 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.