The last two weeks’ guests have a variety of backgrounds. From the arts and motion pictures to politics and sports, recent guests, who were born in places as far away as Latvia or as close as Sacramento, CA, had the studio (as always) buzzing with thought-provoking and lively discussion on sports, business, politics, scandal, arts and entertainment.
Check out images of and quotes from entrepreneur and NBA legend Magic Johnson, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Iraq War veteran-turned-peace advocate Paul K. Chappell, filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan, Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans, dancer-actor Mikhail Baryshnikov, California Congressman Xavier Becerra and Emmy-winning actor Guy Pearce.
All images by Van Evers, Tavis Smiley Media, Inc.
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- 'That's not who I am…I'm a guy who loves life, I'm a guy who is a guy who lives every single day on an emotional high...so if I would have ran and hid, then I probably would have died.' – Magic Johnson, on why he didn't hibernate after announcing his diagnosis with the HIV virus
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- 'I was a very political animal, and I didn't want to run for office. Ironically, I didn't want to run for office because I didn't want my private life spilled all over the press. So I guess that strategy didn't work.' – Jack Abramoff, on why he became a lobbyist
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- 'I grew up believing that war makes us safe. If you watch television, if you read comic books, Spiderman, Superman, Batman, they all make the world safer by beating people up…I had this realization that there's actually a more effective way to make the world safe, which is through waging peace.' - Iraq War veteran Paul K. Chappell on how he changed his views on war
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- 'I don't think I've ever had the blueprint for box office success.' – Oscar-nominated writer-director Lawrence Kasdan
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- 'I would give up every gold medal to live it again. Every world record, every gold medal.' – Four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans, on passing the Olympic torch to Muhammad Ali in the 1996 Olympic Games
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- 'I was a happy kid because I fell in love with the theater.' – Oscar-nominated dancer-actor Mikhail Baryshnikov on his childhood
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- 'I think you always vote for the person who will be the leader, not for the person who may have to come in to be the leader if the top guy is gone.' – California Congressman Xavier Becerra on the 2012 presidential race
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- 'It's a glorified and expensive hobby…probably when I'm 80 I'll release about a thousand songs.' – Actor Guy Pearce on being a musician as a side hobby
Outstanding. We old progressive folks are so very very very proud of our youth and younger generation.
