Tavis Smiley

Tavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University he worked during the late 1980's as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles. Smiley became a radio commentator in 1991 and starting in 1996 he hosted the talk show BET Talk. In 2002 Smiley began hosting The Tavis Smiley Show on NPR for two years and currently hosts Tavis Smiley on PBS. Smiley also joined forces with Dr. Cornel West for their own radio talk show, Smiley & West.