Tavis Smiley
KBLA Talk 1580
"Tavis Smiley" is the flagship program for KBLA, America's newest progressive radio network and LA's first Black-owned talk station. Broadcast live across southern California on 1580AM and around the world on KBLA1580.com and TuneIn, this podcast presents the best of Tavis Smiley's conversations with activists, influencers, thought leaders, and cultural vanguards.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 10, 2025 • 40min
Nina Smith joins Tavis Smiley
Nina Smith, former senior adviser to Stacey Abrams and president of PoliSol Public Affairs, explains why she thinks Democrats are “missing political layups and dooming us all.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 9, 2025 • 39min
Tara Roberts joins Tavis Smiley
Tara Roberts, National Geographic Explorer and author of her new memoir, “Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging”, dives into her work locating the wrecks of slave ships around the world.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 9, 2025 • 22min
Teny Gross joins Tavis Smiley
Teny Gross, founder and CEO of the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, explains how Chicago experienced its lowest summer murder rate since 1965, how his organization helped make that happen, and how it all links back to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 9, 2025 • 40min
John Wood Jr. joins Tavis Smiley
USA Today Opinion Columnist and host of The Reconstruction Project on KBLA Talk 1580AM, John Wood Jr. discusses his latest column on how the furor over the Cracker Barrel logo is really about erasing America’s heritage, along with other trending political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 8, 2025 • 40min
Trymaine Lee joins Tavis Smiley
Trymaine Lee, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, blends his own life with the history of guns and African Americans in his new book, “A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America”.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 8, 2025 • 17min
Adrinda Kelly and Stevona Elem-Rogers join Tavis Smiley
Adrinda “Dri” Kelly, executive director of the organization Black Education for New Orleans (BE NOLA), and Stevona "Stevie" Elem-Rogers, her chief of community programs and partnership, tell us how they are rebuilding the city’s learning pipeline, 20 years after Hurricane Katrina.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 8, 2025 • 22min
Dr. Cornel West joins Tavis Smiley
Dr. Cornel West, scholar, leading public intellectual, author, and special contributor, talks about the impact of the Greensboro sit-in, in light of the recent death of civil rights pioneer Joseph McNeil.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 8, 2025 • 23min
Michael Fauntroy joins Tavis Smiley
Associate Professor and Founding Director of The Race, Politics, and Policy Center at George Mason University, Dr Michael K. Fauntroy gives his perspective on how Trump's war on Black America isn't an accident but a strategy, along with other trending political topics. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 8, 2025 • 17min
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver join Tavis Smiley
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) explains why he is warning his Republican colleagues pushing for Trump’s gerrymandering plan to “dig three graves” - one for the GOP, one for the Democrats, and one for the Republic.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
Sep 5, 2025 • 37min
Robert Livingston joins Tavis Smiley
Robert Livingston, social psychologist and lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, goes inside his new text, “Play the Game. Change the Game. Leave the Game. Pathways to Black Empowerment, Prosperity, and Joy.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.
