Marcus Smith anchors and serves as host and producer for Thinking Aloud. He brings a diverse background to this role, with broad and specialized expertise in the arts and humanities. With an eight-year career as a radio producer and announcer, he also comes equipped with a masters degree in German literature (BYU, 1992), experience as an editor, writer, teacher and composer of sacred music. Those who get to know him inevitably come to think of him as a wordsmith, possessing a penchant (be it boon or burden) for wanting to place the right word in the right place at the right time … at least as often as possible. Both he and his wife Sarah Cox Smith are former Fulbright Scholars (with studies in Germany and Japan), avid genealogists, gardeners, hikers, wannabe fine chefs, and the parents of two lively children, Eleanor and Mercy.

Above all else that Thinking Aloud might offer listeners, Marcus says he hopes to share the expansive “horizons of learning that [he] enjoyed in campus discussions, classes, forums, devotionals, and seminar rooms” while a student at BYU.

Thinking Aloud’s executive producer Wes Sims is also heard as an occasional interview host. Wes comes to the TA team with 30-plus years experience as a broadcast journalist. A native of Indiana, Wes has worked in television and radio in six states, having earned his BS from the School of Speech at Northwestern University. Wes and his wife, Jackie moved to Utah in January from Santa Cruz, California. In addition to his work with Thinking Aloud, Wes is news director for Classical 89 and manager of news and information for BYU Broadcasting.