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While the medium of talk radio has grown exponentially in both reach and influence, Michael Medved can still claim to be one-of-a-kind -- a shomer Shabbat national radio personality who organizes annual listeners' trips to Israel.

Medved recently returned from this year's trip, and spoke to The Jewish State about his radio show, which is now available in New Jersey weekdays on 970 WNYM-AM from 3-6 p.m., and his new book, "The 5 Big Lies About American Business: Combating Smears Against the Free-Market Economy".

"The core problem -- and it underlines all of the five big lies about American business that I talk about -- is this embarrassment and reluctance to work for profit," Medved said. "It's a bizarre thing, because particularly in the Jewish community, one of the reasons we've had a longstanding reputation for doing reasonably well at business is that Jews understand that there is no reason to feel guilty for making a profit. That's what you're supposed to do."

Medved said that an economic system based on satisfying customers is admirable, and he objects to the notion that capitalism is efficient but selfish.

"There's nothing selfish about building a company," Medved said. "There's nothing selfish about building a house. There's nothing selfish about developing a new business. There's no chance that you can develop a successful business and benefit only yourself. You're going to be benefiting your employees; you're also going to be benefiting your customers, otherwise the new business doesn't work."

During the flight home from Israel after his father died last year, Medved realized how much of his family's life was spent in business, yet he never really thought of himself or his father as a businessman. Such a negative attitude toward the mechanisms that enable successful living contradicts our communal values, he said.

"From a Jewish point of view, one of the most important of all Jewish principles is the principle of hakarat hatov, of recognizing and acknowledging the good that is done for you, not just by God but by your fellow human beings," Medved said.

Medved's grandfather was a barrel maker in Ukraine and then again in South Philadelphia. Medved's father, thanks to the G.I. Bill, was able to get a Ph.D. in physics.

"None of this is possible without America's free market system," he said.

One of the misconceptions about the free market, Medved said, is that government is accountable to the people through elections, and is therefore trustworthy, while businesses are not directly accountable and therefore cannot be trusted.

"My entire core argument in the book is that you can trust business because they're in it for profit; pursuing profit makes someone more trustworthy in terms of looking out for your welfare," he said, adding that the for government, "the measures of accountability are very loose and very sloppy. The measures of accountability for business are very strong -- if you don't like a business, you don't do business with them. And it's that simple. You cannot choose not to do business with the government, otherwise they put you in jail."

The perils of doing business with the government is a lesson that has been well learned in Israel, Medved said. In 1991, when Medved's brother moved to Israel, it was still difficult to get a telephone through Bezeq, which was then the government owned telephone monopoly.

"And today, Israel literally has more cell phones per capita than any other country on the planet," Medved said. "I think every Israeli has three cell phones. It's an incredible thing. But that was a product of the for-profit system."

Medved said there is also an emerging consensus in the U.S. on reining in the federal government. He said for decades government spending as a percentage of GDP has hovered around 20. Because of the growth of entitlement spending, he said, that number is headed toward 40.

Medved thinks the American public is sending the message that the government must cut its spending, though he isn't a big fan of the "tea parties."

"Demonstrations were pointless in the '60s, including the ones that I took part in," he said. "They actually helped the other side. And I don't think that getting thousands of people in the streets -- some of them clothed in colonial garb, some of them carrying embarrassing signs -- I don't think that's the way you change things. You change things, first of all, by changing your personal life and making personal decisions."

When asked how he knows the American people are sending that message without considering the "tea parties" and demonstrations, Medved offered a six-word answer: Chris Christie, Scott Brown, Bob McDonnell -- the three victorious Republican candidates in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Virginia, all three states President Barack Obama won in 2008.

Medved sees the rapid transformation of public opinion as a referendum on the president. One area, he said, where this is most noticeable is the Middle East.

"Part of what's going on, and it's hugely encouraging, is that the more that Obama talks about 'an evenhanded policy in the Middle East,' the higher the American support level for Israel appears to go," he said.

Medved said being a Sabbath observer in his profession can be inconvenient, but not an obstacle. He broadcasts from Seattle, so his Friday show ends about 3 p.m. his time. Just before the end of the show on Fridays, Medved plays "Shalom Aleichem" to welcome Shabbat with his listeners before sundown.

Even his non-Jewish listeners get in the spirit, he said.

"People love that," Medved said. "Literally, every week I get a dozen listener emails or calls, 'What's that music you play on Friday?'"