Texas Monthly Talks
Encyclopedia
Texas Monthly Talks was a thirty-minute interview show
on public television networks across the state of Texas
hosted by Evan Smith
, then Editor Emeritus of Texas Monthly
magazine. Produced by Dateline NBC
veteran Lynn Boswell, the show addressed contemporary issues in Texas politics, business and culture. Premiering in February 2003, the show was an original production of KLRU-TV, the PBS station serving Austin
and Central Texas
. In 2010 the series was succeeded by Overheard, with the same format, host and producer; the renaming was necessary because Smith had resigned his position at the magazine and had become Editor in Chief of the Texas Tribune.
On Texas Monthly Talks Smith regularly interviewed public figures from Austin and around Texas, such as Bill Powers
, the president of the University of Texas at Austin
, mayors Bill White of Houston, Tom Leppert
of Dallas, and Texas Governor Rick Perry
. His guests also included notables in national politics, such as presidential candidates Howard Dean
, John Kerry
, Bill Bradley
, John McCain
, Joe Biden
, Mike Huckabee
, Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards
; in business, such as Southwest Airlines
co-founder Herb Kelleher
and Whole Foods Market
CEO John Mackey
; in the media, such as New York Times columnists Maureen Dowd
and Frank Rich
and newscasters Jim Lehrer
, Walter Cronkite
, Dan Rather
, Bob Schieffer
, and Tom Brokaw
; and in entertainment, such as directors Francis Ford Coppola
, John Sayles
, and David Lynch
, singers Ted Nugent
and Billy Gibbons
, novelist Salman Rushdie, and actresses Lauren Bacall
, Lily Tomlin
, and Debra Winger
.
In 2006 the show won a Lone Star Emmy Award
for interview program. In 2009 an episode with Billy Bob Thornton
won a Lone Star Emmy for arts or entertainment program.
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
on public television networks across the state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
hosted by Evan Smith
Evan Smith
Evan Smith is the CEO and editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune.Born in New York, Smith has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Hamilton College and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University...
, then Editor Emeritus of Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
magazine. Produced by Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
veteran Lynn Boswell, the show addressed contemporary issues in Texas politics, business and culture. Premiering in February 2003, the show was an original production of KLRU-TV, the PBS station serving Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
and Central Texas
Central Texas
Central Texas , is a region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is roughly bordered by San Marcos to Fredericksburg to Waco, and to Brenham, and includes the Austin–Round Rock, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Bryan-College Station, and Waco metropolitan areas...
. In 2010 the series was succeeded by Overheard, with the same format, host and producer; the renaming was necessary because Smith had resigned his position at the magazine and had become Editor in Chief of the Texas Tribune.
On Texas Monthly Talks Smith regularly interviewed public figures from Austin and around Texas, such as Bill Powers
William C. Powers
William Charles Powers Jr. is the 28th president of The University of Texas at Austin, a position he has held since February 1, 2006....
, the president of the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
, mayors Bill White of Houston, Tom Leppert
Tom Leppert
Tom Leppert is an American politician who served as mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2007 to 2011, and who worked as CEO of the Turner Corporation...
of Dallas, and Texas Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
. His guests also included notables in national politics, such as presidential candidates Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
, John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
, Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
; in business, such as Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
co-founder Herb Kelleher
Herb Kelleher
Herbert D. Kelleher is the co-founder, Chairman Emeritus, and former CEO of Southwest Airlines .-Life and career:...
and Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas which emphasizes "natural and organic products." The company has been ranked among the most socially responsible businesses and placed third on the U.S...
CEO John Mackey
John Mackey (businessman)
John Mackey is an American businessman. He is the CEO of Whole Foods Market which he had co-founded in 1980. Named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003, Mackey is a strong supporter of free market economics...
; in the media, such as New York Times columnists Maureen Dowd
Maureen Dowd
Maureen Bridgid Dowd is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times and best-selling author. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, she worked for Time magazine and the Washington Star, where she covered news as well as sports and wrote feature articles...
and Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
and newscasters Jim Lehrer
Jim Lehrer
James Charles "Jim" Lehrer is an American journalist and the executive editor and former news anchor for PBS NewsHour on PBS, known for his role as a frequent debate moderator during elections...
, Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
, Bob Schieffer
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
, and Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
; and in entertainment, such as directors Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, John Sayles
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
, and David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, singers Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
and Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick "Billy" Gibbons is an American musician, actor and car customizer, best known as the guitarist of the Texas blues-rock band ZZ Top. He is also the lead singer and composer for many of the band's songs. Gibbons is known for playing his Gretsch Billy Bo guitar and his famous 1959...
, novelist Salman Rushdie, and actresses Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
, Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
, and Debra Winger
Debra Winger
Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
.
In 2006 the show won a Lone Star Emmy Award
Lone Star Emmy Awards
The Lone Star Emmy Awards are a division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The division was founded in 2002 and in addition to granting the Lone Star Emmy Awards, it recognizes awards scholarships, honors industry veterans at the Silver Circle Celebration, conducts National...
for interview program. In 2009 an episode with Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
won a Lone Star Emmy for arts or entertainment program.
Season eight
- Mike Leach, head football coach of the Texas Tech University Red Raiders
- E.J. Dionne, columnist and author
- Francisco CigarroaFrancisco G. CigarroaFrancisco Gonzalez Cigarroa is a medical doctor and Chancellor of the University of Texas System. He is also the first Hispanic to serve as president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio ....
, Chancellor of the University of Texas System - Madeleine AlbrightMadeleine AlbrightMadeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...
, former U.S. Secretary of State - Buzz AldrinBuzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
, former astronaut - Taylor BranchTaylor BranchTaylor Branch is an American author and historian best known for his award-winning trilogy of books chronicling the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and some of the history of the American civil rights movement...
, author - Gail CollinsGail CollinsGail Gleason Collins is an American journalist, op-ed columnist and author, most recognized for her work with the New York Times. Joining the Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, from 2001 to 2007 she served as the paper's Editorial Page Editor – the first woman to attain that position...
, New York Times columnist - Jane SmileyJane SmileyJane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained an A.B. at Vassar College, then earned an M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the...
, novelist - Richard LinklaterRichard Linklater-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
, director - Morley SaferMorley SaferMorley Safer is a Canadian reporter and correspondent for CBS News. He is best known for his long tenure on the newsmagazine 60 Minutes, which began in December 1970.-Life and career:...
, broadcast journalist - Michael WilliamsMichael L. WilliamsMichael Lawrence Williams is a former member of the elected Texas Railroad Commission, a regulatory body over, not railroads, but the oil and natural gas industries. Williams is the first African American to hold a statewide elected executive office in Texas history. He was appointed to the...
, Texas Railroad Commissioner and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate - Augie GarridoAugie GarridoAugust Edmun Garrido, Jr. is a coach in NCAA Division I college baseball. As of June 12, 2011, Garrido has compiled a record of 1,817 wins, 823 losses, and 8 ties. He is currently in his 43rd season of collegiate coaching...
, University of Texas baseball coach - Jon MeachamJon MeachamJon Meacham is executive editor and executive vice president at Random House. A former editor of Newsweek and a Pulitzer Prize winning bestselling author and a commentator on politics, history, and religious faith in America, he is a contributing editor to Time magazine and editor-at-large of WNET...
, editor of Newsweek - David BrancaccioDavid BrancaccioDavid A. Brancaccio is an American radio and television journalist. He has been the host of the public radio business program Marketplace and the PBS newsmagazine NOW.-Early years:...
, host of Now on PBS - Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio
- Mark HalperinMark HalperinMark E. Halperin is the senior political analyst for Time magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC and serves as a board member on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. He is the co-author of Game Change.-Personal:Mark Halperin is the son of Morton Halperin and Ina Young. He has...
and John HeilemannJohn HeilemannJohn Arthur Heilemann is an American journalist for New York magazine, where he mainly covers US politics. He previously was a staff writer for The New Yorker, Wired, and The Economist. He is the coauthor of the No...
, authors - Tim MathesonTim MathesonTim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
, actor - Thomas Haden ChurchThomas Haden ChurchThomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
, actor - Jake SilversteinJake SilversteinJake Silverstein was born in California 1975.In 2010 Silverstein became the editor of Texas Monthly, an American magazine.In April, 2010 Silverstein, shared with Skip Hollandsworth and Evan Smith the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing for “Still Life,” the story of John...
, author and editor of Texas Monthly - Cecile RichardsCecile RichardsCecile Richards a Democratic Party activist and the current president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.-Political involvement:...
, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America - Frank DefordFrank DefordBenjamin "Frank" Deford, III is a senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated, author, and commentator for National Public Radio and correspondent for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO....
, sportswriter - Arianna HuffingtonArianna HuffingtonArianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...
, founder of The Huffington Post - Anna Deavere SmithAnna Deavere SmithAnna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is currently the artist in residence at the Center for American Progress.-Early life:...
, actress and playwright - The Right Rev. Andrew C. Doyle, the Ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas
- Gwen IfillGwen IfillGwendolyn L. "Gwen" Ifill is an American journalist, television newscaster and author. She is the managing editor and moderator of Washington Week and a senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, both of which air on PBS. She is a political analyst, and moderated the 2004 and 2008 Vice...
, journalist - Sally RideSally RideSally Kristen Ride is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. Ride joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman—and then-youngest American, at 32—to enter space...
, astronaut
Season seven
- Matthew McConaugheyMatthew McConaugheyMatthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
, actor - Lily TomlinLily TomlinMary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
, comedienne - Rick NoriegaRick NoriegaRichard Joel "Rick" Noriega was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 145 in eastern Houston, first elected in 1998. He was the Democratic nominee for the Texas United States Senate election, 2008 against the one-term Republican incumbent John Cornyn...
, state representative and 2008 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate - John CornynJohn CornynJohn Cornyn, III is the junior United States Senator for Texas, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 111th U.S. Congress....
, U.S. Senator from Texas - Boone Pickens, energy magnate
- Rick RiordanRick RiordanRichard Russell "Rick" Riordan, Jr. is an American author best known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He also wrote the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults and helped to edit Demigods and Monsters, a collection of essays on the topic of his Percy Jackson series...
, author - Susan OrleanSusan OrleanSusan Orlean is an American journalist. She has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, and has contributed articles to Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside....
, author - Roy Blount, Jr.Roy Blount, Jr.Roy Alton Blount, Jr. is an American writer. Best known as a humorist, Blount is also a reporter, actor, and musician with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band composed entirely of writers. He is also a former president of the Authors Guild....
, author - Mark McKinnonMark McKinnonMark McKinnon is a Republican political advisor in the United States, Global Vice-Chairman of Hill & Knowlton, Inc., a leading international communications consultancy, providing services to local, multinational and global clients, and the President of Maverick Media. Originally a Democrat,...
, Matthew DowdMatthew DowdMatthew John Dowd is an American political consultant who was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney '04 presidential campaign. In December 2007, he was introduced on ABC's Good Morning America as its new political contributor...
, and Douglas BrinkleyDouglas BrinkleyDouglas Brinkley is an American author, professor of history at Rice University and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair...
, pundits - Tom KiteTom KiteThomas Oliver Kite, Jr. is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1989 and 1994....
, golfer - John SharpJohn Sharp (Texas politician)John Sharp is the former Democratic Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, having held the office from 1991 to 1999. He is currently a principal in the Austin office of the Dallas-based Ryan & Company, a tax consulting firm. In 2005, he was appointed to serve as Chair of the Texas Tax Reform...
, former Texas comptroller and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate - Jerry Patterson, Texas Land Commissioner
- David DewhurstDavid DewhurstDavid Dewhurst is the 41st and current Lieutenant Governor of Texas, serving under Governor Rick Perry since January 21, 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Texas Land Commissioner from 1999 to 2003. Dewhurst announced on July 18, 2011, that he was running for the...
, Lieutenant Governor of Texas - Joe StrausJoe StrausJoseph R. Straus, III, known as Joe Straus , is the current Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He represents District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar County, including part of San Antonio, Texas, and several surrounding communities...
, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives - Carl Hiassen, author
- Abraham VergheseAbraham VergheseAbraham Verghese is Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He was born in Ethiopia to parents from Kerala, India who worked as teachers. He is a Syro-Malabar Christian...
, author - Bryan BurroughBryan BurroughBryan Burrough is an American author and correspondent for Vanity Fair. He has written five books: Barbarians at the Gate , Vendetta: American Express and the Smearing of Edmond Safra , Dragonfly , Public Enemies and The Big Rich...
, author - Roy SpenceRoy SpenceRoy Spence is the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of the advertising agency GSD&M Idea City and author of the books The Amazing Faith of Texas and It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business Is Driven By Purpose.-Early life:Roy was born in Brownwood, Texas in 1948...
, advertising executive - John Mendelsohn, president of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
- Billy Bob ThorntonBilly Bob ThorntonBilly Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
, actor - Mary Ellen MarkMary Ellen MarkMary Ellen Mark is an American photographer known for her photojournalism, portraiture, and advertising photography. She has had 16 collections of her work published and has been exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide. She has received numerous accolades, including three Robert F...
, photographer - Dee Dee MyersDee Dee MyersDee Dee Myers served as White House Press Secretary for the first two years of the Clinton administration, from January 20, 1993 to December 22, 1994.-Early life and education:...
, former White House press secretary - Douglas BrinkleyDouglas BrinkleyDouglas Brinkley is an American author, professor of history at Rice University and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair...
, author and historian - Sonny RollinsSonny RollinsTheodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, musician - Jody ConradtJody ConradtJody Conradt is a retired women's basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's team at University of Texas at Austin . Her coaching career spanned 38 years, with the last 31 years at UT from 1976 to 2007. She also served concurrently as the UT women's athletic director from 1992 to 2001...
, legendary college basketball coach - Jeffrey ToobinJeffrey ToobinJeffrey Ross Toobin is an American lawyer, author, and legal analyst for CNN and The New Yorker.-Early life and education:...
, author and CNN commentator
Season six
- Lance ArmstrongLance ArmstrongLance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
, athlete - Tina BrownTina BrownTina Brown, Lady Evans, CBE , is a journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host and author of The Diana Chronicles, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales. Born a British citizen, she took United States citizenship in 2005 after emigrating in 1984 to edit Vanity Fair...
, author and editor - Robert DraperRobert DraperRobert Draper is a freelance writer, a correspondent for GQ and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine. Previously, he worked for Texas Monthly, where he first became acquainted with the Bush political family. He is the author of Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush, a chronicle of...
, author - Mark HalperinMark HalperinMark E. Halperin is the senior political analyst for Time magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC and serves as a board member on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. He is the co-author of Game Change.-Personal:Mark Halperin is the son of Morton Halperin and Ina Young. He has...
, ABC News political analyst - Clayton WilliamsClayton WilliamsClayton Wheat "Claytie" Williams, Jr. , a businessman from Midland, Texas, was the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1990 against the Democratic State Treasurer Ann Richards even though Williams initially led in opinion polls by twenty points.-Biographical information:An independent...
, oilman and 1990 Republican gubernatorial candidate - Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate
- Ethan HawkeEthan HawkeEthan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
, actor - Carly FiorinaCarly FiorinaCarly Fiorina is an American business executive and a former Republican candidate for the United States Senate representing California. Fiorina served as chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005 and previously was an executive at AT&T and its equipment and technology spinoff,...
, former CEO and chairman of the board of Hewlett-Packard - Bill White, mayor of Houston
- Carl BernsteinCarl BernsteinCarl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
, author - Mike HuckabeeMike HuckabeeMichael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, former Governor of Arkansas and 2008 Republican presidential candidate - Burton TanskyBurton TanskyBurton M. Tansky is an American department store executive who retired as president and chief executive officer of The Neiman Marcus Group Summer of 2010....
, president and CEO, The Neiman Marcus Group - Jim LehrerJim LehrerJames Charles "Jim" Lehrer is an American journalist and the executive editor and former news anchor for PBS NewsHour on PBS, known for his role as a frequent debate moderator during elections...
, broadcast journalist - Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, director - Silvestre ReyesSilvestre ReyesSilvestre "Silver" Reyes is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997, and the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the primary Committee in the U.S...
, U.S. Congressman from El Paso and Chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence - Bud Shrake, novelist
- John SaylesJohn SaylesJohn Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
, director - Jeff DanielsJeff DanielsJeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
, actor - Bob DoleBob DoleRobert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
, former U.S. Senator from Kansas and 1996 Republican presidential candidate - Tom DaschleTom DaschleThomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former Senate Democratic leader - Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator from New York and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate
- Tom LeppertTom LeppertTom Leppert is an American politician who served as mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2007 to 2011, and who worked as CEO of the Turner Corporation...
, mayor of Dallas - Elsa MuranoElsa MuranoElsa Alina Murano was the 23rd President of Texas A&M University. On June 14, 2009, Murano resigned as president of the university, effective June 15, 2009....
, president of Texas A&M University - Debra WingerDebra WingerMary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
, actress - Billy GibbonsBilly GibbonsWilliam Frederick "Billy" Gibbons is an American musician, actor and car customizer, best known as the guitarist of the Texas blues-rock band ZZ Top. He is also the lead singer and composer for many of the band's songs. Gibbons is known for playing his Gretsch Billy Bo guitar and his famous 1959...
, musician - Don McLeroyDon McLeroyJohn Donald "Don" McLeroy is a dentist in Bryan, Texas and a departing Republican member of the Texas State Board of Education, which establishes policy for the Texas public school system. Dr. McLeroy, who represents SBOE District 9 , has been on the board since 1998...
, chairman of the State Board of Education - Lyle LovettLyle LovettLyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
, musician
Season five
- Mack BrownMack BrownWilliam Mack Brown is head coach of The University of Texas at Austin Longhorn football team.Prior to his head coach position at Texas, Brown was head coach at Appalachian State, Tulane, and North Carolina. Brown is credited with revitalizing the Texas and North Carolina football programs...
, head coach of the University of Texas Longhorns - James BakerJames BakerJames Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...
, former secretary of state - Rick PerryRick PerryJames Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
, Governor of Texas - Chris BellChris Bell (politician)Robert Christopher "Chris" Bell is a Democratic Party politician. He last served as a one-term congressman in the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 25th congressional district in Houston from 2003 to 2005 before being defeated in the Democratic primary by Justice of the Peace Al...
, Democratic gubernatorial candidate - Al FrankenAl FrankenAlan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
, radio personality and author - Carole Keeton StrayhornCarole Keeton StrayhornCarole Keeton Strayhorn is the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts....
, Independent gubernatorial candidate - Tom BrokawTom BrokawThomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
, broadcast journalist - Kinky FriedmanKinky FriedmanRichard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...
, Independent gubernatorial candidate - Gregory Curtis, author and former editor of Texas MonthlyTexas MonthlyTexas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
- Judith IveyJudith IveyJudith Lee Ivey is an American actress and director.-Personal life:Ivey was born in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Lee , a teacher, and Nathan Aldean Ivey, a college instructor and dean. She spent 1965-1968 in Dowagiac, Michigan, where she attended Union High School through tenth grade...
, actress - Dorothy Bush Koch, presidential kin/author
- John KerryJohn KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and 2004 Democratic party nominee for president - Lawrence WrightLawrence WrightLawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, screenwriter, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law...
, author - Gore VidalGore VidalGore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, author - Margaret SpellingsMargaret SpellingsMargaret Spellings was the Secretary of Education from 2005-2009 under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush and previously served as White House Domestic Policy Adviser to President George W. Bush....
, U.S. Secretary of Education - Pete LaneyPete LaneyJames E. "Pete" Laney is a U.S. Democratic Party politician from West Texas. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for 34 years from Hale Center . Laney served as Speaker for ten years from 1993 to 2003, a record matching that set by his predecessor, fellow Democrat Gibson D...
, former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives - Steven WeinbergSteven WeinbergSteven Weinberg is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles....
, Nobel Prize-winning physicist - David LynchDavid LynchDavid Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, director - Tom VilsackTom VilsackThomas James "Tom" Vilsack is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and presently the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He served as the 40th Governor of the state of Iowa. He was first elected in 1998 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002...
, former governor of Iowa and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate - Ray SuarezRay SuarezRafael Suarez, Jr. , known as Ray Suarez, is an American broadcast journalist. Suarez joined the PBS NewsHour in 1999 and became a senior correspondent for the evening news program on the PBS television network. He is also host of the international news and analysis public radio program America...
, broadcast journalist - Tom CraddickTom CraddickThomas Russell Craddick, known as Tom Craddick , was the first Republican to have served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives since Reconstruction. Craddick wielded the Speaker's gavel from 2003-2009...
, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives - John EdwardsJohn EdwardsJohnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
, former U.S. Senator from North Carolina and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate - Calvin TrillinCalvin TrillinCalvin Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist.-Biography:Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and was a member of Scroll and Key before graduating...
, author - Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
, actress - Ted NugentTed NugentTheodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
, musician - Bob SchiefferBob SchiefferBob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
, broadcast journalist - Bill BradleyBill BradleyWilliam Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
, former U.S. Senator from New Jersey - Christopher HitchensChristopher HitchensChristopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
, author - Michael BeschlossMichael BeschlossMichael Richard Beschloss is an American historian. A specialist in the United States presidency, he is the author of nine books.- Early life :...
, historian - Norman PearlstineNorman PearlstineNorman Pearlstine joined Bloomberg L.P. in June 2008 as chief content officer, a newly-created position. In this role Pearlstine is charged with seeking growth opportunities for Bloomberg’s television, radio, magazine, and online products and to make the most of the company’s news operations.Prior...
, former editor in chief of Time Inc.
Season four
- Dan RatherDan RatherDaniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
, broadcast journalist - Larry FaulknerLarry FaulknerLarry Ray Faulkner was the twenty-seventh president of The University of Texas at Austin. Faulkner is, as of January 31, 2006, President of the Houston Endowment Inc.....
, outgoing president of the University of Texas at Austin - Mark HalperinMark HalperinMark E. Halperin is the senior political analyst for Time magazine, Time.com, and MSNBC and serves as a board member on the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. He is the co-author of Game Change.-Personal:Mark Halperin is the son of Morton Halperin and Ina Young. He has...
, head of ABC News Political Unit - Karen OlssonKaren OlssonKaren Olsson is an American novelist and journalist. Her first novel, Waterloo , is set in a thinly veiled version of Austin, Texas. The book follows a down-on-his-motivation reporter at an alternative weekly paper as he tries to get over a failed relationship and investigate some irregular...
and Nate Blakeslee, authors/journalists - Bruce BabbittBruce BabbittBruce Edward Babbitt , a Democrat, served as United States Secretary of the Interior and as the 16th governor of Arizona, from 1978 to 1987.-Biography:...
, former governor of Arizona and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate - Wallace Jefferson, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
- Greg AbbottGreg AbbottGregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott is the Texas Attorney General, and is the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate...
, Attorney General of Texas - Maureen DowdMaureen DowdMaureen Bridgid Dowd is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times and best-selling author. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, she worked for Time magazine and the Washington Star, where she covered news as well as sports and wrote feature articles...
, columnist - John McCainJohn McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, U.S. Senator from Arizona - John CornynJohn CornynJohn Cornyn, III is the junior United States Senator for Texas, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 111th U.S. Congress....
, U.S. Senator from Texas - Ralph NeasRalph NeasRalph G. Neas is CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care , a non-profit, non-partisan organization working to improve America's health care system....
, head of People for the American Way - Dick DeGuerinDick DeGuerinDick DeGuerin is a criminal defense attorney based in Houston, Texas. DeGuerin was admitted to the State Bar in 1965...
, attorney - Louis SacharLouis SacharLouis Sachar is an American author of children's books who is best known for the Sideways Stories From Wayside School book series and the 1998 novel Holes, for which Sachar won a National Book Award and the Newbery Medal...
, novelist - Bill PowersWilliam C. PowersWilliam Charles Powers Jr. is the 28th president of The University of Texas at Austin, a position he has held since February 1, 2006....
, incoming president of the University of Texas at Austin - Ana Marie CoxAna Marie CoxAna Marie Cox is an American author and blogger. The founding editor of the political blog Wonkette, she is currently the Washington correspondent for GQ and is The Guardian's lead blogger on US politics. She previously worked at Air America Media.-Early life:Cox was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico...
, blogger - Frank RichFrank RichFrank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
, columnist - Doris Kearns GoodwinDoris Kearns GoodwinDoris Kearns Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer and historian, and an oft-seen political commentator. She is the author of biographies of several U.S...
, historian - Joe BidenJoe BidenJoseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
, U.S. Senator from Delaware - Salman Rushdie, novelist
- Elizabeth Crook, novelist
- Walter CronkiteWalter CronkiteWalter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, broadcast journalist - Paul BegalaPaul BegalaPaul Edward Begala is an American political consultant and political commentator. He was an adviser to President Bill Clinton. Begala was a chief strategist for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign, which carried 33 states and made Clinton the first Democrat to win the White House in sixteen years...
, political strategist/broadcast journalist - Stephen HarriganStephen HarriganStephen Harrigan is an American writer, known primarily for his 2000 historical novel The Gates of the Alamo. He was born in Oklahoma City in 1948, grew up in Texas and currently lives in Austin. Harrigan began his career as a journalist, as a staff writer and later senior editor at Texas Monthly...
, novelist - Jack S. BlantonJack S. BlantonJack Sawtelle Blanton is an American oil industry executive, civic leader and philanthropist.He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of William N. Blanton and Louise G. Wynn . Blanton was raised in Houston, Texas, where his father was general manager of the chamber of commerce...
, philanthropist - Jane FondaJane FondaJane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, actress - Kris KristoffersonKris KristoffersonKristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
, singer and actor - Karenna Gore SchiffKarenna Gore SchiffKarenna Aitcheson Gore Schiff is an American author, journalist, and attorney. She is the eldest daughter of Al and Tipper Gore and the sister of Kristin Gore.-Background and family:...
, author - Dave HickeyDave HickeyDavid Hickey is an American art and cultural critic. He has written for many American publications including Rolling Stone, Art News, Art in America, Artforum, Harper's Magazine, and Vanity Fair...
, critic
Season three
- Tom CraddickTom CraddickThomas Russell Craddick, known as Tom Craddick , was the first Republican to have served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives since Reconstruction. Craddick wielded the Speaker's gavel from 2003-2009...
, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives - Joel OsteenJoel OsteenJoel Scott Osteen is an American author, televangelist, and the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. His ministry reaches over seven million broadcast media viewers weekly in over 100 nations around the world.-Biography:...
, preacher - Liz CarpenterLiz CarpenterMary Elizabeth "Liz" Sutherland Carpenter was a writer, feminist, former reporter, media advisor, speechwriter, political humorist, and public relations expert....
, former presidential press secretary - Matthew DowdMatthew DowdMatthew John Dowd is an American political consultant who was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney '04 presidential campaign. In December 2007, he was introduced on ABC's Good Morning America as its new political contributor...
, political strategist - Robert MacNeilRobert MacNeilRobert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil, OC, known sometimes as Robin MacNeil, , is currently a novelist and formerly was a television news anchor and journalist who had paired with Jim Lehrer to create The MacNeil/Lehrer Report in 1975.-Early life:MacNeil was born in Montreal, the son of Margaret...
, broadcast journalist - Kinky FriedmanKinky FriedmanRichard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...
, 2006 candidate for Texas governor - John Shelby SpongJohn Shelby SpongJohn Shelby "Jack" Spong is a retired American bishop of the Episcopal Church. He was formerly the Bishop of Newark . He is a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator and author...
, former Episcopal Bishop of Newark - Jack ValentiJack ValentiJack Joseph Valenti was a long-time president of the Motion Picture Association of America. During his 38-year tenure in the MPAA, he created the MPAA film rating system, and he was generally regarded as one of the most influential pro-copyright lobbyists in the world...
, former LBJ aide/former head of the Motion Picture Association of America - Lauren BacallLauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
, actress - Billy Joe ShaverBilly Joe ShaverBilly Joe Shaver is a Texas country music singer and songwriter. Shaver's 1973 album Old Five and Dimers Like Me is a classic in the outlaw country genre.-Biography:...
, singer - Al FrankenAl FrankenAlan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
, radio personality and author - Ruth ReichlRuth ReichlRuth Reichl - pronounced RYE-chil - is an American food writer, co-producer of PBS's Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie, culinary editor for the Modern Library, host of PBS's Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth, and the last editor-in-chief of the now shuttered Gourmet magazine...
, editor of Gourmet magazine - Anita PerryAnita Thigpen PerryAnita Thigpen Perry is the current and longest-serving First Lady of Texas, and the wife of Governor Rick Perry. As First Lady of Texas, she has been an active advocate for nursing and other health care issues...
, first lady of Texas - Liz SmithLiz Smith (journalist)Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Smith is an American gossip columnist. She is known as The Grand Dame of Dish.- Early life and career :...
, gossip columnist - Ronnie EarleRonnie EarleRonald Dale "Ronnie" Earle was, until January 2009, the District Attorney for Travis County, Texas. He became nationally known for filing charges against House majority leader Tom DeLay in September 2005 for conspiring to violate Texas' election law and/or to launder money...
, Travis County District Attorney - Linda EllerbeeLinda EllerbeeLinda Ellerbee is an American journalist who is most known for several jobs at NBC News, including Washington, DC correspondent, host of the Nickelodeon network's Nick News, and reporter and co-anchor of NBC News Overnight, which was recognized by the jurors of the duPont Columbia Awards as...
, broadcast journalist - Isabel AllendeIsabel AllendeIsabel Allende Llona is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts , which have been commercially successful...
, novelist - Joaquin Jackson, former Texas Ranger
- William Broyles Jr.William Broyles Jr.William Dodson Broyles, Jr. is an American screenwriter, who has worked on the television series China Beach, and the films Apollo 13, Cast Away, Entrapment, Planet of the Apes, Unfaithful, The Polar Express, and Jarhead...
, screenwriter - Jim LehrerJim LehrerJames Charles "Jim" Lehrer is an American journalist and the executive editor and former news anchor for PBS NewsHour on PBS, known for his role as a frequent debate moderator during elections...
, broadcast journalist
Season two
- Kay Bailey HutchisonKay Bailey HutchisonKathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....
, U.S. Senator from Texas - Ben CrenshawBen CrenshawBen Daniel Crenshaw is an American professional golfer.Crenshaw was born in Austin, Texas. He attended and played golf at Austin High School and the University of Texas, where he won three NCAA Championships from 1971 to 1973...
, professional golfer - Ben Barnes, former speaker of the Texas House and former lieutenant governor of Texas
- Mark YudofMark YudofMark G. Yudof is an American law professor and academic administrator. He is president of the University of California , former chancellor of the University of Texas System , and former president of the University of Minnesota .In addition to his position as Chancellor at The University of Texas,...
, chancellor of the University of Texas System - Will WynnWill WynnWilliam Patrick Wynn served as mayor of Austin, Texas from 2003 to 2009. He is a Democrat.- Family :Born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, Wynn was the sixth of seven children. He attended Texas A&M University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in Environmental Design in 1984...
, Mayor of Austin - Joe JamailJoe JamailJoseph Dahr Jamail, Jr. is a Lebanese American attorney and billionaire. The wealthiest practicing attorney in America, he is frequently referred to as the King of Torts. As of 2011, his net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $1.5 billion, making him the 833rd richest person in the world.Jamail...
, attorney - Luci Baines JohnsonLuci Baines JohnsonLuci Baines Johnson Turpin, formerly Nugent, is the younger daughter of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, the former Claudia Alta Taylor . Her name was originally spelled "Lucy"; she informally changed the spelling in her teens...
and Lynda Johnson Robb, daughters of Lyndon B. Johnson - Gloria FeldtGloria FeldtGloria Feldt at Temple, Texas, is a well-known author, commentator, and feminist leader.Feldt is a frequent public speaker, lecturing at universities, civic and professional organizations, and national and international conferences on women, feminism, politics, leadership, media, and health...
, then president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America - John MackeyJohn Mackey (businessman)John Mackey is an American businessman. He is the CEO of Whole Foods Market which he had co-founded in 1980. Named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003, Mackey is a strong supporter of free market economics...
, CEO of Whole Foods Market - Ralph NaderRalph NaderRalph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
, activist and perennial presidential candidate - Darrell RoyalDarrell RoyalDarrell K Royal is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Mississippi State University , the University of Washington , and the University of Texas at Austin , compiling a career college football record of 184–60–5...
, former head coach of the Texas Longhorns - Sarah BirdSarah BirdSarah Bird is an American novelist, screenwriter, and journalist. She was born in 1949 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her father was an officer in the US Air Force, and her family , including her mother, Colista Bird, travelled with him around the US and the world during her childhood...
, novelist - Joaquin Castro and Julian Castro, state representative and councilmember from San Antonio, respectively
- Anna QuindlenAnna QuindlenAnna Marie Quindlen is an American author, journalist, and opinion columnist whose New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. She began her journalism career in 1974 as a reporter for the New York Post...
, columnist - Carole Keeton StrayhornCarole Keeton StrayhornCarole Keeton Strayhorn is the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts....
, Texas comptroller - Donald EvansDonald EvansDonald Louis Evans was the 34th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He was appointed by his longtime friend George W. Bush and sworn into office on January 20, 2001...
, U.S. Commerce Secretary - Bruce SterlingBruce SterlingMichael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.-Writings:...
, novelist - Julie Speed, artist
- Jim HightowerJim HightowerJames Allen "Jim" Hightower is an American syndicated columnist, activist and author.-Life and career:Born in Denison, Texas, Hightower came from a working class background. He worked his way through college as assistant general manager of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and later landed a spot as...
, syndicated columnist - Bob EdwardsBob EdwardsRobert Alan Edwards is a Peabody Award-winning member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was the first broadcaster with a large national following to join the field of satellite radio...
, radio personality - Helen ThomasHelen ThomasHelen Thomas is an American author and former news service reporter, member of the White House Press Corps and opinion columnist. She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager...
, White House reporter/columnist - Larry FlyntLarry FlyntLarry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications . In 2003, Arena magazine listed him as the number one on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list....
, pornographer - Harry BensonHarry BensonHarry James Benson, CBE, born in Glasgow, Scotland, is a photographer whose pictures have appeared in publications including Life, Vanity Fair, People and The New Yorker....
, photographer - Ray BensonRay BensonRay Benson is the front man of the Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel.In 1970, Benson, a Jewish native of Philadelphia, formed Asleep at the Wheel with friends Lucky Oceans and Leroy Preston. The group relocated to Austin in 1973 after a suggestion from Willie Nelson .Since then, the group has...
, singer - Arianna HuffingtonArianna HuffingtonArianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...
, author/blogger - Kitty KelleyKitty KelleyKitty Kelley is an American journalist and author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of celebrities and politicians. Her subjects have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, the Bush family, and Oprah Winfrey...
, biographer - P. J. O'RourkeP. J. O'RourkePatrick Jake "P. J." O'Rourke is an American political satirist, journalist, writer, and author. O'Rourke is the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and is a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, The American Spectator, and The Weekly Standard, and frequent panelist on...
, author/humorist - Kirbyjon Caldwell, preacher
- Catherine CrierCatherine CrierCatherine Jean Crier is an American television personality and a former district court judge.-Life and career:Crier was born in Dallas, Texas in 1954 to William and Ann Crier and has two sisters. Crier graduated from Richardson High School and University of Texas at Austin, from which she earned...
, author/broadcast journalist - Seymour HershSeymour HershSeymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
, journalist - Oscar Casares, novelist
- Peter BogdanovichPeter BogdanovichPeter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
, director
Season one
- Sherron WatkinsSherron WatkinsSherron Watkins was Vice President of Corporate Development at the Enron Corporation. She is considered by many to be the whistleblower who helped to uncover the Enron scandal in 2001....
, Enron whistleblower - Bill BradleyBill BradleyWilliam Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
, former U.S. Senator from New Jersey - Anna Deavere SmithAnna Deavere SmithAnna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is currently the artist in residence at the Center for American Progress.-Early life:...
, playwright - Carole Keeton StrayhornCarole Keeton StrayhornCarole Keeton Strayhorn is the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts....
, Comptroller of Texas - Richard HolbrookeRichard HolbrookeRichard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....
, diplomat - David DewhurstDavid DewhurstDavid Dewhurst is the 41st and current Lieutenant Governor of Texas, serving under Governor Rick Perry since January 21, 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Texas Land Commissioner from 1999 to 2003. Dewhurst announced on July 18, 2011, that he was running for the...
, Lieutenant Governor of Texas - Robert CaroRobert CaroRobert Allan Caro is an American journalist and author known for his celebrated biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson...
, historian - Mack BrownMack BrownWilliam Mack Brown is head coach of The University of Texas at Austin Longhorn football team.Prior to his head coach position at Texas, Brown was head coach at Appalachian State, Tulane, and North Carolina. Brown is credited with revitalizing the Texas and North Carolina football programs...
, head coach of the University of Texas Longhorns - Michael DellMichael DellMichael Saul Dell is an American business magnate and the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Inc. He is the 44th richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$14.6 billion in 2011, based primarily on the 243.35 million shares of Dell stock worth $3.5 billion that he owns,...
, computer mogul - Shawn ColvinShawn ColvinShawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
, singer - Gwen IfillGwen IfillGwendolyn L. "Gwen" Ifill is an American journalist, television newscaster and author. She is the managing editor and moderator of Washington Week and a senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, both of which air on PBS. She is a political analyst, and moderated the 2004 and 2008 Vice...
, host of Washington Week in Review - Howard DeanHoward DeanHoward Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
, 2004 presidential candidate - Kinky FriedmanKinky FriedmanRichard S. "Kinky" Friedman is an American Texas Country singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician and former columnist for Texas Monthly who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mark Twain. He was one of two independent candidates in the 2006 election...
, singer and mystery writer - Sarah WeddingtonSarah WeddingtonSarah Ragle Weddington is an American attorney and lecturer from Texas who gained worldwide fame when she and Linda Coffee represented "Jane Roe" in the landmark Roe v. Wade case in the United States Supreme Court.-Family and education:She is the daughter of Lena Catherine and Rev...
, attorney and pro-choice activist - Sidney BlumenthalSidney BlumenthalSidney Blumenthal is a former aide to President of the United States Bill Clinton and a widely published American journalist, especially on American politics and foreign policy....
, author and former aide to Bill Clinton - Henry CisnerosHenry CisnerosHenry Gabriel Cisneros is a politician and businessman. A Democrat, Cisneros served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997...
, former mayor of San Antonio and former HUD Secretary - The FlatlandersThe FlatlandersThe Flatlanders are a country band with considerable country rock influence from Lubbock, Texas founded by singers/songwriters/guitarists Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock....
(Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock), singers - Pat GreenPat GreenPatrick Craven "Pat" Green is an American Texas Country artist. Active since 1995, he has recorded a total of ten studio albums, including several independent works, three for Republic Records and two for BNA...
, singer - Ann RichardsAnn RichardsDorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
, former governor of Texas - Laura MillerLaura MillerLaura Miller served as mayor of Dallas, Texas from 2002 through 2007. She did not run for re-election in the 2007 mayoral race. She was the third woman to serve as mayor of Dallas.- Education and career :...
, Mayor of Dallas - Herb KelleherHerb KelleherHerbert D. Kelleher is the co-founder, Chairman Emeritus, and former CEO of Southwest Airlines .-Life and career:...
, co-founder of Southwest Airlines - Tim McCanliesTim McCanliesTim McCanlies is a film director and screenwriter. He has attracted attention for his work writing and directing Secondhand Lions, and wrote the screenplays for The Iron Giant and Dennis the Menace Strikes Again....
, director - Susan Combs, Agriculture Commissioner of Texas
- Molly IvinsMolly IvinsMary Tyler "Molly" Ivins was an American newspaper columnist, populist, political commentator, humorist and author.-Early life and education:Ivins was born in Monterey, California, and raised in Houston, Texas...
, syndicated columnist - Mark McKinnonMark McKinnonMark McKinnon is a Republican political advisor in the United States, Global Vice-Chairman of Hill & Knowlton, Inc., a leading international communications consultancy, providing services to local, multinational and global clients, and the President of Maverick Media. Originally a Democrat,...
, political strategist/media guru - Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- Nellie ConnallyNellie ConnallyIdanell Brill "Nellie" Connally was the First Lady of Texas from 1963 to 1969.-First Lady of Texas:Born in Austin, Texas, she was wife of John Connally, who served as Governor of Texas and later as Secretary of the Treasury.-Death of President Kennedy:At the time of her death in 2006, she was the...
, former first lady of Texas - Jerry HallJerry HallJerry Faye Hall is an American model and actress, also known for her long-term relationship with Mick Jagger, with whom she had four children.-Early life:...
, model and actress - Richard LinklaterRichard Linklater-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
, director - Norman LearNorman LearNorman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
, TV producer