Overheard with Evan Smith

Junot Díaz is the author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This Is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. A graduate of Rutgers University, Díaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review and the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michael Schmidt is a reporter for The New York Times and contributor for MSNBC. Schmidt is known for his investigative reporting and coverage of Trump. In 2015, Schmidt broke the news of Hillary Clinton’s personal email usage for government business. He also was the first to report the James Comey memo on Trump’s orders to drop the Michael Flynn investigation. Before working for The Times, Schmidt worked at The Boston Globe.

Bill de Blasio is the 109th Mayor of New York City. Since assuming office in 2014, Mayor de Blasio has worked on initiatives including Pre-K for All, Paid Sick Leave and Housing New York. Previously, Mayor de Blasio served as regional director at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as head of Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2000 for the U.S. Senate.

Sean Penn is an actor, producer, director and writer. He is best known for his roles in Mystic River, I Am Sam and Milk. Penn has worked on over 100 theater and film productions and has been nominated for five Academy Awards, a Directors Guild and Writers Guild Award, and won two Oscars. His written work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle. His first novel is titled Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff: A Novel.

CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper joined the network in January 2013. Tapper currently hosts a one-hour weekday program, The Lead with Jake Tapper, which debuted in March 2013, and has hosted CNN’s Sunday morning show, State of the Union, since June 2015. Tapper has won a number of awards, including a 2017 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism, the Los Angeles Press Club’s Presidents Award for Impact on Media, and The Canadian Journalism Foundati

Ana Marie Cox is a political columnist and culture critic. She conducts the “Talk” interviews featured in The New York Times Magazine. She also hosts “With Friends Like These,” a podcast from Crooked Media. She was the senior political correspondent for MTV News from 2016 until they pivoted to video. Since starting the political blog Wonkette in 2004, she has worked at outlets including Time magazine, GQ, Air America, and The Guardian.

Walter Mosley is a best-selling author. A Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, he has won numerous awards, including the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, a PEN USA’s Lifetime Achievement Award and several NAACP Image awards. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Mosley’s short fiction has appeared in a wide array of publications, including The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, The Los Angeles Times Magazine and Playboy, and his nonfiction has been published in The New York Tim

Seth Moulton is a former Marine Corps officer and currently represents the 6th District of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served four tours in Iraq as an infantry platoon commander in the Marines. After returning home, he earned joint graduate degrees in business and public policy before running for Congress in 2014. Congressman Moulton is currently focused on creating a new economic agenda and recruiting and supporting service veterans running for Congress in key swing districts acr

Sally Kohn is a writer, activist and political commentator. She hosts the State of Resistance podcast and frequently appears on CNN as a political commentator. Kohn has written for the Washington Post, the New York Times, New York Magazine and many more. She has given multiple TED talks, garnering over 3 million views. Kohn’s latest book is titled The Opposite of Hate.

Amy Bloom is the author of two New York Times best-sellers, three collections of short stories, a children’s book and a collection of essays. She has been a nominee for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Bloom has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, O Magazine and Vogue. Her latest novel is titled White Houses.