I just heard Noam Chomsky interviewed on Tavis Smiley. Not only was he on (too briefly of course) but it was advertised at least twice in the last 12 hours.

The interview was quite different from the one his NPR counterpart Bob Garfield (On The Media, about a year ago)peformed. In his typical smarmy fashion Garfield only allowed Chomsky a soundbite on a rather distant topic (Chomsky's testimony in Turkish court for a Turkish writer) and referred to Chomsky as a "human-flame thrower". Smiley, on the other hand, as he always does with his guests, treated Chomsky respectfully, and as the "intellectual heavyweight" that he is. For admirers of Chomsky no new ground was broken but hopefully some people who heard him for the first time (which had to be quite a few) might be inspired to get his new book.

I have written about the Tavis Smiley show before, and think its worth stating that this show may be the most "balanced" show on NPR. Smiley has many leftist and leftish regular commentators such as Connie Rice (cousin of National Security Advisor but with very different politics) and Cornell West. Of course he has given more time to Ward Connerlly, Mr. anti-afirmative action, then anybody else on the radio. Nevertheless, in his choice of topics alone I think Tavis Smiley shows a genuine interest in topics that are important to most working people, regardless of their race, or ethnic background.

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