Tavis Smiley

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/po...

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 .