About Derek
A 20-year veteran of talk radio, Derek Hunter is also a senior columnist for Townhall.com, a podcaster, and a former managing editor at The Daily Caller. He previously served as a fill-in host for The Rush Limbaugh Show, and his experience spans media, policy analysis, and political communications.
Derek began his talk radio career in 2005, hosting The Insiders, a live call-in show for The Heritage Foundation where he was also a health care policy analyst. From Heritage, he went on to serve as press secretary for U.S. Senator Conrad Burns of Montana and later became the federal affairs manager at Americans for Tax Reform.
In 2007, Derek co-founded the First Friday Happy Hour podcast, which quickly became essential listening for Capitol Hill staffers. The podcast was an extension of his widely popular monthly networking event, “First Friday,” held just steps from the U.S. Capitol. Recognized by outlets like The Washington Post, Politico, and The Washington Examiner, the event was one of D.C.’s premier political mixers, featuring guests such as Newt Gingrich, Michael Steele, Grover Norquist, Christopher Hitchens, Jonah Goldberg, Tucker Carlson, Leader John Boehner, and Cal Thomas.
In 2009, Derek was recruited by Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel to help launch The Daily Caller. As managing editor, he designed and executed the site's launch strategy, recruited prominent conservative voices, and developed its social media and outreach efforts. He also hosted The Daily Daily Caller Podcast, which he later took ownership of and rebranded as The Derek Hunter Podcast in 2020. He remained a contributing editor for a decade.
Derek's on-air career continued to grow when he began regularly hosting the Saturday 4–7 PM slot on WMAL’s The Big Show in 2011. That same year, he was hired by WBAL in Baltimore for the noon–3 PM time slot. He later took on the 9 AM–noon slot at both WCBM in Baltimore and WFMD in Frederick, Maryland, where he also served as program director.
Derek was one of the final guest hosts of The Rush Limbaugh Show in November 2020, shortly before Limbaugh’s passing.
He is also the author of Outrage, Inc.: How the Liberal Mob Ruined Science, Journalism, and Hollywood, published in 2018.