YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Steven Van Zandt feels most comfortable being the second in command, the man behind the scenes who has the captain’s ear but not all of his stress.

But the rocker-actor-activist is also pretty good at taking charge.

In the 1980s, he assembled dozens of rock stars and helped bring down the apartheid government of South Africa.

Later, Van Zandt took on the underfunded music curricula in schools by launching his Teach Rock music history courses program.

On Tuesday evening, he told stories about those projects to a full house at Stambaugh Auditorium. His appearance was part of the Centofanti Symposium, a series of notable speakers presented by Youngstown State University.

Van Zandt is best known as the right-hand man to Bruce Springsteen. And his Silvio Dante character in the landmark television series “The Sopranos” – consigliere to a mob boss – mirrored his real-life role.

Dressed in his trademark gypsy-esque garb, the New Jersey native started with a 30-minute overview of his activist years. Then he sat down with local radio personality Cornel Bogdan on the stage for an hour-plus conversation that ranged from his satellite radio show (“Little Steven’s Underground Garage”) to his acting career in “The Sopranos” and “Lilyhammer,” to his thoughts on who deserves to be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It’s a long list, he said, that includes the J.Geils Band, Joe Cocker, Junior Walker and the All-Stars, Procol Harum, Delaney & Bonnie and Bad Company.

The evening’s discussion with Van Zandt followed the same lines as the 2024 documentary about his life, “Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple.” That film, in turn, mirrored his best-selling 2021 memoir, “Unrequited Infatuations.”

Van Zandt’s career started in the church halls and rock clubs on the Jersey Shore in the 1960s. It was there that he created the Jersey Shore sound – a blend of garage rock and soul music, backed by a horn section – with “Southside” Johnny Lyon and Springsteen.

His activism happened during the years in which he left the E Street Band in the 1980s and early ’90s.

Realizing that the South African government could not be reformed, he set out to expose it to the world through radio and television. The result was “I Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City,” a song that raised consciousness and political pressure on South Africa.

After his South Africa mission ended, he would come to the aid of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who was jailed for murder. Peltier was finally released in February after spending nearly 50 years behind bars.

Van Zandt rejoined the E Street Band for good in 1999. By then, the outfit was among the biggest in the world – and he regretted his decision to walk out just as it finally started to turn a profit. “I realized I’d blown my life,” he said.

Before the legendary band mounted its most recent tour in 2023 after a six-year layoff, he heard rumblings that maybe the members were too old. It was a “legitimate” question, said Van Zandt, and it motivated him.

“People didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I wanted to make sure we came out like a hurricane, which we did.”

Some of the 74-year-old rocker’s most interesting observations relate to the power that radio held when he was in his younger years, and how it’s needed again today.

“We had a relationship” with radio personalities, he pointed out, explaining that listeners felt a connection to their everyday lives. That is something that is lacking in today’s homogenized and cost-conscious radio industry that often uses voice tracking instead of live DJs, he said.

On his own satellite radio show, Van Zandt builds a relationship with listeners by educating them on the songs he plays and the bands that recorded them. He’s not afraid  listeners will get bored and change the station.

“I loved it when someone turned me on to a new song,” Van Zandt said. “I hope radio makes a comeback – that voice in the dark.”

Lack of connection and a feeling of isolation is taking its toll on young people today, he pointed out.

“There is an anxiety and a loneliness” among them, he said.

To combat it, he has introduced the Harmony wellness program to his Teach Rock courses. It’s simple but effective: Before class, the students sit in a circle with their phones off and talk about whatever is on their mind.

Pictured at top: Steven Van Zandt, right, and Cornel Bogdan engage in a conversation on stage at Stambaugh Auditorium on Tuesday evening.