aptioning made possiblby kcet publitelevision] tavis:ood evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. firsup tonight, a nversation with the first black mayor ofhiladelphia, of mississippi, james you. a general racial ago this small southern tow bame a racial flashpoi in 1964. that incident became the basis for the film "mississippi burning." and lisa kudrow stop by, the former "friends" star ishe creato and star of a popar new web series called "web erapy." the show is in its second season we've glad you've joid us. philadelphia msissippi mayor james young and la kudrow coming up right now there are so many hings that wal-maris looking forward to doing. like helng people live better.

but mostly we're looking forwarto helping build stronger communities and relaonships. beuse of your help, the best yet to come. nationwide insance proudly supports "tavismiley." tavis andationwide insurance. working to impre financial literacynd the economic empowerment that comesith it. >> ♪ nationwide is on your side♪ >> and b contributions to your pbs station from vwers like you. thank you. tavis: last week jam you was sworn in athe mayor of philadelphi mississipp he is the first african-americ tlead the city. inmously known for the 1964 killgs of three civil rigs worke, goodman, fronter and cheney andoins us fro

meridian. mayor young, congratulatns, nice to have y on, sir. >> thank you, sir. thk you for having me. tavistell me about your race for mayor. tell me about the cpaign. >> typical campaign for my standpoint. i've been involve in politics prious. we hit the streets door to doo probably about 90% of philadelphia, covered red, yellow, black comnity. we went door to door, face to face telling them our program. weid it for weeks. we startedarly and - in 2008. i lt like i needed to start early. because i s surely the underdog. tavis: tell me about the city ofhiladelphia. you just now intimated that it is a diverse community. givee the breakdown. what's t city of philadelphia like i terms of ethnicix? >> we'rerobably 55% of whi. 41%,2% black.

3% to 4% asian. d the oth percentage of americanndian. tavis: s how does then one become the first bck may of this city with still majority white populion? >> a lot of hard work. i've woed in the comnity now forbout over 30ears. they knee. they knew my reputation. and i belie i had a good platform. and they wanted change. and tre was a lot of first-ti voters. alof those piece made this puzzle come together. tavis: there are so my key momes in your city's history. but there are two want to talk about tonight. and getour sense of whe you re when these ents took place. and wh your thoughts were about ithen. the fit and the obvious is the mders of these three civil rights wkers, gdman, warner and cheney. one cannot read american history or aican-american historyertainly, one cnot talk aboutow this count

survived the era of segregation and jim crow without knowi out these three civil rhts worker again, goodm, swarnar and cheney who were brutally rdered in mississippi. how olwere you when these murders took ple? i was about 9 years old at that time. tavis: you were born and raid in philalphia, yes? >> born and raisedn philadelia. tavis: so what do you recall -- or do y recall being 9 years old whenhese murders took place and what d you recall about the yearshortly thereafter? >> my parents pretty much kt usware of what was going on. the voter movement w taking place. they was talking about people coming to help regter people to vote, the planned activity was fairly -- fairly open at that time. and i can rember one particular time during that season of laying on the floor with my father, with hi having

thgun, just because weere told that maybe the klan wod be riding througthe community. you know, that's such a contrast to where we are today in philadelphia, missiippi. i owe who i am and what i am and the accomplhments that we have accomplished from those] guys who lostheir les to come to philelphia. i willever another get, i cannot forget -- i will never forget, can i n forget the sacrice and i'm humbly serving in th position cause of them. and pele like them. tavis: how much of that horrific incident, though, is still a stain o the city of philadelphia? and i say "stain," i mean how much of it is a burn that peop still feel? whenou go to memph, i was just there not lon ago. and ever time i go there, i am still amazeat the number of people in thatity and the mood of e city in certain mmunities.

people still embarrassed and humiliad and still disappoied and hurt and angry about the fact ts happened to be the city where dr. king was asssinated. you goo dallas, certain pts of dallas, if you talk to folk o have been around for a while, the city of dallas can demever ve beyond the -- can never move beyon the fact that j.f.k. was sho in dallas. whatind of burden does the city still feel or bar, if any,iven that these murders to place during the civil rights era >> that hist will be fever -- history will be forever etcd in our memory. deepounds you never -- you heal, but you never forget the scars. and i think philalphia is in that mode right now. we never forget the scars. historyon't let us forget it. won't let us forget it. but so we've healed. we are healing. my ection ia signal that healing is- has taken place in theouth, in philadelphia, in t state of mississippi.

the significance of it is that i reived votes from l the communities, white, black, everybody. so the change of hea, the change of mind, the movemt to move forward, no, can we forget the scars, no. everyime we read about it, every time we thinkbout civil ghts movent, these tee names comup. but are weoing to stumble on the stain? . we're going to moveorward and ma sure things of that nature don' happen aga. ourho will nation is basilly under a stain of racism. but we're movg forward. thelection of our present nt a message throughout the world that the uned states is changing. philadelia sent a message to the state of misssippi and to the nation that philadelphia is

changing. so i amleased to be aart of this new revolution of change that we are experiencing today. shl we forget the past? no. don't want to forget i because if you forget it, sometimes you make th same miakes again. vis: i want to come back t that notion of change and what your platformas and wt life is like i philadelphia. what you innd to do as mayor. want to get to that in just a send. th other historical moment that i wanted to a you about, e first,he murders o goodman, swarnar and cheney. the secon i wasn't around when goodman, swarnarnd eney was murdered but i was around whe ronald reagan decid to come to mississippi, philadelphia, mississippi, t announce that was running for predent. i'in california rightow where ronald reagan was once governo why he chose to lve california and go all the way to misssippi, to iladelphia, mississippi, where goodman, swaar and chene were murdered, to run

for the white house,pset a lot of people. we knew what it was the and a tip of the hat to th notion of states' rights. some bieve ronald reagan was all kin of wrong to have gone to philalphia to make that announcement. again, tipping his hato those utherners on this iue of states' rigs. went on to win. he won two terms andn the minds of manye's an iconic president. but when reagan came to nounce he was running and whether or not you were involved in polits at that time. >> i was working as a paramedic. i was there on theair grounds when mr. reagan and family came to pladelphia. i witness the crowds. i was checked by the c.i.a. and th secret service. so i was a paramedic, e.m.t. at th time, serving as safet and emergency coordinator of the county. i remember the owds. i rember the atmosphe. and then -- d he -- that

partular move paid off for him. again, the message was sent that woo -- we have a sympathize in the southe theaics of things and politics and evolving from that to whe we are day as again, anher testament of change that philadelphia a mississippi is elving into. tavis: tell me abo that change and what you will do as mayor and wt the challenges are in philadehia these days. >> the cllenges in philadelphia, ju like many other cities,conomic development is a part that we'retriving to accomplish. one of my campaign promises was to step outside the box and look to the solar, the energy coervation manufacturing areas. andlso that arena is what the president and the congress are

funding n, fundinghese projects. weant to be in the forefront of tha even in smallown philadelphia, our mindset is to th future. al, community policin where policand commuty work together, not agains each othe our health care system, we need to fix it. we have an agent hospital at i ave got my start in bically. i start off as a for sweeper here at the hospital. and was given an opportuny to move forwad and to become what i amoday. so i got a lot of hrt. i got aot of rootsnto things that i pusheduring my campgn. and i tried to be a sinceres possible. my hea is in philadelphia. i love philelphia. that may beind of strange coming from me, but i love it. i wa born and raised there. myarents were born and raised there. and iust wanted to be a part ofhe change and to me, to even imagine me being mayor

todawas -is just fantastic. i -- i'm jtotally humbled by this opportunity. i tell one ofy classmates, who would havehought that a little country boy like me would now bece the leader of r community and our city. and just be where im. i had aopportunity to go to l.a. thisast weend. and it was jus speci. so i am enjoying this honeymoon. but as we say, all hey moons must end. and we get dn to the business of leading our cmunity. tavis: well, it's a great story and i am honored t have you on asne who was born ithe ste of mississippi, it is for me a special prideo have you on this program to celeate your being theirst african-american mayor of this historicity and the canon of this country. mayor young, congratulions and all the best to you.

>> thank you sir. you all hava blessed day. tavi thank you, sir. up next,ormer "friend star lisa kudrow. ay with us. please welcomeisa kudrow to this progra the ey winning actss and former fends star is the creator and star of e popular web series "web therapy. the show in its second season d this year it feares another familiar iend, a scenerom "webherapy." >> i a psychic. work with the police allhe time. i have an intert business. i was going to do show with hollywood and th were developi psychic friends bu i don't ever watch tv myself. m too busy having real life. so i'mot a big biever in psychics. >> i'mot a big believe in therapists, eitr. t i'm desperate. i would likeo prove you wrong about your dislief and rtunately ie lost my gift. >so you can't tell me what my

love line says? >> you don'tave a love li. it'not the end of >> well -- [laughter] tav: nice to see you. >> goodo see you. thanks for havin me. tavis: tell me aut "web therapy." >> that was a bit of it just thought it would beeally funny to havan extremely dismissi person offer therapy. the internet. not in pern. and notor 50 minutes, but just for three minutes at a time. tavis: tell me more about whe the concept omes from. en i want to get int how you haveade this thing wk on the intert specifically. >> well,o the concept ce honestly, honestly, it was out of rejecng the notion of doing a web seris. that's how it staed. we were ask to comep with a we series. and just -- dismissedt out of hand. so - and then my brain just kept working on it.

like it does. e -- to torture me. and just thought it would be nny if there was ts reall bad idea. and something gearedoward the internet. something smallnd small incremts, middlend end and therapy seemed like the word idea in a short amoun of time. tavis:nd the internet ece of it,art of what makes it fascinating and work ithat it is in fact on e internet for short spaces of time. nceptually, tell me whyou thought this working out and conceptually why you wld -- whyt would work on the inrnet. >> well, becse it what's happening rig now -- it's at's happening right now. it's par of everyone's experience right now. and there was ao something fun in making fun o -- the idea that you can go on the internet and there are peopl on the, you can't -- there's no vetting process. yo know? vis: whatsoever. >> at all. anyone can hang out a shing

and say i'm an expert in this and paypal is easy. we haven't gotten io it but decided she crges $25 a session. whicis a lot. an a busy day is she's booked. she has a hour's worth of solid ssions. really. so yeah. i think -- i don know. think that's why. tavisand the character is based on --s this an ssemblage of people? >> always. not that i d characters tha are so far awa from me. but no, it is -- i did hav -- pickedomeone intentionally that i think is actually a really intligent poise, sex woman and she's very articulate and a wdsmith. buthen i filter ithrough me and she's idiotic. so it's reallyot that pern.

but that was my jumping off point. tavis: tl me th kinds of peoplehat you have to have as the person you're ging advic or therapy to. to make t statistic work. -- make i work. >>don ruth and dan bucinzi who is on e show and a great writer. but tt's where they really he. we wri the outlines. and, you know, especially wh don, for the firt season, his guidance in which character do we need to reflect which aspect of fiona tha we wanto show oralk about he was reay good about that. about making sure that -- all right. what does she want out of th person? how ishis person going to advae her career agenda? so that st of how we went. >> could this work --ould it be funny with eryday people, people who are not courtney

coxes? >> oh, you mean like jt -- tavis: the people -- absoluty. >> i don't kw. we've talked about it. becausehen we sort of syicated it on the web, it's on hu and youtube andtunes. so y think about what you can do for eh site that's going to beifferent. and one ia thrown out was she does a live ssion with people. and i think somebod thoht that might be too risky legally. tavis: i can't imagi a lyer thinking at in this tn. or on the internet. tavis: i'm sure every lawyer you have said no, we' not going to do that. >> but i thought it uld be rely fun. because thshow is improvised. we write the outnes and i thought it could be fun to just destroyomeone. tavis: thi improvisaton is part of your bkground. but to the bt of your ability toescribe it, what's itike being on this high wireith

the outlines and makin it all come togethe and work? >> wll, it doesn't feel like a high wire. it feels me like just sort of a fun rler coaster that'sot too risk i. -- tooisky. yodon't go upside down. it's just nicend fast. shoot it andhere are a few takes. and there are two cameras. you know eding will help and don also, the way we shoot it is we're looki at the camera. but we- there's a monitor hooked up to it. arompter. buthe other persos image. sot's in real te. we're looking at eachther and we've got these ear wigs i thk they're called. and we can hr each oth. and we c hear don or if dan directinghat episode, we can hear the director tling us, all right, that's good. now goack and let's get this piece. back here. ye. tavis: so th everyday person wouldn't work, you have to be a pro toake this all work? >> to et it together.

tas: poking your ear and telling you what to do. th's another issue. >> nobody is telng me what to say. somimes. tavis: wh have you learned- what's been fascinang for you about this whole process on the internet? because at really got my attention aut this fir beyond obvioly your talent was -- i'm an entreprener so i'm thiing what made lisa kudrow wanto do this on the internet? tell me abo the business si of this d how this is working on the intert and what you're learning fro this whole progresses. >> well, i think financially, it's yet to be sn. at's going to -- how wonderful that's goi to be. luckily tt's not the reason we did i mostly we did it becae i don't know where els you can have an idea and just dot and none i8 telling y that you have to make sure yore attracting a ctain audience or you'rappealing to someone's demogphic. you know, it's the most freedom aside from getting your friends

togeth and putting a showp on atage somewhere, you kw? so that's rlly it. and that's -- i he to say thanks to alexis. becae they really made it possible. they underwrote it and then gave us absolute parameters. tavis: is there a end game here for you? i hearour point that it's not li being on "iends" where you got demos you have to play tond advertisers a numbers youave to hit. i hr the argument abo freem. but what's t end game? you aren't doing it for mon. you aren' doing it for -- but what's the end ge? >> we hear there's the potential for money. you do what you can for the people who invested the money and also for yourself. wouldn't be a bad tng. so you c keep doing it certaiy. but if that doesn't happen, it's still ok. because we've -- we'reroud of this. we think it's really funny. d we're happy to dit. so, you know, i guess -- yeah.

i guess that's it. but we ao, when pple sugst also, like, you should twitter and now y have to have a facebook page. and that stuff honesy i'm not th comfortable wh. because that's more self-promotion. 've always been comfortable promotig a film or a tv sho or something. but that other stuff is the self-promoti. which i'm not sure tavis: you don'tant to tet and tel everybody what you're doing ever freaking minute of the day? that doesn't turn you o >> when you put it that way, now i'm terested. aughter] no. but ifhere's something funny that can come outf it, then -- so now we are thinking ybe a shameless self-promotershe would do it. but it could b funny that this won would tweet b only during office hours which is like 15 minutes from 1:00 to 1:15. soomething like that and people are talking to about

doing an application, you know. for iphon apps or something like that. tavis: i thinkt's all going to happen. i canee it developing n. >> we have funny idea for it. so we might. but we'll see i on't know. don't know. i dot know what's required. i know that when yo do a tv show, it is requid to promote it. and you go dohat. but for th web, short of, you know, going ou with paris hilton or sething, i don't know. w to get everydy's attentio vis: more power to you. >>ot that she's not lovel and wouldn'tenoy myself. becaus -- and woun't enjoy myself. because would. tavis: last question. the other thing tha got my attention when i first saw it and wanto know why lisa is doing is internet thingnd second i why is lisa doing this internet thing? huge international tv star, help me, inside baseball, situate this in yourareer, in your work, whyhis now given all that ou have done and

other things you could be doing? > oh, well, there's a few reasons. and ne of them are reall noble. it's reay easy. it takes two days. tavis: like that. number one. ease number two. >> it's very fun. tavis: it's fun. yeah. >> that's moreor like the artist in us is we cano whatever we want. i mean, we camep with this and we're able to do it a we're notetting not from anybody. tas: is that number three we don't g notes. >> w don't get not. ut we think it's fny and we think th there's a lot to make fun of within it about -- know. i'm not making fun ofherapy. bause i think it's a good thing. vis: ok. 's called "web therapy" and ars lisa kudrow. it is really funny stuff. i'm honored thave you on and congrats.

that's our show for tonight. catch me on th weekends on publicadio until, p.r.i and access us at p.org and i'll see you next tim on pbs. unti then, good nit from l.a., thanks nor wching and as always, kp the faith. >> forore information on today's show, visit tis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversati with blackstone group co-founder and former commerceecretary pete peterson. that's next time. we'll see you then. >> there are so my things that walart is looking rward to doing. li helping peopleive better but mostly we'rlooking foard to hping build stronger communities and relationips. because of yr help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insance proudly suports "tavis smiley." tavis and nationwide insurance.

workin to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes witit. >> ♪ nationde is on your side ♪ >> and by ctributions to yo pbs station from viewers like you. ank you. >> we are pbs.