User:Diderot/Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro (born 1984 in Burbank, California) is a conservative political columnist from Burbank, California. Shapiro enrolled at UCLA at the age of 16, majoring in political science. During his time at UCLA, Shapiro clashed with professors and students, who he considered excessively liberal. He has written for the Orlando Sentinel, the Conservative Chronicle, and Townhall.com. He has written a book on his experiences in college, titled Brainwashed (ISBN 0785261486), which was published in 2004. His next book, Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future (ISBN 0895260166), will be published by Regnery in June 2005.

According to the biography linked to his columns at Townhall.com he is "[a]n Orthodox Jew, virtuosic violinist, and hack". His 2003 admission of virginity, which he claims is motivated by his Orthodox Judaism, led to him being nicknamed the Virgin Ben, primarily by his detractors. As of 2005, it is unknown whether this situation persists, although the moniker is still widely used.