from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation about the white between physical inactivity and obesity. dr. toni yancey is all of a new book on how children and adults can benefit from even 10 minutes of exercise. the new book is called "instant recess." also it tonight, dave koz is here. later on, a special performance. we're glad that you have joined us. author dr. toni yancey and dave koz, 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, 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. toni yancey is the co-director of the ucla kaise

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: a quick note, we recorded our conversation with jamie lee curtis just prior to the news about her father. tony curtis passed away last week at the age of 85. pleased to welcome jamie lee curtis back to this program. she has a new book for children called "my mommy hung the moon." it is already at the top of "the new york times" bestseller list. also she has a new film, "you again." >> you knew how badly i wanted to be sandy, but you had to audition. >> i always wanted to be in the musical "ramona," always. >> please, you don't even sing. you don't think about me. >> what was i supposed to do, slow down so you could catch up? >> ah! >> used all him f

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight, a conversation about the white between physical inactivity and obesity. dr. toni yancey is all of a new book on how children and adults can benefit from even 10 minutes of exercise. the new book is called "instant recess." also it tonight, dave koz is here. later on, a special performance. we're glad that you have joined us. author dr. toni yancey and dave koz, 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, 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. toni yancey is the co-director of the ucla kaise

i>> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time with actor tony danza on his real-life role as a teacher in philadelphia. 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--

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight, our conversation with "time" magazine's joe klein as we approach the midterm elections. his story this week is called "and american journey." actor tony danza stops by, taking on one of his most challenging roles ever as being a real life 10th grade teacher in philadelphia for a new a&e series called "teach." that is 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, 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: joe klein is a widely read columnist for "time" magazine, whose previous books also inc

tavis: good evening, i am tavis smiley. on election night there will be more reasons to stay up for results on the west coast. two high-profile races in washington and california. in nevada, harry reid in -- is in a tough fight. a preview of the races with adam nagourney. also tonight, one of rock music's most outspoken voices, serj tankian. he is currently on tour in support of his new seat being -- of his new cd. we are glad you have joined us. 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. 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 you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> for more information on tavis: adam nagourney is the former chief for "the new york times, who now serves as the l.a. bureau chief.

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. first up tonight, our preview of next week's midterm elections with pennsylvania governor ed rendell, who will conclude his second and final term as chief executive in pennsylvania. pennsylvania is one of the most closely watched races. also tonight, actor and comedian paul reiser is here. he is about to release his first cd of music called," and next year he is set to return to prime time television with a sitcom for nbc. we are glad that you have joined us. pennsylvania governor ed rendell and paul reiser, 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, 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

. >> 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 you. thank you. kcet public television] tavis: david beckmann is the president for bread for the world. his new book is called "exodus from honker." -- hunger. good to have you on the program. let me start with asking what the politics of honker art. >> the binding constraint -- politics of hunger. there is lack of political will. there are many countries that made progress against hunger and disease, so we know it is possible to make progress against poverty. it is also possible in the u.s. what is really needed is organized give a damn. we have to have political commitment to reduce hunger. we know a lot of things to reduce it around the world. what we need to do is change u.s. government policy, because our government provides a framework for what we do in this country and has reached all over

until next time, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: i'm tavis smiley. join me for a conversation with condoleezza rice on her new memoir. that's next time. see you then. >> all i know is his name is james and he needs extra help with his reading. >> 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 empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. one of the key questions in races among the country is turnout among hispanic voters. a look at the importance of latino voters. with julian castro, considered to be a rising star in the democratic party. he is the and this mayor of any of the top 50 u.s. cities. a remarkable story of ingrid betancourt. she was kidnapped and held captive in the jungle for more than six years. they claim to new book about her ordeal is called "even silence has an end". we are glad you have joined us. mayor julian castro and ingrid betancourt next. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> 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

i'm tavis smiley. a pulitzer winning writer. he shows evidence to refute the option of a monolithic plaque jen that. and a visit from a south african jazz artist. he's here in support of his first project in three years. it is a album called "so strong." coming up right now. >> all i know -- >> eugene robinson is a editor at "the washington post." his latest book is called disintegration, the splintering of black america. he joins us from new york. good to have you back on the program. >> great to be here. thank you for having me. >> congratulations on the 30 years at the post. how do you -- how do you historically situate that? 30 years at "the washington post"? >> it is very difficult. who knew -- who knew that i would have survived the 30 years at such an institution and who knew, you know, that the institution -- given the way things are now would have survived that long as well. but we're -- we're both still alive and kicking. >> what do you make quickly -- to your point now of the way the business is changing, that's to sa

tavis: good evening. smiley. americans will head to the polls in an election that could change the balance of power in washington and set the table for contentious presidential race in 2012. a preview of this critical midterm with amy walter, political director for abc news. actor sam rockwell is here. he stars opposite hilary swank in "conviction". a . view of the midterm elections -- a preview of the mid term elections. >> 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. tavis: in four weeks, americans had to the polls. for more tonight, but will be joined by amy walter -- we w

. >> 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. tavis: in four weeks, americans had to the polls. for more tonight, but will be joined by amy walter -- we will be joined by amy walter. congratulations and good to have you back. >> glad to be here. tavis: republicans were going to clean the clocks of democrats and now of late, i see republicans john boehner and others starting to back down a bit on these predictions about what we thought they were going to pull off in november. am i reading this wrong? >> i do not think so. we have been hearing for quite some time that this is going to be a big election, a good election for republicans. all factors are in their favor. we're looking at when we look at the poll numbers out there, the president's approval rati

. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide is proud to join tavis in improving financial literacy and removing obstacles to economic empowerment. >> ♪ 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: michael hirsh is the former national economics -- his new book is called "capital offense, how washington's wiseman turned america's future over to wall street's." he joins us tonight from washington. >> thanks for having me. tavis: let me start by asking who these wise men are that you are referring to. >> i was inspired to write this book in the fall of 2008 went along with the markets, i watched some of the greatest reputations of our time crash to the earth. of course, chief among them were men like alan greenspan, the federal reserve chairman, robert rubin, the former treasury secretary, and others who we had lionized in the 1990's as masters of the game, masters