He teaches at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and is the founding director of the Norman Lear Center for the study of the impact of entertainment on society.

Kaplan graduated from Union High School, finishing first in his class and was accepted at Harvard where he pursued a double major in both English Literature and Molecular Biology.

[citation needed] Kaplan graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude in molecular biology and won the Le Baron Russell Briggs prize for delivering the English Oration at commencement.

The recipient of a Marshall Scholarship from the British government, he received a master's degree in English with First Class Honours from Cambridge University in England.

Kaplan created and hosted So What Else Is News?,[10] the nationally syndicated Air America Radio program examining media politics and pop culture.