Introduction
David Pakman (born February 2, 1984) is an Argentinean-American television and radio host, political commentator, Internet personality, and political activist. He is best known as the host of the internationally syndicated political television and talk radio program The David Pakman Show. He also is the managing director of Vivid Edge Media Group, which produces The David Pakman Show. A naturalized U.S. citizen, Pakman was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was raised from age 5 in the United States. Pakman is self-described liberal/progressive.
In addition to hosting The David Pakman Show, Pakman has appeared on numerous national, regional, local, and international media outlets providing political commentary. Pakman also works as a new media consultant, often working with independent programs and broadcast platforms. Pakman's first appearance on cable news was on Fox News Channel on April 4, 2014, when he discussed the resignation of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich. Pakman has appeared on CNN, HLN's Nancy Grace program, and HLN's Dr Drew on Call, and was featured in Mother Jones and the Boston Herald.
Early life and education
Pakman was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1989, when he was 5 years old. He grew up in Northampton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Northampton High School. Pakman attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he majored in economics and communications. He earned an MBA degree from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Pakman worked several jobs as a high-school and university student, and he has detailed his employment at now-defunct electronics retailer Circuit City.
With the move of The David Pakman Show to New York City, Pakman also moved there in August 2013. As of November 2015, the show has relocated to Boston.
The David Pakman Show
Pakman hosts The David Pakman Show, which is a television, radio, and Internet political program. Begun in 2005 on a local radio station as a "hobby," according to Pakman, by 2011 the show aired on 100 stations, and on more than 160 television and radio outlets in 2014, including DirecTV and DISH Network through Free Speech TV, on YouTube, and via podcasts. The program first aired in August 2005 on WXOJ-LP ("Valley Free Radio"), located in Northampton, Massachusetts, as Midweek Politics with David Pakman, and has since been nationally syndicated.
Misidentification
On January 24, 2013, Pakman realized he had been identified in the documentary film Minnesota Nice as a gay teenager who had committed suicide. Pakman corrected the misunderstanding in a YouTube video and said he was not gay, not a teenager, and obviously not dead.
On the April 15, 2014, edition of HLN's Dr. Drew On Call, Pakman was misidentified as former Neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan member Frank Meeink. Pakman was scheduled to be interviewed on that program.
Personal life
While his sexuality has been a topic of The David Pakman Show, Pakman has said he is heterosexual and that he considers himself a straight ally of the LGBT rights movement. Pakman says that he received "a relatively secular Jewish upbringing, but I’ve always been highly involved with my Jewish background, socially and culturally; I’m part of a local Jewish group and I attend their events. It’s just generally how I identify."