Evan Smith, who co-founded The Texas Tribune and its renowned festival and has advised dozens of local newsrooms on their live-journalism businesses, is joining The Atlantic’s staff as a managing director overseeing events. In an announcement, editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and CEO Nicholas Thompson write that “Evan’s enthusiasm and expertise in running successful journalism events is remarkable. He is already a friend and mentor to many here, and we are delighted that he has agreed to join our staff.”
At The Atlantic, Evan will lead and scale one of the most influential and long-running events practices in media, alongside managing editor Krystle Champagne-Norwood and director of events Jess Edkins. The Atlantic convenes dozens of annual in-person and virtual events that reach thousands of people every year, anchored by its flagship Atlantic Festival, which in 2025 celebrated its first year in New York City after nearly two decades in Washington, D.C. Other recurring series address key areas of journalistic focus, such as health and science, democracy, politics, books, and culture.
In December, The Atlantic launched a new national event series, The Atlantic Across America, that will eventually host events in all 50 states about some of the most complex issues of our time, including the ideals of American democracy, the current administration, culture, technology, and the environment. The tour kicked off last month in Boston, where The Atlantic was founded in 1857; discussed free and fair elections and foreign policy in Phoenix this week; and will visit Santa Fe, Miami, and New Orleans next.
Evan co-founded The Texas Tribune and was its CEO from 2009 to 2022, during which time he developed its beloved annual festival in Austin. Before the Tribune, Evan spent nearly 18 years at Texas Monthly, last serving as the magazine’s president and editor in chief. Since 2022, he’s been and will remain a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, where he works closely with the leadership teams of nonprofit news organizations from coast to coast. Evan hosts Overheard with Evan Smith, a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations across the country, and is a professor of practice at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
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