Overheard with Evan Smith

Margaret Atwood is an award-winning author of more than 40 volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and nonfiction. She’s best known for her novels, including The Edible Woman, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Blind Assassin, which won the Booker Prize in 2000. Her newest novel, The Heart Goes Last, was published in September.

Ambassador Ron Kirk served as the 16th U.S. Trade Representative and served in President Obama’s Cabinet. He negotiated trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, and Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization. Kirk was the first African-American Mayor of Dallas from 1995-2001, and was appointed Texas Secretary of State by Governor Ann Richards.

Mary Lynn Rajskub is a comedian and actress, best known for playing Chloe on Fox’s super‐popular series 24. She has also appeared on 2 Broke Girls, Californication, Arrested Development, Mr. Show, and as a regular panelist on Chelsea Lately. Rajskub has also been seen in movies, including Safety Not Guaranteed and The Kings of Summer.

Thomas Mallon is a novelist and critic who has written 9 novels and 7 works of non-fiction. His 2012 novel Watergate was a finalist for the PEN /​ Faulkner Award. He frequently contributes to The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and The Atlantic. His newest novel, Finale: A Novel of the Reagan Years was published in September.

Robert Reich is a leading expert on work and the economy. He served in 3 U.S. administrations, including as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and on President Obama’s economic transition advisory board. In 2008 TIME magazine named him one of the 10 most successful cabinet secretaries of the past century.

A dozen years ago, Andy Roddick was the number one men’s tennis player in the world — the last American male to hold that title, and the last to win a Grand Slam singles event. Today he’s a TV sports commentator, and a philanthropist whose namesake foundation is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary.

Taylor Branch is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian, and public speaker, best known for his Civil Rights era trilogy America in the King Years. His other titles include The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President, and The Cartel: Inside the Rise and Imminent Fall of the NCAA.

Cokie Roberts is a best-selling author, a contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition and a Political Commentator for ABC News. She’s won numerous awards, including three Emmys, and was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.

Former Congressman Barney Frank represented the Fourth District of Massachusetts for more than three decades.One of the most prominent gay politicians in American history, he was the first sitting member of Congress to enter a same-sex marriage. His memoir Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage was recently published.

Marc Maron is a stand-up comedian, writer, and podcast host. His podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” is regularly one of the most popular on iTunes. His eponymous IFC show Maron returns this month.