Erika D. Smith

columnist for the LA Times

Guest/Host

Contact: Website

Erika D. Smith is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times writing about the diversity of people and places across California. She joined The Times in 2018 as an assistant editor and helped expand coverage of the state’s housing and homelessness crisis. She previously worked at the Sacramento Bee, where she was a columnist and editorial board member covering housing, homelessness and social justice issues. Before the Bee, Smith wrote for the Indianapolis Star and Akron Beacon Journal. She is a recipient of the Sigma Delta Chi award for column writing, a graduate of Ohio University and a native of the long-suffering sports town of Cleveland.

Erika D. Smith on KCRW

Can Watts — the community famous for its political organizing and trucemaking — come together in the face of renewed violence?

Watts community strives for peace after fatal shootings

Can Watts — the community famous for its political organizing and trucemaking — come together in the face of renewed violence?

from Greater LA

Food waste is part of any restaurant business. An increasingly popular app helps connect the leftovers — for a cheap price — with Angelenos who aren’t too picky.

Angelenos are buying restaurant leftovers to fight climate change

Food waste is part of any restaurant business. An increasingly popular app helps connect the leftovers — for a cheap price — with Angelenos who aren’t too picky.

from Greater LA

Workers throughout Hollywood are weighing the pros and cons of AI, which could disrupt careers of everyone from makeup artists to lighting techs to animators.

With AI, Hollywood work will require new skills

Workers throughout Hollywood are weighing the pros and cons of AI, which could disrupt careers of everyone from makeup artists to lighting techs to animators.

from Greater LA

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At Typewriter Connection, Angelenos find an analog way to get their intimate thoughts out onto paper — without computers, smartphones, or even electricity.

from KCRW Features

Homeschooling has long been common for religious families and those with aversions to public school, but the pandemic seems to have widened its appeal.

from Greater LA

A Long Beach mother is fighting for reforms in the mental health system after her son’s lifelong battle with addiction and mental illness led to his untimely death.

from KCRW Features

The 1960s represented a pivotal time in American history, one that embodied vast change and influence in shaping what the country has become.

from Scheer Intelligence

Last year, many Spanish songs made the Billboard Hot 100 and Top 10 charts. Reasons: Gen Z’s inclusive listening habits, social media, meteoric rise of Regional Mexican music.

from KCRW Features

Adam Schiff or Steve Garvey will become the state’s next senator. Abortion access and pay equity will fall more heavily under the purview of men in the Senate.

from KCRW Features

An affordable housing developer got $114 million from Gov. Newsom’s Homekey program. Now, with little to show for it, legal and financial problems are mounting.

from Greater LA

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Hollywood Sign. It’s been at the center of scandals, PR stunts, and more during its time perched up on Mount Lee.

from Greater LA

Urban falconer Adam Baz has carved out an interesting career for himself and his four birds of prey in a city with a lot of pigeons and crows to chase.

from Greater LA