, political commentator, and film critic.

MICHAEL MEDVED’s daily three-hour radio program, The Michael Medved Show, reaches five million listeners on more than three hundred stations coast to coast.

He is the author of twelve other books, including the bestsellers The 10 Big Lies About America, Hollywood vs. America, Hospital, and What Really Happened to the Class of ’65?

He is a member of USA Today’s board of contributors, is a former chief film critic for the New York Post, and, for more than a decade, cohosted Sneak Previews, the weekly movie-review show on PBS. Medved is an honors graduate of Yale with departmental honors in American history. He lives with his family in the Seattle area.

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a political friend who used to define this type of literature as " I was a commie dupe but now I know better". Michael Medved, and I have described my misadventures with him on other GOODREADS posts, herewith tells the tale of how a 1960s Jewish high school kid and 1970s progressive on Campus (POC) became one of America's leading spokesmen for Reaganite conservatism. Michael had his "Saul on the way to Damascus moment" when he realized that maybe, just maybe, the New Left had gone too far in indicting a whole nation, that would be the USA, for genocide, racism, foreign wars and coups. Then there's his much flaunted "fear of a black planet", a fixation he shares with fellow ex-leftist turned right-wing wacko David Horowitz. Mike, a one-time film critic (his book THE 100 WORST FILMS OF ALL TIME still makes me roar with laughter) blames liberal Hollywood for "making America look like a land of gangsters, corrupt politicians and businessmen". This is the same man who wrote a piece on "Hollywood's Role in 9/11", seriously suggesting American movies gave foreigners funny and dangerous ideas about us, and US. I admire the courage it takes to change one's politics in another direction. I do not admire Mike biting the hand of those, from his readers and listeners to the "Hollywood Anti-American Crowd", that feeds him.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book, but somewhat uneven in interest level. It is, at its core, an autobiography of Michael Medved. The book starts out, and is probably most interesting, describing his childhood through college years at Yale, including his firsthand experiences with personas such as John Kerry, Hillary Rodham, Bill Clinton, and many other current day notables. As the book progresses the story begins to drag into less interesting reading, although addressing issues no less important to Michael's life story, concerning his increasing personal involvement with Orthodox Judism, re-establishing decaying synagogues, etc. This leads Michael to an increasingly conservative social viewpoint, which he gets the opportunity to voice increasingly through his books and his movie reviews. It is his social conservativism that ultimately brings him to the realization that the Democratic Party, to which he and his family devoted so much time and energy to in his earlier years, no longer reflects the viewpoints he holds true. Fortunately, the book becomes more interesting in the final chapters as Michael describes his tenure as a national movie reviewer on the PBS series Sneak Previews, and the reaction to his socially conservative reviews by Hollywood and his fellow movie reviewers (who, for the most part, never accept Michael as one of their colleagues), and the path that has led him to being a nationally syndicated, conservative radio talk show host.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An autobiographer of a Vietnam War protesting liberal who did A 180 degree turn into a right wing talk show host conservative. He’s also the guy who rated movies.

[Sweetness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Medved chronicles his life which will have you glued to his book from start to finish. From his early childhood, Michael explains how he went from becoming an aspiring attorney, to nationally recognized movie critic, then finally to conservative radio talk show host. And in between each meaningful job he attained, he takes you through his journey of important decisions he encountered with personal relationships and career decisions. In this captivating autobiography, you gain a better understanding how an ardent liberal can make "The Right Turn" which ultimately put him on course to become one of the nation's strongest conservative voices.

[Harry Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an engaging memoir. The "lessons" are chapters, each focused on some aspect of the author's life, and arranged in roughly chronological order. Medved describes the arc of his life as a journey from liberal to conservative. He is obviously a bright guy, and displays genuine concern for the health of our society. At the same time, there is that in our society that relishes a good fight, and Medved appears to have developed a talent for finding and engaging on issues in a way that has provided him with a good living. I don't in the least begrudge him this; it's that my personal jouney followed the exact opposite arc -- from conservative to liberal. From that standpoint, my criticism of Medved's book is that he is selective in his reminisces about the positive aspects of the right, and equally so about the shortcomings of the left. Because the book is of a 2004 vintage, there is no indication of his view regarding the more recent political and philosophical attitudes being expressed on the right. One who listened to his daily radio show would no doubt know this.

Some thoughts, pro and con, about the content of the book. Lesson 4, "Business isn't Exploitive, It's Heroic," extols the virtues of small businesses. I have no quarrel with what is said, but he seems to extent that umbrella to cover all business. You can do that only if you ignore the sad history of sweatshops, exploitation of agricultural workers, willful violations of mine safety, a variety of abuses of the environment and other instances corporate misconduct.

Lesson 11, "The 1960s Counterculture Promoted Stupidity and Self-Destruction," by way of contrast illustrates the nature of conservatism in the fundamental sense of retaining what has been demonstrated to be of value when the culture around you is in a state of upheaval. Lesson 20, "Affirmative Action Is a Racist Scam," relates an experience with someone taking unscrupulous advantage of affirmative action provision in the law. Inferring from this experience that affirmative action is a poor tool for overcoming discrimination is one thing. Offering an alternative solution is quite another, and totally lacking.

Lesson 21, "Police See Reality More Accurately Than Professors," relates Medved's experience working with Bay Area police. His key conclusion: more vigorous policing puts more violent criminals behind bars. This is correct, as far as it goes, but fails to examine questions of our propensity to jail nonviolent offenders or periodic instances of police abuse. Lesson 22, "Everything Worth Defending Depends on Military Power," discusses situations in which US military might made a positive difference. Given that the book was published in 2004, I find the absence of any mention of the Iraq war puzzling, and since that war was clearly an inappropriate use of our power, seems a counterexample to Medved's thesis. Sometimes things worth defending are better served by nonuse of military power.

Lesson 24, "For the Most Part, Conservatives are Both Nicer and Happier Than Liberals," is arguable on its face, statistics notwithstanding. Medved approvingly cites the Randian "virtue of selfishness" which he seems to equate with Adam Smith's "invisible hand." But when the desires of the individual are paramount selfishness becomes purely greed, a trait that has been much on display in the past decade or so. Lesson 32, "Hollywood Has Lost Touch with America," is in my opinion the best of the book except for one thing. He says, "The politically correct, properly liberal notion is that we should never dig deeper -- to consider whether a given work is true, or good, or spiritually nourishing -- or to evaluate its impact on society at large." This reviewer, a self-confessed liberal, fully supports digging deeper and considering the impact of trashy displays of sex and glorification of gore on our society. I am sure I am not alone. Methinks he has fallen into the trap of characterizing a lot of people based only on the actions of a vocal minority.

Lesson 33, "Never Aplogize for Partisanship," professes admiration for Newt Gingrich's promotion of partisanship as a political tool. But as recent history has shown, it can be carried to an extreme, resulting in an obstructionism that is not good for the country. This is illustrative of one of my major gripes about Medved's approach, namely that it frequently lacks nuance. He attacks the media and liberals for taking Dan Quayle's "Murphy Brown" statement out of context with nary a bow to the right's sins in that regard. Lesson 34, "Talk Radio is a Source of Hope Rather Than Hate," also displays this bias. I cannot believe an objective observer would characterize Rush Limbaugh's rants about Sandra Fluke as messages of hope!

Having said all that, I still recommend this book.

[Chris Rohrer]

I disagree with the guy on almost everything, but I at least admire Medved's dedication to his beliefs. His strict adherence to personal values lets him to move freely outside of established partisan doctrine, even if that means (as it has in recent years) drawing ire from fellow Republicans for his anti-Trump stance. Avoiding blind party loyalty, regardless of affiliation, is always a good thing.
That said, Medved's tendency to base political stances on sweeping, complex issues off of one-on-one encounters and isolated personal incidents is a little irritating. Dismissing the concerns of the leftist, "long-haired and proudly unwashed fanatics" over police brutality, racial profiling, and under-funded social welfare programs because he himself spent a few weeks in Berkeley getting to know a couple of intelligent and upstanding Black cops doesn't exactly inspire confidence that he has a very nuanced basis for his belief system.
It's also this kind of thinking that lends itself to Medved's credo of a do-it-yourself approach toward issues that are inherently systemic. Picking up litter as a way to fight global pollution firsthand is all well and good, but that same don't-complain, don't-dig-deeper, be-the-change mantra just can't apply to everything. Medved's narrow perspective becomes especially glaring when he briefly tries to address the plight of marginalized communities, saying, "if you're the victim of discrimination of some sort, then make the extra effort to transcend and ignore it, as have so many other Americans of every ethnic or interest group." Suggesting that the best recourse minority groups have against their own subjugation is to accept and "ignore" it reveals just how little Medved has sought to understand the wider causes and implications of certain issues on which he's chosen to speak.

[Peter D'Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly enjoyable account of Michael Medved's transformation from radical liberal to Reagan conservative. His wit, observations of people, and insights into the flaws of Liberal thinking make for an entertaining read. His target audience is bound to stay away from this book.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the moments in Medved's life are very interesting and the book is crisply written, but he doesn't do a good job of answering the question he sets out for himself at the start of the book: what exactly changed him from lefty to righty? Was he an anti-war righty the whole time, so there was no change other than a religious conversion from soft Jew to practicing Jew?

Medved's chapter on premature birth and its effect on one's view of abortion mirrors my own, and this is probably the portion of the book that is the best written.

The book would have been better with 80% less coverage of past girlfriends. Last year I read Levon Helm's autobiography. Levon must have gotten laid by 1000x more women than Michael, but Levon provides a written after-action on one-fourth the number of women than Michael reports on. Levon chose the superior reporting ratio in this regard.

[Esteban Stipnieks · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting autobiography the insights into the Clintons are interesting. He actually brings up a point about abortion I 1st heard the author of Freakonomics make. I normally do not read much conservative material since as a choir member I do not like being preached to. I remember his radio show. It was a good review of what I believe in and actually a decent set of arguments why. I was intrigued by his explanation of the anti war movement and explosion of pot.

[Bill V · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to listen to Michael Medved's radio show years ago. This book comes across much like the show. I really wanted to give this book 3.5 stars. It just doesn't really interest or grab me in any way. The most interesting parts were his explanations of Jewish life and customs. The chapter on Mel Gibson I did find quite interesting. Beyond that I wasn't all that impressed.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dated now, but this is basically a partial autobiography of talk show host Michael Medved's career progressions.

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the world of autobiographies there are several categories. There are those of great history makers such as Presidents, Generals and CEOs. There are the "tell-all" biographies written by professional athletes and movie stars that name names and reveal salacious gossip. And then there is the often neglected conversion story. St. Augustine's "Confessions", John Henry Newman's "Apologia" and even Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" fall into this category. A conversion story is the narrative of the author's journey from some misguided past into the light of truth and right living (at least as seen from the author's point of view). Michael Medved's "Right Turns" is an excellent example of this type of autobiography.

Medved's story begins with the immigrant experiences of his parents and grandparents. He discusses the family values of hard work and intellectual stimulation that characterized his upbringing. But ultimately he talks about the secular success that he achieved, first in gaining admission to Yale University at the age of 16, and then admission to Yale Law School, his lead role in various Democratic campaigns of the late 1960s and early 1970s and his rise in the professions of book writing and movie reviews. But all the while, Medved discusses his more profound growth, away from the liberal, big-government and atheistic views of his youth and toward the faith-centered, entrepreneurial focus of his later years.

Medved's book is very balanced. He avoids the typical pitfalls of the autobiography, the temptation to demonize his enemies, the tendency to overestimate the impact of his own life on the world at large and the downplaying of his faults. Medved is remarkably frank about his failures and the misconceptions of his youth. When reading the autobiography of a divorced author, it is interesting to see how the author treats his first marriage and his ex-wife. Medved is quite positive about his first marriage, and he has nice things to say about political opponents such as Hillary Clinton and others. More importantly, Medved uses the trials and tribulations from his life to provide the reader with life lessons. He is adamant about the role of his Jewish faith in his conversion, and explicitly ties his politically conservative views with the renaissance of his faith life. He shows the reader that his view of his fellow man changed as he changed his political and religious views. In the end, Medved makes a convincing case for the conservative worldview as well as a traditional Jewish lifestyle.

While I highly recommend this book overall, there are just a couple of small downfalls I have found. Medved's writing style tends to jump from one period of his life to the next in a difficult to follow manner because of his intent to group his life experiences into life lessons. There are some questions that are raised in the book that Medved never really answers. Like why did he not finish law school? And why did he and Jeffrey Lyons never go the way of Siskel and Ebert and start a movie review program independent of PBS when their show was cancelled? It seemed as though Medved did not follow up on the successes in his life as he jumped from the political phase to the movie review phase to the radio talk show phase, and it is unclear why he never stayed on one track for very long. Perhaps this criticism is a bit psychological, but it bothered me as I read the narrative. I would imagine that Medved himself may have never given it too much thought.

Overall, this is a very good book and is highly recommended.

[Skylar Burris · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I was expecting this to be just another book of political commentary. I enjoyed Michael Medved's radio show when I lived in Seattle (unfortunately, I can't get it in DC), so I thought I might enjoy reading his insights here, even though I am beginning to find the whole genre of conservative nonfiction to be rather hackneyed. It wasn't until I started the book that I realized it was an autobiography. At first, I lamented the fact--I read a great deal of nonfiction, but I rarely select biographies or autobiographies. I usually find them dull. If I am unable to muster enough interest to read the biographies of towering historical figures whose greatness and genius have altered the course of the future, how was I going to get through the autobiography of a mere contemporary movie critic and talk show host? But to my surprise, I actually found Right Turns quite difficult to put down.

Perhaps it is the way he tells his life story, or perhaps it is the weird quirks of his character (exemplified in the unconventional hitchhiking adventures of his youth), or perhaps it is his unexpected insights into the personalities of the various politicians and celebrities he has known, but I found Right Turns to be one of the best politically themed book I have read in the past two or three years--and I've read many. Medved's narration of his journey from leftist activist to conservative activist is interesting, enlightening, and, at times, even suspenseful.

My only disappointments were that he did not go into more detail about those fascinating hitchhiking adventures and that he seems to have partially regurgitated some passages from his earlier work Hollywood vs. America. Other than these flaws, I highly recommend Right Turns to anyone who enjoys political philosophy, explorations of religious life in America, or bibliography.

[Joseph D. Walch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right Turns was a highly enjoyable, well-written retrospective of Michael Medved's life and providential turn towards God, Orthodox Jewry and political conservatism. He recounts his time as a young leftist at Yale including his friendship with Hillary Clinton and his campaigning for Robert Kennedy. Medved conducts us through his improbable life from the base self-gratification (sex, drugs, victim/identity/special interest politics) of leftist politics to the reason and passion of conservative principles that germinated from the tenets of Jewish faith into becomming one of the most powerful voices combating the counter-cultural revolution that had begun to undermine the fountation of the American Dream.

He breaks up each chapter into specific lessons he learned on the way (e.g., Father really does know best, Hollywood vs. America, There is no Planned Parenthood, etc.). For the political junkie, there's a lot of interesting portraits of people and events such as the assassination of Robert Kennedy, which Medved personally witnessed. Very well worth the read.

[Dav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Medved's progression from Lib to centrist conservative seemed a result of becoming an observant orthodox Jew. I enjoyed his sharing of his life story.

I do not know, but it seems he is not aware of the vitriol arrayed against him now that he's turned to the right.

Overview--
Nationally syndicated talk-radio host and noted film critic Michael Medved has taken an extraordinary journey from liberal activist to outspoken conservative. Along the way he has earned millions of admirers—and more than his share of enemies—with his disarming wit and slashing arguments on issues of pop culture and politics.

In the candid, illuminating Right Turns, Medved chronicles the lessons and adventures that changed him from a Vietnam protest leader to an optimistic promoter of American patriotism, from secularism to religion, from adventurous single guy to doting husband and father. He skewers leftist orthodoxy, revealing why the Right is right and why his former colleagues on the Left remain hopelessly wrong on every cultural, political, and social issue.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the table of contents: each chapter is a lesson of some sort (i.e., "Lesson One: America Isn't Normal"). But each chapter is vastly entertaining. To illustrate each lesson, Medved weaves pieces from his own colorful personal life story, in order, so that the result is really a memoir/socio-political narrative. Liberals will surely see red if they read the book, given Medved's very anti-PC ideology ("Do-It-Yourself Conservatism Provides the Best Cure for the Do-Something Disease") but if you are conservative to begin with you'll love it, and if you are liberal and open to hearing another side you might be surprised at how compelling and convincing his arguements are.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big fan of Michael Medved, listen to his show almost daily, as he is one of the leading conservative thinkers. Though I dislike his views on libertarians and some other minor issues.

This book is his auto-biography and well worth reading if you like him. He went to college with some interesting folks like Hillary Rodham (Clinton). Michael was a liberal for a good portion of his early years, and now fights against their ideas daily on his syndicated radio show, its quite fascinating to see the transition.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because Michael Medved is one of my heroes. It was most interesting to see how Michael evolved his thinking through some fascinating life experiences. I would have enjoyed, however, a little more hard core book on his positions but I guess that was not the purpose of this book. A good read, especially for those who enjoy a political book that demonstrates the workings of a very logical mind.

[Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

ONe of the doctor's I work for recommended this book. I have always been interested in how a person moves from a liberal to a conservative and it was interesting to see his journey. It was also very enlightening concerning the Jewish religion which has always interested me. I didn't have a clue who this guy was and it was interesting to read a book about someone I didn't know but I enjoyed it. He is a very smart man and I agreed with most of his views.

[Peter Galamaga · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy reading the life stories of men who spent their youth as passionate, crusading liberals and then - for a variety of reasons - rethink things and become prominent conservatives. That is the core of this book. Filled with interesting anecdotes about his encounters with the famous and infamous.

[Dawn Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and think its a good read for teens to adult. I always enjoy reading how someone starts a journey as a liberal and becomes more conservative over time and vice versa. This one was witty and because of some famous names very interesting. I gave it three stars and not more because it was also

[Mark Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Audio] "If you're not liberal when you're young you have no heart, if you're no conservative when you're old you have no brain." A very interesting, reflective look by Medved into his change from '60's activist to common sense conservative.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never read any of Medved's books before or knew very much about him. This is a great book to learn more about him and why he believes the things that he does. It talks about his journey from being a liberal to becoming a conservative. It was very interesting.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved another of Michael Medved's books "Hollywood vs America." This is his personal story of his life and how he turned from Vietnam protestor in his college days to conservative radio host today. Very interesting.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether or not you agree with Michael Medved, his passionate viewpoints do result from experience and a great deal of real-life, practical thinking and consideration, which makes for an interesting, informative, and often entertaining read.

[Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable insight to this popular talk show host.

[Diane Kaplowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

To all my political buddies, this is my favorite guru. Maybe because I married a Jew and into to a very liberal family in-law that I appreciate this book.

[Jamiko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. It is autobiographical and self-aggrandizing. I feel like he whines on why he became conservative than providing any real thought provoking arguments. Worth a look.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography/political commentary from one of my favorite conservative radio talk show hosts. I look forward to Michael's next book.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good reasons for being a conservative.