Evan Smith

Evan Smith is a co-founder and senior adviser at The Texas Tribune, where he served as CEO from 2009 to 2022. He’s also a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, where he works closely with the leadership teams of nonprofit news organizations around the country. Previously he spent nearly 18 years at Texas Monthly, stepping down in August 2009 as the magazine’s president and editor in chief. Evan is also the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations around the country. A native of New York, he is a graduate of Hamilton College and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Past Contributions

T-Squared: Fest Foot Forward

By Evan Smith Sept. 23, 2011

We are less than 24 hours away from the first-ever Texas Tribune Festival. It would be a wicked understatement to say we're excited. Full Story
Perry Ad "Zeroes" In on Obama

By Evan Smith Sept. 21, 2011

Rick Perry's presidential campaign today released an ad contrasting its characterization of Barack Obama's first years in office with the Texas governor's promise of national renewal through new leadership. Full Story
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith Sept. 17, 2011

Aaronson on the rise in the state's unemployment rate, Aguilar on the push to mandate use of an electronic employment verification program, Galbraith on fears about the drought's impact on lake levels, Grissom on the latest in the Duane Buck case, Hamilton on the possible end of physics (academically speaking), Murphy updates our public employee pay app, Ramsey on David "Mitt" Dewhurst, Ramshaw on Rick Perry's campaign swing through Virginia and Iowa, Root on the deletion of gubernatorial emails and M. Smith on the teaching of safe sex where you'd least expect it: The best of our best content from Sept. 12-16, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Perry to Time: "I'll Be Better Every Day"

By Evan Smith Sept. 15, 2011

Rick Perry, still the front-runner in the GOP presidential race but weakened somewhat by a shaky debate performance Monday night, comes out swinging in an exclusive interview in the new issue of Time magazine. Full Story
Video: Unaired KBH Attack Ad on HPV

By Evan Smith Sept. 13, 2011

Per Politico's estimable Ben Smith, here's a never-aired Kay Bailey Hutchison attack ad against Rick Perry on the subject of the day: HPV. Full Story
TribLive: A Conversation with Ted Cruz

By Evan Smith Sept. 12, 2011

At last Friday's TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about President Obama's jobs speech, Social Security and the debt ceiling debate. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
TribLive: Cruz on the Debt Ceiling Debate

By Evan Smith Sept. 12, 2011

At our latest TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about the debt ceiling debate — why he would have voted no and why the threat of default was political theater. Full Story
TribLive: Cruz on Social Security

By Evan Smith Sept. 12, 2011

At our latest TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about Social Security — whether it's a Ponzi scheme, as Gov. Rick Perry says, and how it can be fixed. Full Story
TribLive: Cruz on Obama's Jobs Speech

By Evan Smith Sept. 12, 2011

At our latest TribLive conversation, U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz talked about President Obama's jobs speech — and what he would do differently. Full Story
Video: A Conversation with Ted Cruz

By Evan Smith Sept. 12, 2011

Full video of my 9/9 conversation with U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz. We talked about President Obama's jobs speech, the future of Social Security and the debt ceiling debate, among other topics that could impact his 2012 GOP primary race. Full Story