Tavis Smiley

Robin Givhan, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and former fashion editor, takes us inside her newest text “Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Professor and Director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, William “Sandy” Darity is back with his take on the impact of the Big Ugly Tax Bill and other Trump policies on the growing wealth inequality.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. from the Cherokee Nation is back with an update on their slavery task force and the impact of the Job Corps shutdown, which is paused for now.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Peter Beinart, Editor-at-Large for Jewish Currents and CUNY journalist professor, goes inside his new book “Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning” and shares his thoughts about why MAGA allies are turning on Trump.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, pianist, and actress Sheléa is back to preview her tribute to her mentor, Quincy Jones, at Disney Hall in Los Angeles this weekend as part of The Inner City Youth Orchestra's Season Finale Concert.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America and one of TIME Magazine's Women of the Year (2025), breaks down the real-life hunger games that too many Americans are forced to play, as they face “the largest cut to SNAP in history.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Maurice “Moe” Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, explains why “fusion voting” is the way forward for progressives who want to win.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Founder and director of Civil Rights Corps, Alec Karakatsanis is back to take us inside of his new book "Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News," as he explains the power and impact of the police narrative on our policies and culture.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Shanelle Matthews, former communications director for the Movement for Black Lives, and immigrant rights organizer Marzena Zukowska, share their new book “Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st-Century Social Movements.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Nationally syndicated columnist for The Creators Syndicate, Ruben Navarette, discusses the latest developments in the Texas flood response fallout and how this administration stopped making sense, as we slouch toward fascism.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Professor of African American studies, award-winning talk show host and Founding Director of The Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice at Loyola University Maryland, Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead talks about the upcoming in-person-only summer school Democracy Defenders - Summer Seminar and Summit, and other political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Speech, the two-time Grammy Award-winning founder of the iconic hip-hop collective Arrested Development, talks about their new album Adult Contemporary Hip Hop and why we need “life music” now more than ever.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Roeshana Moore-Evans, founder and principal strategist of Equity Empowerment, takes us inside her former role as the inaugural Executive Director of the Harvard Legacy of Slavery Initiative.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Sean Wynn, former president of the Harvard Black Law Students Association, lays out the controversy surrounding the Ivy League institution's slavery project.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, the husband-and-wife duo known as the Black country band The War and Treaty, share their latest single “Feels Like Home,” their upcoming tour dates, and what it's like to open for The Rolling Stones. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Black marine biologist Candace Fields helps us celebrate SHARKFEST on the National Geographic channel with two special programs, “Investigation Shark Attack” and “JAWS @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Laurence Rees, award-winning historian and documentary filmmaker, tells us why his iconic series “The Nazis: A Warning from History” is getting a fresh run on the BBC, and what it can still teach us about the possible and dangerous road ahead.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Erica Smiley, executive director of Jobs With Justice, updates us on the struggle to build power for working people and address issues of inequality and poverty.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Mary Sheffield, president of the Detroit City Council, shares why she's the leading candidate in the Democratic primary for the next mayor of Motown.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Pennsylvania State Democratic Rep. Chris Rabb is back to announce his run for Congress in the “Fresh Prince's district,” and how he plans to win as a progressive without the Democratic establishment.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black, Carnegie Mellon University professor, is back to tell us what it's like to win a 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History for her best-selling book “COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull, co-authors of “The Jailhouse Lawyer,” tell us the inspiring story of how Duncan freed himself from prison for a murder he didn't commit by following advice from a prison elder and becoming his own attorney.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Karen Elliot House, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, talks about the "modern monarch" of Saudi Arabia and her new book “The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Algernon Austin, Director of Race and Economic Justice at The Center for Economic and Policy Research, is back with his take on the injustices in President Trump's ugly little tax bill.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

NAACP Image Award-nominated author Elise Bryant talks about her new mystery “The Game is Afoot” and explains why it's the perfect summer read.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Award-winning actor Taye Diggs talks about his career and being back on Broadway for the first time in ten years, starring in the new “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Chip Mitchell, reporter for WBEZ in Chicago, talks about how Chicago's violent crime rate is plummeting with the help of street outreach workers in spite of a violent Fourth of July weekend.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Associate Professor and Founding Director of The Race, Politics, and Policy Center at George Mason University, Dr Michael K. Fauntroy shares his thoughts about the impact of Trump's big bill on Black America and other trending political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Journalist, opinion columnist, and host of KBLA Talk 1580's Conversation Live: Altadena Rising, James Farr talks about life and recovery six months after the L.A. Wildfires.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' has been signed into law. What does that mean? Jesse Jackson Jr. and Nii-Quartelai Quartey join Tavis Smiley to discuss.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Emmy-winning TV host and news anchor, fatherhood influencer, and the sixth great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, Shannon LaNier, joins Tavis for a one-on-one.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, poet and University of Oklahoma English professor, shares her new book, “Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays and Writings,” which explores the journeys and possibilities of Black women throughout American history.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Everett B. Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, updates us on his union's fight to protect its 800,000 members from the Trump administration's unprecedented cuts and attacks.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Galen Druke, host of GD Politics and formerly of the influential 538 podcast, breaks down the numbers in the NYC mayor's race and tells us why Democrats need their own Donald Trump.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Mike Sargent, co-founder of the Black Film Critics Circle, shares his summer movie picks and reflects on the juggernaut that is “Sinners."Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Lisa White, Director of Education and Outreach at the UC Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley, breaks down fact vs. fiction for the Jurassic Park franchise and her work as a social justice dinosaur expert.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Mitzi Perdue, the double heiress and advocacy journalist, tells us why her humble and frugal billionaire lifestyle is getting noticed as a possible way forward for the super rich.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Director of the Howard University Institute for Advanced Study, co-founder of The Emancipator, and author of ten New York Times bestsellers, goes inside his latest text for the next generation, “Malcolm Lives! The Official Biography of Malcolm X for Young Readers."Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Retired United States Army Major General Dana Pittard is back with his expert analysis of the attack on Iran and whether it made the world more or less dangerous.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Award-winning writer, director, and producer Malcolm D. Lee, reflects on his life and career as he talks about the release of his debut novel “The Best Man: Unfinished Business.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Marci Shore, Yale history professor who announced she's moving to Canada with her husband, tells us the real story behind her relocation and how it connects to her understanding of the current world.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Joshua Fisher-Birch, researcher and content review specialist for the Counter Extremism Project, is all about that Base, as in the international Neo-Nazi group he's been tracking in the U.S. and on foreign battlefields.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Bhaskar Sunkara, President of The Nation and founding editor of Jacobin, is back to celebrate the primary win of his fellow 30-something democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, and discuss what it means for the progressive movement.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Tavis honors the life and musical legacy of soul music pioneer, R&B legend, and co-founder of The Whispers, Walter Scott.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Jessica Fulton, Joint Center Senior Fellow for Political and Economic Studies, shares her latest project ”Forward Together: Black Policy Playbook for an Equitable America.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Tavis remembers the life and legacy of his friend and longtime PBS colleague, Bill Moyers, who was also a trusted aide to LBJ.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Connie Rice, civil rights attorney and co-founder of the Urban Peace Institute, gives her analysis about the Supreme Court's latest decision on birthright citizenship and other trending political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and Director of The Center for Urban Journalism at Morgan State University, Leonard Pitts Jr., offers his analysis on the controversial intelligence report on the U.S. strikes against Iran and trending political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

Professor, philosopher, author, and legal analyst Tim Golden challenges us to think deeper about what it takes to save democracy, progressives, and Black America.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

ICE, IRAN, and the failings of Trump; America's 45th the war criminal.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock on Trump's "Big Ugly Bill," the fallout from the Iran strikes, and how Democrats plan to respond to Trump's volatile agendaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.