The Rick Smith Show

Steven Singer Proudly Declares "My Daughter is Not a Widget"

Steven Singer, husband, father, teacher, blogger, and education advocate joins Rick to discuss his recent blog post on Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson's Fortune Magazine comments and what parents need to be doing to reclaim public education.   

Full Three Hour Show for January 8, 2016

Former Congressman Admiral Joe Sestak joins Rick to talk about his latest statewide tour to layout his Plan for Restoring the American Dream for Working Families and how this plan differs from incumbent Senator Pat Toomey’s record.

Matías Vernengo, Professor of Economics at Bucknell University joins Rick to dissect the latest jobs numbers and explain the good, the bad, and the reality found in the recent data. 

Isaiah Poole, Director of Online Communications at the Campaign for America’s Future joins Rick to talk poverty and the Grand Old Party’s (GOP) apparent disdain for the less fortunate.

John Neurohr, Principal Consultant at Clear Point Strategies joins Rick to discuss the rise of extremism in the Republican ranks and how the vitriolic rhetoric being thrown around by politicians is emboldening the radical right toward armed occupation.  

Admiral Joe Sestak talks Restoring the American Dream

Former Congressman Admiral Joe Sestak joins Rick to talk about his latest statewide tour to layout his Plan for Restoring the American Dream for Working Families and how this plan differs from incumbent Senator Pat Toomey’s record.

 

Matias Vernengo on Jobs Numbers

Matías Vernengo, Professor of Economics at Bucknell University joins Rick to dissect the latest jobs numbers and explain the good, the bad, and the reality found in the recent data. 

Isaiah Poole Talks Poverty & GOP plot to make it worse

Isaiah Poole, Director of Online Communications at the Campaign for America’s Future joins Rick to talk poverty and the Grand Old Party’s (GOP) apparent disdain for the less fortunate.

John Neurohr talks American Extremism

John Neurohr, Principal Consultant at Clear Point Strategies joins Rick to discuss the rise of extremism in the Republican ranks and how the vitriolic rhetoric being thrown around by politicians is emboldening the radical right toward armed occupation.   

The News of the Day with Talk Media News Service

Full Three Hour Show for January 7, 2016

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research joins Rick to discuss his recent article on the looming pension crisis and expose those attempting to sugar coat the harsh realities bought on by the ongoing war on workers. 

Pennsylvania State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski joins Rick to talk about the current 2015 budget impasse and preview the coming 2016 budget impasse and why GOP obstructionism is destructive.

Abe Amoros, Pennsylvania Legislative Director for LIUNA joins Rick to talk about the latest information on the budget and discuss rumors of possibly a minimal fix for the state’s Unemployment Compensation Insurance system. 

Robert Weiner, Democratic Strategist and former Director of Public Affairs during the Clinton and Bush administrations joins Rick to talk Guns and Hillary. 

Dean Baker answers if 19k affords a Middle Class Retirement

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research joins Rick to discuss his recent article on the looming pension crisis and expose those attempting to sugar coat the harsh realities bought on by the ongoing war on workers. 

PA Rep Pashinski on Destructive GOP Budget Crisis

Pennsylvania State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski joins Rick to talk about the current 2015 budget impasse and preview the coming 2016 budget impasse and why GOP obstructionism is destructive.

Abe Amoros Talks Lack of Work Ethic in PA General Assembly

Abe Amoros, Pennsylvania Legislative Director for LIUNA joins Rick to talk about the latest information on the budget and discuss rumors of possibly a minimal fix for the state’s Unemployment Compensation Insurance system. 

Robert Weiner talks Guns and Hillary

Robert Weiner, Democratic Strategist and former Director of Public Affairs during the Clinton and Bush administrations joins Rick to talk Guns and Hillary. 

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for New Years Day

Happy New Year!!!!!!  Today we're looking back at the best of the People's Tour with some of our favorite interviews and why.  Hope you enjoy and we look forward to an amazing 2016.

Claude Barnes, Researcher at the Jubilee Institute in Greensboro, North Carolina joins Rick to talk about his being elected to student body president as a write-in candidate and how that event turned into he and his classmates being tear gassed and some arrested.

Lewis Brandon, Grassroots History Coordinator at the Beloved Community Center sits down with Rick to share his story of being a part of history joining four fellow North Carolina A & T sit in of the lunch counter in Greensboro.

William Saunders was an organizer of the famous 1969 SEIU 1199B Healthcare Workers Strike at the Medical University of South Carolina.  He explains how the organizing process that happened in the two years leading up to the strike. 

Kerry Taylor is a local labor historian from The Citadel and on the fast part of our tour through Charleston, Kerry recalls the city's early history, Denmark Vesey's planned slave rebellion, how Hampton Park was used during the Civil War and the liberation of Beaufort, South Carolina

In our second interview with Kerry Taylor, a historian from The Citadel, we dive into Charleston's rich labor history.  Besides the 1969 healthcare workers strike at the Medical University of South Carolina, Kerry talks about some of Charleston's other important labor actions, especially the 1944-1945 American Tobacco Cigar Factory Strike, which was the origin for the famous "I Shall Overcome" protest song  

Stephanie Cobert, Managing Director of Historic Stagville takes time to sit down with Rick to talk about the largest plantation in North Carolina history and their mission to keep the history alive.

Hezekiah Watkins is a life long Jackson, Mississippi resident and civil rights activist.  At 13, he was arrested and placed on death row for watching the arrival of Freedom Riders in Jackson, Mississippi. 

Fate Morris Shares His Heartbreaking Story on Losing His Sister Cynthia Morris in the Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church 

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for December 31, 2015

Fate Morris is the brother of Cynthia Morris, who lost her life in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.  

Myrna Carter Jackson was a school student who walked out of school in 1963, and she talked about her 120 prison sentence for participating in the Children's Crusade  

Gwendolyn Webb was a student marcher in 1963 and one of the first African American police officers in Birmingham's history

Dr. Charles Whatley grew up in Birmingham in the 1950's and he shares his experiences of being in the military during the 1960's

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for December 30, 2015

Gloss Larry Edgerson Pettaway was a student marcher and tells the tale behind his peculiar name and about family members murdered by the Ku Klux Klan.

Jacqueline Taylor was a student who walked out of class in 1963 because she knew that segregation was wrong from a young age. 

Eddgra Fallin is from Decatur, Alabama, which is in the northern part of the state, and she was one of the first black students to integrate the city's schools.  Eddgra shares the challenges she faced from other students after she arrived at the local high school.  

Gloria Washington Lewis Randal was a student marcher in 1963 and she shares stories about paying for bus fare and then being left behind when going to the back of the bus & more. 

Ervin Philemon Hill was a teenager when he had a chance encounter with Martin Luther King months before the 1963 Children's Crusade.

Dr. Earl Cunningham was a former County Commissioner in Shelby, Alabama and he was a litigant on the Shelby Supreme Court Case.  Dr. Cunningham dives into what it was like voting pre Voting Rights Act

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for December 29, 2015

Richard Franklin is the AFT Birmingham Local 2115 President and he explains the history of the white John Herbert Philips School, school desegregation and the education challenges we're still fighting today.

Marion Orange Easleyis a Birmingham resident and the sister of James Orange, who was Martin Luther King's right hand man.  She explains how James Orange got involved in the civil rights movement, his involvement in the famous Children's Crusade and rose up the ranks of the movement

Ahmad Ward is the Head of Education at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.  Ahmad sheds light on some of the city's civil rights icons that are left out of the history books & talks about the tour he gave the show through the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

William Bell is the Mayor of Birmingham and he talks about economic equality, the city's effort to raise the wage and how he came up through the civil rights movement

Mary Moore is a State Representative from Birmingham who was part of the 1963 Children's Crusade and instead of talking about her involvement in the march, she talks about what it was like growing up black in Alabama. 

Janice Wesley Kelsey was part of the Birmingham Children's Crusade.  She was in the first group of students who marched out of the 16th Street Baptist Church in May 1963, and she shares her story about the march and getting arrested. 

Horace Huntley is a Professor of History at the University of Alabama and he came on the Peoples Tour to talk about Birmingham's history of using convict mine workers that pitted black miners against white miners. 

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for December 28, 2015

Hezekiah Watkins is a life long Jackson, Mississippi resident and civil rights activist.  At 13, he was arrested and placed on death row for watching the arrival of Freedom Riders in Jackson, Mississippi.  

Robert Luckett, Director of the Margaret Walker Center, explains why history forgets the Gibbs-Green police murders that happened on Jackson State's Campus and more of our walking tour through Jackson, Mississippi. 

Frank Figgers is the Jackson, Mississippi NAACP Chapter President and he gives the detailed history behind the NAACP's building and Medgar Evers' office.

Minnie Watson is the Director of the Medgar Evers House, which is owned and operated by Tougaloo College, and she talks about the life and death of the famous civil rights icon Medgar Evers and the house he and his family lived in. 

Isaiah Poole is the Online Editor at Campaign For America's Future and he joins the Peoples Tour to talk about his experiences and how economic justice is part of the civil rights movement.    

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for December 25, 2015

Dana Columbo is a member of United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 60 in New Orleans and he shares his experiences after losing his home during Hurricane Katrina & the rebuild that happened in the decade since.

Kendrick Jones moved back to New Orleans for an apprenticeship a month before Hurricane Katrina struck and he shares his experiences in the wake of the disaster

Donnie Small, President of Local 1535 ATU Jefferson Parrish, discusses the transportation issues facing Jefferson Parish in the wake of Katrina

Joseph Prier is the President of ATU Local 1560, which represents the streetcar and bus drivers, and he discusses transportation issues affecting New Orleans' poor In the decade since Hurricane Katrina

Leo Gerard is the President of the United Steelworkers Union and he disccuses the USW's past and present involvement in the civil rights movement

William LeFevre is the Senior Processing Archivist at the Walter Reuther Library on Wayne State University and he joins the Peoples Tour to talk about former United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther's involvement in funding the Civil Rights Movement. 

Robert Luckett is a Civil Rights History Professor and the Director of the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University and he previews what the Peoples Tour should visit while travelling through Jackson, Mississippi

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for December 24, 2015

The Peoples Tour is in Montgomery, Selma and Tuskeege, Alabama.  

To see our pictures, click HERE:

Bren Riley is the President of the Alabama AFL-CIO and he joins the tour to talk about Alabama's labor history and the challenges facing the labor and civil rights movement 

Derryn Moten is the Acting History Department Chair at Alabama State University and he joins the tour to talk about Alabama's Civil Right's History. 

Ricky Brown is a curator at the Rosa Parks Museum and he gives an in-depth knowledge of the museum, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how the museum was fortunate to get a hold of the historical documents. 

Norman Hill is from the A. Phillip Randolph Institute and he explains how he met the iconic civil rights and labor leader and how it was working under A. Philip Randolph

Nelson Johnson is the Pastor of the Faith Community Church and the Executive Director for the Beloved Community Center of Greensboro and he gives a general overview of the Beloved Center's Mission

Civil Right Tour Holiday Encore Full Three Hour Show for December 23, 2015

Curtis Howard, President & Business Agent of ATU Local 732 chapter in Atlanta, Georgia, Talks About Public Transportation as a Civil Rights Issue.

Naomi R. Williams is a Visiting Associate History Professor at Georgia Tech who teaches labor history.  Naomi joined the Peoples Tour in Atlanta to talk about Atlanta's civil rights and labor history with strikes and actions dating back to the 1870's.   

State Senator Vincent Fort is a member of the Georgia Legislature and he joined the program to talk about the 1996 Olympics, how labor and the local community came together to build apprenticeship programs, and more 

James P. Hoffa, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, joins the Peoples Tour to talk about his father's and the Teamsters' involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.  

Dr. Felicia Bell is the Director of the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University and she gives us a preview on what to expect at the museum and in the Alabama State Capitol