Overheard With Evan Smith On Klru-tv

R.L. Stine is a novelist, short story writer, and TV producer. He is best known for his children’s horror fiction novels including Goosebumps, Rotten School, and The Nightmare Room series. His books have sold over 400 million copies worldwide and has been on countless bestseller lists. His latest book Young Scrooge: A Very Scary Christmas Story has just been released.

Steve Kornacki is a host and political correspondent for MSNBC. He has written for Salon.com, The New York Observer, The Wall Street Journal, The new York Times and many other publications. Steve currently anchors the 4pm hour of MSNBC Live.

Evan McMullin is a former CIA officer who is currently running as an Independent candidate for President of the United States. McMullin joined the CIA in 2001, spearheading numerous counter-terrorism and intelligence operations. After completing his CIA service in 2011, McMullin joined the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs.

Maureen Dowd is a best-selling author and a columnist for The New York Times. In 1999 Dowd won the Pulitzer Prize for her columns on the Monica Lewinsky scandal during the Clinton administration. Her most recent book is The Year of Voting Dangerously: The Derangement of American Politics.

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist and feminist organizer. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence. She now lives in New York City and has just finished a book detailing her more than thirty years on the road as a feminist organizer.

Steve Case is Co‐Founder of AOL and a venture capitalist. As CEO of Revolution he has backed companies like Zipcar, Sweetgreen and Living Social. He’s known as one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs and executives, focused on supporting startups. Case is also a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship and was a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. He is author of a new book entitled The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future.

Wendy Davis is a former Democratic State Senator from Fort Worth, Texas. Davis stepped into the national spotlight during her 11-hour filibuster in the summer of 2013. She spoke out in an effort to defeat a controversial abortion bill. In 2014, Davis ran for the Governor of Texas. Davis’ new non-profit organization Deeds Not Words launches this month. The organization is an online network that connects millennial women to resources that help fight gender inequality.

Jane Harman is a former US Representative for California’s 36th district. After resigning from Congress in 2011, Harman joined the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars as its first female President and CEO. During her nine terms in Congress she served on the Armed Services, Intelligence and Homeland Security committees.

Shawn Colvin is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas. She has won three Grammy awards, including Song of the Year for her hit "Sunny Came Home." Colvin's new album titled Colvin and Earle was released last month. Colvin joined forces with long-time friend and creative partner Steve Earle to create the debut collaborative album. The pair are currently touring across the US.

Kelly McEvers is the host of NPR’s Embedded and co-host of All Things Considered. McEvers won many awards for her work during the Syrian conflict including a Peabody award, Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia award and Gracie award. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Slate and The Washington Monthly.

Colin Jost is co-anchor of SNL’s “Weekend Update,” alongside Michael Che. This is Colin’s third season in the anchor chair. He was previously co-head writer and a staff writer at SNL. Colin has won three Writers Guild Awards, a Peabody Award and has been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards for his SNL writing. He writes occasionally for The New Yorker.

Tom Hayden is an anti-war activist and author. Best known for speaking out against the Vietnam War, Hayden has been an activist for more than 50 years. He served 18 years in the California legislature. Today he is a member of the editorial board and a columnist at The Nation and is Director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center in Culver City, California. He’s written more than 20 books and was once married to Jane Fonda.

Bryan Cranston is a highly acclaimed actor best known for playing Walter White on AMC’s Breaking Bad. He won back-to-back Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for that role. Before winning he’d been nominated for three Emmys and two Golden Globes. Recent film credits include Trumbo, Argo, and the new HBO film All the Way, in which he plays President Lyndon Johnson. Cranston played Johnson in All the Way on Broadway and earned a Tony Award for the role.

Kara Swisher is the Executive Editor of Recode, Host of the Recode Decode podcast and Executive Producer of the Code Conference, which brings together technology influencers and CEOs. Swisher has been covering technology and digital issues since 1997 when she was a reporter in the Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau.

Jeffrey Goldberg is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. He won the National Magazine Award for Reporting in 2003 for his reporting on terrorism. His 2006 book "Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide" was hailed as one of the best books of that year. Goldberg's most recent Atlantic cover story was “The Obama Doctrine”.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, as well as Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Dr. Gates is also an author, cultural critic, and filmmaker. He's produced numerous series for PBS including Looking for Lincoln, Many Rivers to Cross: The History of the African American People, and Finding Your Roots, many of which he also hosts. His next documentary series, Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise will a

Anthony Foxx is the 17th U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Foxx was Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina from 2009-2013. He also served as Charlotte City Council Member At-Large for two terms. While he was mayor, Charlotte extended the city’s light rail system, expanded the airport, made highway improvements, and started a streetcar project.

Ken Burns is an acclaimed historical documentary filmmaker. His films have won 13 Emmys and two Oscar nominations and he’s been honored by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. His films and series, most of which appear on PBS, include The Civil War, The Dust Bowl, and Baseball. His next film, Jackie Robinson, will air on PBS on April 11 and 12 of 2016.

Ethan Hawke is an Academy Award-nominated actor and screenwriter. He’s also an author of three novels, including his most recent Rules for a Knight, which The New Yorker called “a hybrid parenting guide and self-help book.” Hawke was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role last year for his performance in Boyhood. In his newest film, “Born to be Blue,” he plays legendary jazz musician Chet Baker.

In a special episode of Overheard, Evan sits down with President Barack Obama for a discussion about civic engagement in the 21st Century. The interview is an excerpt of the Keynote Conversation at the SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas on March 11, 2016.