tavis: the story line is? >> is the story of mickieard and his family, his brother dickie who trained him, and the mother who manage them. it examines his life and his journey to a championship. tavis: you were interested in doing this particular role why? >> it was just a great role. david o. russell sent about 20 pages, because there were working on the character a little bit. i had met him on some other projects. i really wanted to work with david o. russell. i really wanted to work with mark, and christian. i could not find a reason not to do it. tavis: that is the best kind of work. what is it like working with mark walberg? he is the man these days. >> he is. he is powerful and humble. he is really committed as an actor and as a creator. i was at a q&a the other day, and he was like a hustler. tavis: that sounds like mark. >> i have some of respect for that. i have zero hustle in me. i wish i had a little more hustle. tavis: you said he was powerful. i understand the point you made. he is powerful in a v

tavis: sure.ghan doesn't mind. >> go ahead. >> at a very young age my parents listened to classic country music. patsy cline, willie nelson and my brother was 12 years older than me and listened to 1970's rock and roll. tavis: little bit of everything. how about you meghan? >> i grew up in new orleans. tavis: i knew what you listened to. >> i had soul influence and when i turned 14, my mom helped me put a band together and i started playing. i mean everything. dolly parton was my first love, aretha franklin and the music can make you feel something when you hear it. tavis: i mentioned the story at the top about how this thing really happened. >> we were doing a radio interview the other day and we told the story how we met in the karaoke club and sounds like a story that was made up. tavis: this town is good about creating lies and that's why i asked. that's how it happened? >> true. i walked into international in 2006 and i just got off work and i walked into this little place and heard this huge

tavis: good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. the common refrain following the recent summit meeting between the u.s. and china is that the u.s. needs to sell more goods to the chinese and others around the world and perhaps the catalyst for a new round of robust exports will be american innovation. tonight, then two conversations about how technology and american ingenuity can propel the u.s. out of this deep recession. first up, gary shapiro, president and c.e.o. of the consumer electronic association and the man behind the largest tech show in the world, c.e.s., in las vegas. then i'll be joined by david pogue, technology columnist for the new york times and hosts of the upcoming four-part "nova" series here on pbs. we're glad you joined us. a look at technology in the 21st century coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every ques

tavis: hello, i am tavis.h jennifer beals. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to joint have this in working to improve literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time with financial watchdog phil angelides. that is next time. we will see you then. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial

tavis: a nice line up.ped into her in the airport the other day. >> the music is incredible also. 27, 28 cities, i have background singers now. tavis: the have dancers, too? >> not yet. [laughter] not yet. tavis: that is funny. you don't do bad by yourself. >> it is about the integrity of the music. this cd was so background-laden, and a lot of the songs i wanted to perform, i need to have that. it was either do that or use tools to emulate that. i wanted to try to just honor the integrity of the music. tavis: thank you, a few more people are eating now. i love this guy. his name is kem. you know that by now. his new album a "is called intimacy -- his new album is called "intimacy." the have my tickets? i will see you on the road. that is our show for tonight. thanks for tuning in. until next time, keep the faith. ♪ ♪ >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley online. >> on my next guest, charles ferguson. that is next time. we will see you then. [captioning made possible by kcet public tel

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. a conversation with former world bank consultant, dam businessa moyo. how western nations are losing the battle. "how the west was lost" and unrest in libya and impact on oil prices around the globe. also tonight, forest whitaker is here. and he has a new prime-time series called qul criminal minds." and he is here about "brick city." coming upright now. >> he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. to everyone making a difference. >> thank you. >> you better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in removing literacy and empowering one step at a time. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: dam businessa moyo is a former consultant to the world bank and author of "dead aid" and "how the west was lost" nice to have you back. let me ask you about the news of the day with the ongoing crisis, the protests, unrest in libya, oil prices driv

tavis: what is a simple government? is there a way these days to even have a simple government given all the government has involved itself in given the crisis we are enduring? >> the issues that we face are very complex. but the concept of a simple government is that we need to step back and take a macro looked instead of the micro luck and ask ourselves, is there a big picture principle, something that is applicable to that issue. if so, what is it? i think there is a big picture to each of the issues that we face. i tell people, it is so simple that even members of congress can understand it. that is what i wanted to accomplish with the book. tavis: there is a great debate on fox news at all the other networks, what the proper role of government is. you believe, having been a former governor, that there is a role for government to play. you're not suggesting that government ought to be out of our lives completely? >> is impossible. i am a republican, not a libertarian. they sometimes go to the extent that we don't ne

tavis: good evening, i am tavis smiley. egypt begins to regain some sense of normalcy. there are many unanswered questions about how to harness the power of the people into a democratic government. first upcoming a confession -- conversation with professor tarek masoud. also a conversation with phil angelides. despite all the talk in washington about regulating our financial system, phil angelides warns the u.s. is not out of the woods yet when it becomes -- when it comes to reforming our financial systems. yophil angelides coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help>> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. your side ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like thank you. at pbs.org tavis: tarek masoud is an assistant professor at harvard university who has many friends and family-egypt. good to hav

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight, what the uprising in egypt means for the rest of the world. 84 and affairs columnist for "financial times" in london is with us -- a foreign affairs columnist. he has a book, "zero-sum future ," gideon rachman. also with us, grammy award winner john legend is here, and he is up for several more. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supportswith every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: gideon rachman works for "financial times" in london, following a 15-year career with "economist," and his new book is called "zero-sum

tavis: nicely put.bout the music choices on "libra scale". >> this album was an experiment. a lot of firsts in this album. i wrote the trents for all three of the videos. the story of "libra scale" -- it was created. that is something i have never done before. every song has been based in reality, something that happened to me. this is the first time i have written a song based on a fictitious of bed. tavis: and the difference is? >> it was easy to a degree but it was difficult. it was easy because i had a blueprint. i need songs like this and this. the difficulty came in writing a song about something that has never happened. you have to pretend a little bit. you have to imagine. which in itself is not difficult. but it is the way i write songs, i write from things that happen. to try to do with the other way, it is a bit of difficulty. nothing i cannot handle. i knew that the main focal point of what i wanted this to be was the story line. instead of trying to go and get innovative, i went back to my

tavis: good evening. first up, a conversation with one of the names being mentioned as a possible republican president, mike huckabee. the current debate about the size and scope of government in the book called "a simple government. and a conversation with creator george schlatter. it features highlights from the ground breaking comedy series. we are glad you joined us for mike huckabee and george schlatter coming up now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide is on your side >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] cap

tavis: ok. that's why i'm asking. >> if i had to tell you how many times, especially when i get into like poor areas. if i deal with our kids, african-american kids and i talk to kids around they just start crying, not musicians, necessarily. because they want to feel that love. i have a lot of experience teaching. my father was a teacher. my mom was a community worker. i taught in so many schools. when you get that experience how to communicates with younger people and put that hand on them and give them that old school feeling, the maturity, a lot of our kids just need the feeling of that love. that's the frame of reference that i teach. we all teach from that same frame of reference. people who had the opportunity through this music to gain a platform and spread the mess oovepblg this commuske it is -- message in this community. kids are distracted a lot of times. they are marketed to a lot. they are seen as a commodity. our kids are beautiful. tavis: dudamel and i had a deep conversation abo

tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation with the renowned surgeon and bestselling author dr. atul gawande. his latest book, "the checklist manifesto," is about avoiding mistakes and our life. also, actress blythe danner. the chicken dc-9 and the new film, "waiting for forever -- she can be seen in the new film, "waiting for forever." >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nationwide insurance is happy to help tavis improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: dr. atul gawande is a staff member at the brigham and women's hospital and also a staff writer of "the new yorker,"

tavis: is the text relevant these days? >> it sure is.here are a lot of people on wall street who want to paper over what happened two years ago. it was an of people and financial earthquake. for a decade we had built a paper economy built on financial engineering. we created trillions of dollars of securities that were packaged and then there was this collapse. it is important we understand why this happened. what we found is this was unavoidable. there were a lot of people who said this was the perfect storm. lloyd blankfein said it was like a hurricane. regulators who were asleep at the switch. >> what role did greek play in this process? >> -- greed play in this process. >> there was a deregulatory philosophy that assumed corporations would always act in everyone's best interests. we failed to account for the excesses'. the fed knew in mid-1990's there was predatory lending going on. lenders were offering people loans they could not afford to repay what they did not act. we saw companies were taking enormous risk packaging mortgage se

tavis: dr. benjamin barber is a senior fellow at demos and best-selling author and founder of the interdependence day on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. he joins us from new york. dr. barber, good to have you on the program. >> good evening. tavis: the only thing predictable about revolution is that they are unpredictable. so how unpredictable is this revolution in egypt? >> tolstoy said every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way and every revolution is revolutionary in its own way. we have a peculiar group of circumstances. it starts as a virtual revolution, the first net-izen revolution. i'm on virtually this evening because it was a virtual revolution made first by the internet. i think it's the first time the web has played that role. and that means, second, that an awful lot of young people relatively -- i wouldn't say secular, but relatively educated, technically adept, were in the streets, a very different group than the stereotype about the arab street that we have, which is a foolish

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. when the steelers and packers square off this sunday will will cap off a year of record tv ratings for pro football and cement the nfl for the premier sports league in the u.s. and as one of america's most successful businesses. a preview of sbole and a look at the state of pro football with rod woodson, the former steeler great and hall-of-famer now covers the sport for the nfl network. also tonight, talented singer-song writer amos lee is here. his latest project is getting terrific reviews and it's called "mission bell." later on, a special acoustic performance from amos. we're glad you've joined us. rod woodson and amos lee coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley d. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financ

tavis: our time is up. we may laugh at social darwinism, hear is labeled social darwinism, but in effect, there are still a whole lot of folk -- i digress. you get my point. we ain't working hard enough yet to lift people out of poverty. we do still think if this is where they are, they deserve to be there. that whole notion still exists in our society, though. >> oh, yes, oh, yes. it's much easier to think of that when you've got a lot of money and you're doing well yourself. tavis: the new book is called "inherently unequal, the betrayal of the supreme court." you will not find a better case-by-case analysis of what the supreme court did over the years by a number of justices to uneven the playing field even more than it already was. good to have you on the program. that's our show tonight. see you back here tomorrow night on pbs. until then, good night from l.a., keep the faith. >> for more information on today's showing, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. >> i'm tavis smiley, join me next time for a convers

tavis: good evening from los angeles. i'm it was a smile -- i'm tavis smiley. how to fix education with colorado senator michael bennett. the former superintendent of the denver public system has outlined a plan for fostering a new generation of great teachers in america and doing more with less in the era of shrinking budgets. also a rising star in the ballet, misty copeland. she is the first african-american female soloist in the history of the american ballet theater who recently toured with music icon prince. we're glad you've joined us. colorado senator michael bennett and ballet dancer misty copeland coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide

tavis: good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. tonight a conversation with jazz great, wynton marsalis. he continues in his role as the head of jazz at lincoln center. this past sunday night he was a grammy nominee for a song performed with the lincoln center orchestra. we're glad you have joined us for a conversation with wynton marsalis coming up right now. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and remove economic obstacles. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. kcet public television] tavis: always honored to have wynton marsalis on this program. the multiple award-winning jazz great heads a communication jazz outrich program all around this world. always good to see you. >> all the time. tavis: i was saying to the staff over the y

tavis: good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. a look at how the revolution in egypt is spreading across the region and beyond with author and political theorist benjamin barber. he says the unrest and revolution in the middle east is only the first step toward real democratic reform. also, a visit from chef and best-selling author, jeff henderson, former star of the food network series "the chef jeff project," the editor of the new cookbook inspired by the traveling exhibition, america, i am. it's called the "america i am: pass it down cookbook." tonight, dr. benjamin barber and chef jeff henderson coming up. >> all i know is his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i'm james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nationwide is proud to join tavis in working time prove financial literacy and remove obstacles one conversation at a time. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like

. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. >> nationwide is on your side >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> amy chua is a professor of law at yale and author whose books include "world on fire." the latest is "battle hymn of the tiger mother." she joins us from new haven, connecticut. >> thanks for having me. >> one would have to live under a rock to not hear about this tiger mom controversy. it seems every television network and major magazine does a story. you say you think you have been misunderstood by this controversy. >> the greatest misunderstanding is the idea that i wrote this as a parenting guide, trying to tell other people how to parent. i wrote this book in a moment of

i am tavis smiley. as demonstrations in cairo extended interest a third week, there are concerns about what a post-mubarak egypt would look like and it's impact on the middle east. first up, a conversation about the tense situation with the region with daniel kurtzer, former ambassador to egypt and israel. actress, jennifer beals is here, the flash dance star debuted tonight in a tv drama for fox called the chicago cold. we are glad you have joined us for the latest look in egypt. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference. >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and answer, nationwide is proud to join with travis in working to improve literacy. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ambassador daniel kurtzer is the former u.s. ambassador to egypt and israel, and now a pr

tavis: i know this is impossible to answer, but when you say trust your instinct, when you run the list and we haven't mentioned aretha and all the other artists so we're not doing justice to the list of people you worked with. when you say you discovered your ear, tell me more about that. i'm trying to figure out how you developed this ear that you know when you need to sign this person. >> i don't read music so therefore it's a matter of initially i was dealing with self contained artists, rock artists who wrote their own material and who were self contained. later, when i founded arista records and i looked at the words, a& r, artists and

has failed so one british town sees similar tavi as rallies by and seek fascist and anti islamic factions. a very warm welcome to you this is live from moscow i'm alice had heard a historic russia u.s. nuclear disarmament deal has finally come into force that a high profile security conference in munich the long negotiated treaty means moscow and washington will cut the number of their warheads to around one of a half how's the d.h. was going off is in germany. words put into action a historic exchange of ratification documents and the new strategic arms reduction treaty between moscow and washington is officially in force and when it comes to the button that has worried us the most over the years the one that would unleash nuclear destruction today we take another step to ensure it will never be pushed. to last for the next ten years the treaty said to reduce the number of nuclear weapons on both sides over a third an outcome which would have appeared impossible even a decade ago i think we will be presented with this historical.

i love nothing more than being on programs with tavis, and we tease him because nothing irritates tavis more than western we were on a program together -- we were on a program together, and this woman went on and on and on about travis smiley. we love travis. [laughter] and i was, like, well, tavis, maybe you're not as famous as you claim to be. [laughter] but he's a great intellectual. but i've said before, you know, i'm 56 years old. no relevance to this but for the fact if you count back young people, i was born in 1954 which was the year the supreme court decided brown v. board of education. i grew up in austin, texas, otherwise a fairly progressive city, but still in 1953 it was a selling -- 1954 it was a segregated city like too many cities in the south and a city governed still by a lot of the principles of jim crow. when i was born, my mother and father could not vote. like a lot of black families all across the south, they had to suffer the indignity of trying to go vote and either raise money to pay a poll tax, or they had to take these literacy tests. i know those of us who a

tavis: and then there is kenneth cole. >> who makes stuff. tavis: yes. and convinces us to buy it anyway. [laughter] i'm glad you came out here. >> thank you. tavis: up next, a special performance from this year's best new artist, this new grammy-winner, esperanza spalding. stay with us. tavis: two years ago, we introduced you to esperanza spalding was just beginning to gain some notice in the jazz world, not only for her talent, but also for her hair. two years after her first appearance on this program, she made grammy history by becoming the first jazz musician to win in the category of best new artist. tonight, we begin to our music archives to bring you a song we have never shown before. esperanza spalding performing "precious" from her self-titled cd. laa la la la la ♪ la la la la dee dee ♪ oh ♪ na na na ♪ ♪ ♪ dee deela la ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ nothing wrong with me ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you always wanted something more from my body ♪ and said you needed something more from my loving ♪ but all you got was me and that's all that i can be ♪ i'm sorry if it let you down ♪