Erin Aubry Kaplan


I like to think of a column as a civic diary that puts private thoughts into the public sphere, especially on racial matters. I like to think of myself as a grass-roots talent scout who gives ordinary but remarkable people a bit of stage time in a city obsessed with visibility, electability, celebrity and geography. I like to illuminate neighborhoods in L.A. that tend to wither in the media's shadow -- they need a spotlight and air to grow. I often write myself into my own columns because I'm often a part of the problem, or the solution, or, in any case, a character in the narrative I'm relating. I'm not interested in objectivity but participation. I want to detail people's wrongs and people's hearts in equal measure. I want to chart my own beliefs and disillusionments as faithfully as possible because I think they resonate for many African Americans who have always had too few outlets to speak their minds.
Gregory Rodriguez


I'm fascinated by the American experiment, and I'm convinced that integration -- how "they" become "us" -- and social cohesion are the preeminent global issues of the 21st century.

In my columns, I try to balance scholarship with reporting, and humor and anecdote with analysis. I am less interested in delivering opinions and more interested in answering questions.

To understand ourselves, Americans need to understand class and race. But those two elements also tend to obscure what's as important: ethnic, cultural and religious strains that define our society. I am astonished how little we know about our own national story, and I try to explore its details, connect its parts.

I think Los Angeles has a lot to teach the world about cultural convergence, but I'm equally interested in what the world can teach us.
Joel Stein


My column is not for the weak of mind. In the wrong hands, it could be a dangerous tool. Sometimes I think I should soften my truths -- shield the unready masses from my searing insights -- but then I wouldn't be so heroically brazen, and women would like me less. So I take my chances.

Basically, what I do is the opposite of "Seinfeld": I turn something into nothing. To get that perspective, I try to find the small angle on the story no one has looked at. My column is not a place for readers to pick up facts and figures to bolster your already ingrained arguments. And that's only partly because finding facts and figures takes a lot of work.

So I don't use my space to talk about why the president is totally awesome or completely sucks. There are other people doing that. And they annoy me. I try to report on some piece of the world you didn't know about or were too smart to check out yourself.

But mostly I write about myself, because it is my column's foremost opinion that I'm the most fascinating person in the world.
Jonah Goldberg


I'm an idiosyncratic conservative, not a partisan Republican. What interests me are the ideals that are supposed to drive politics, as opposed to the deals that normally do. I take particular delight in debunking the reigning cliches in Washington and deflating the hysteria in American politics generally -- with intellectual rigor, historical context and, whenever possible, with good humor.

I try to avoid the talking points that tend to dominate political debate these days and come at questions in the tradition of a "small c" conservative. I rarely think there's anything new under the sun; I believe instead that the latest Big New Thing is little more than an old idea in shiny new packaging. I don't take myself too seriously, but I'm always serious about looking for an argument.
Jonathan Chait