“Smiley & West” partners up pubcaster and Harvard professor

Public broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West are co-hosting the new radio show Smiley & West, premiering Oct. 1. The program was announced Sunday (Sept. 26) at the Public Radio Programming Conference in Denver. On the weekly hourlong PRI offering, Smiley and West will talk current affairs, politics and cultural news, especially focusing on stories not covered by the mainstream media. A segment titled “Take ‘Em to Task” will let listeners interact with the two. The show concludes with a 30-minute conversation among the co-hosts and celebrities, politicians and other newsmakers. First up: New York Times columnist Frank Rich, and comedian, actor and writer Garry Shandling.