Overheard with Evan Smith

Longtime Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter joins us to discuss the latest in politics, the midterm elections and The Promise: President Obama, Year One, his new book about the begi...

P. J. O'Rourke was a political satirist when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were still in short pants - and he was angry at the establishment when Sarah Palin was still reading sp...

Star food writer Amanda Hesser is a prolific food writer for The NY Times, former food editor of The NY Times Magazine, co-creator of the recipe lover's blog food52 and the author...

Jim Leach became head of the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2009, after 30 years in Congress. A Republican, Leach often strayed from the party line and advocates civility...

The midterms are behind us and a new political landscape is taking shape. Howard Dean, former Vermont governor, 2004 contender for the Democratic presidential nomination and former...

Sam Tanenhaus is editor of The New York Times Book Review, and his biography of Whittaker Chambers was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. His lates...

Frazier's varied mix of humorous essays, meticulously reported books of non-fiction, and wide-ranging magazine articles, tackle the history of the Great Plains, a humorous look at...

Billy Bradley has been a three-term US Senator, a candidate for the 2000 Democratic nomination, an NBA hall of famer, a Rhodes Scholar, the author of six books, the host of a radio...

Author and activist Michael Pollan's work mixes journalism, environmentalism, animal rights, anthropology, and foodiness. He's become an educator, agitator, guide for the not-so-si...

PA Governor Ed Rendell leaves public life this month after 8 years as Governor, a stint as the DNC's head and many years in public office before that. He talks about wussiness in A...

Douglas Brinkley's books explore U.S. history from old times to new, from one end of the country to the other, through profiles of events and people and institutions. His latest bo...

Lawrence Wright's most recent book, The Looming Tower, won a Pulitzer and set the highest possible bar for reporting on our complicated post-9/11 world. His next big project - for...

Singer-songwriter Chely Wright has been named Best New Female Vocalist and one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People. She's also author of a memoir, the first openly gay country mus...

Matthew Dowd has worked at the heart of American politics for more than 25 years, shaping strategies and campaigns for both Democrats and Republicans. It's widely reported that his...

John Mackey is co-founder & CEO of Whole Foods Market, the largest U.S. natural foods grocer and a growing global presence, with more than 300 stores in North America and the U.K....

Lawrence Lessig is a celebrated academic, an acclaimed author, and an energetic activist whose great cause is rights and freedoms in the digital sphere. He's also increasingly an a...

Bill Paxton is a gifted actor whose credits include One False Move, Weird Science and Apollo 13, but legions of wannabe sister wives know him as polygamist Bill Henrickson on HBO's...

Garrison Keillor is an author, humorist, storyteller and icon of public broadcasting whose weekly radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, has been a part of our lives, in one form or...

Wyatt Cenac's reports for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart have introduced his work to a wide audience. But his work reaches far beyond his role as a fake news writer and correspond...

Diane Wood is a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judge respected across the political spectrum as an intellectual heavyweight. Twice, she's made Obama's short list for the Supreme...

Calvin Trillin has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1963, and over those many years he's written enough pieces about Texas food and politics and life in general to fill...

Gail Collins is a funny and fearless twice-weekly columnist for The New York Times, the first woman ever to serve as the paper's editorial page editor and the author of several boo...

Holland Taylor is an award-winning actress, acclaimed for her work on stage, in film and on television, whose one-woman play about the life of former Texas governor Ann Richards wi...

Wendy Kopp is founder and CEO of Teach for America, which has recruited the best and brightest college students to become teachers where they're needed most - in urban and rural pu...

Harry Shearer is an Emmy and Grammy-nominated actor and writer whose credits include Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, and The Simpsons. The Big Uneasy, his documentary about New Orleans...

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a celebrated advocate and activist on behalf of the environment, conservation and responsible stewardship of the planet through two watchdog groups dedica...

Julian Bond is an activist, academic, author and true icon of the civil rights movement. He helped found the SNCC and has led both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the NACCP. Bo...