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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Evan Smith Editor-in-chief, CEO

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Evan Smith is the CEO and Editor in Chief of The Texas Tribune. He spent nearly 18 years at TEXAS MONTHLY, stepping down in August 2009 as the magazine's president and editor in chief. Previously he served as editor for more than eight years—only the third person to hold that title. On his watch, TEXAS MONTHLY was nominated for sixteen National Magazine Awards, the magazine industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, and twice was awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence. A New York native, Smith has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Hamilton College (Clinton, New York) and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois). He previously held editorial positions at a number of national magazines; most recently at The New Republic, where he was deputy editor. He hosts a weekly interview program, TEXAS MONTHLY TALKS, that has aired on PBS stations all across Texas since 2003, and he is an occasional guest on numerous TV and radio shows. Smith sits on the boards of the Austin Film Society, Trinity Episcopal School, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and the Headliners Club. He is also the founding co-chair of the Texas Film Hall of Fame. In 2005, in recognition of his contributions to Austin and Texas, Smith was named Austinite of the Year Under 40 by the Young Men's Business League and Young Women's Business League. In 2006, he was inducted into the Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement.

esmith@texastribune.org
512-716-8610

Recent Contributions
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A Conversation with Bill White

by Evan Smith  |  3/12/2010

The Democratic gubernatorial nominee on why he finds Rick Perry wanting, whether he'd raise taxes, and how he can win in a red state.

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

by Evan Smith  |  3/6/2010

Our obsessive-compulsive election day and next day coverage: frenetically updated county-by-county maps and up-to-the-minute returns in every race on the ballot, Hu's awesome crowdsourced liveblog, Ramshaw on the twenty surprise outcomes, Aguilar on recount possibilities and dead incumbents, M. Smith on how judicial races turned out, Rapoport on changes at the SBOE and who was elected before the first vote was cast, Thevenot on whether the GOP has a problem with Hispanics, Hamilton on how the Tea Party fared, Grissom and Ramshaw on the legislative and congressional mop-up, Ramsey on what happens now, Stiles on how much candidates spent per vote; and my post-primary debrief with Rick Perry's pollster and George W. Bush's former strategist. The best of our best from March 1 to 5, 2010.

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A Conversation with Mike Baselice and Matthew Dowd

by Evan Smith  |  3/5/2010

For the fourth event in our TribLive series, I interviewed Rick Perry's pollster and George W. Bush's former strategist about the results on primary night: why the governor avoided a runoff, what KBH could have done differently, whether the Tea Party is really a force to be reckoned with, and how Bill White will be caricatured on the road to November.
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A Conversation with Julian Castro

by Evan Smith  |  2/22/2010

For the third event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the mayor of San Antonio about the big issues facing the nation's seventh-largest city, how his early notions of the job squared with the reality of being in it, his age, his ethnicity, his party affiliation in a nonpartisan office, and, of course, his future plans.

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

by Evan Smith  |  2/20/2010

Ramsey on Flintstone truthers, Thevenot on the explosion of "dual-credit" enrollees and the potential sacking of teachers when student test scores don't measure up, Ramshaw on government-subsidized child care providers with troubled track records, Stiles's enhanced state employee salary app and new dangerous day care app, Aguilar on our commie trading partner and the cost of being undercounted in the next census, Philpott on the legal wrangling over gay divorce and how social media fanned the flames of Debra Medina's 9/11 flap, and our roundup of powderkeg party primaries: Hu in HD-20, M. Smith in CD-23, Ramsey in HD-98, Hamilton in HD-127, Grissom HD-76 and HD-78, and Rapoport in SBOE 5. The best of our best from February 15 to 19, 2010.

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A Conversation with Susan Combs

by Evan Smith  |  2/8/2010

For the second event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the Comptroller of Public Accounts about the size of the coming budget shortfall, the likeliest sources of new revenue, and, of course, election year politics.

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

by Evan Smith  |  2/6/2010

Thevenot on the abysmally low community college graduation rate and higher ed's coming budgetary winter. Ramshaw on Terri Hodge's guilty plea and hasty exit. Grissom on the Department of Public Safety's use of dreaded federal stimulus funds to plug a hole in the state's border security budget. Hu on the first of the intraparty face-offs in our Primary Color series. Ramsey and Stiles on the congressional candidates with the most money on hand. Ramsey on whether Farouk Shami's accent and name are an obstacle to his election. Aguilar on the fever-tick epidemic overwhelming South Texas. Rapoport on TxDOT's hard road and the State Board of Education's lack of finance expertise. Philpott on how Barack Obama's budget will impact Texas. M. Smith on whether lawyers giving to judges is a good thing. Hamilton on the latest transportation innovations on the drawing board. The best of our best from February 1 to 5, 2010.

TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

by Evan Smith  |  1/23/2010

Hu explores on the schism between Bushworld and Perrywold and the increasingly curious question of what Debra Medina wants; Stiles goes all Shark Week on gubernatorial campaign finance, with searchable databases, bubble maps and word clouds; M. Smith on what happens if there's a GOP runoff; Rapoport on the sniping between Perry and KBH on transparency; Hamilton on KBH's abortion issue odyssey; Ramshaw exposes the disgracefully low percentage of state school employees who abuse or kill profoundly disabled Texans and are then prosecuted for their acts; Thevenot on higher ed's tuition time bomb; Aguilar on the Latino pay gap; Ramsey on Farouk Shami's "gift" to Hank Gilbert; Ramsey and Philpott on the the Supreme's Court's corporate campaign cash fallout; and E. Smith's interviews with House Speaker Joe Straus with retiring Republican state representative — and future Texas State chancellor? — Brian McCall. The best of our best from January 18 to 22, 2010.

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Brian McCall as Texas State Chancellor?

by Evan Smith  |  1/22/2010

The retiring Republican state representative from Plano talks about how he'll spend his time after twenty years in elective office.
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Brian McCall on Craddick vs. Straus

by Evan Smith  |  1/21/2010

The retiring Republican state representative from Plano reviews House Speaker Joe Straus' first year on the job.
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Brian McCall on the GOP and the Tea Party

by Evan Smith  |  1/20/2010

Retiring State Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, on purity tests, big tents, and the battle for the souls of his fellow Republicans.

An Interview with Brian McCall

by Evan Smith  |  1/20/2010

State Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano, on the leadership of Speaker Joe Straus, the modern Republican party and his decision to leave the Texas House after two decades.
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A Conversation with Joe Straus

by Evan Smith  |  1/18/2010

For the first of our TribLive events, I interviewed the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives about his first session leading his colleagues, the coming budget turmoil, the controversial plans for a renovation of the Governor's Mansion, the "scary as hell" health care reforms in play in Congress, and, of course, the titanic battle of Rick vs. Kay.
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Jerry Patterson on the Governor's Race

by Evan Smith  |  1/13/2010

The Land Commissioner weighs in on the titanic clash of Rick vs. Kay.
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Jerry Patterson: Why I'm a Big Fan of Obama

by Evan Smith  |  1/12/2010

You know, don't you, that the Land Commissioner is being facetious when he says that?