Entertainment Editor/Digital Director

Erik Pedersen

A native Southern Californian who graduated from Cal Poly Pomona and Claremont Graduate University, Erik has worked as a digital and print journalist in the area for more than two decades.

An image from the book “Godzilla: The First 70 Years” by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski. (Courtesy of Abrams)

At 70, Godzilla keeps on smashing expectations, buildings

July 28, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.

Steve Ryfle, co-author with Ed Godziszewski of 'Godzilla: The First 70 Years,' discusses the monster and its movies over the years.

“Fifteen Wild Decembers,” by Karen Powell. (Europa Editions, Incorporated/TNS)

Why Emily Brontë and Taylor Swift are linked in author Karen Powell’s mind

July 22, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.

The novelist, whose latest novel imagines Brontë's life, says the book was written as she listened almost exclusively to the Eras icon.

Some recently published nonfiction graphic literature. (Courtesy of Dark Horse, Drawn & Quarterly, Ten Speed Graphic, Abrams Comic Arts, Pantheon, Fantagraphics, Gallery 13)

8 graphic nonfiction books that use comics to unlock memoir, history and more

July 3, 2025 at 12:44 p.m.

Many authors have compelling graphic novels based in real-life events.

A letter fragment that a new study theorizes was addressed to Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, indicating that Shakespeare had taken Hathaway with him to London for some time and upending previous long-held assumptions that he had left her behind in Stratford. (Hereford Cathedral and Hereford Mappa Mundi Trust)

How a surprising Shakespeare discovery was found in a letter used as scrap paper

May 4, 2025 at 6:40 a.m.

A 400-year-old Shakespeare mystery has gotten a major shake-up.

Journalist Pagan Kennedy is the author of “The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story.” (Photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz Photography / Courtesy of Vintage)

‘The Secret History of the Rape Kit’ reveals how one woman changed forensics, then disappeared.

February 3, 2025 at 2:29 p.m.

Journalist Pagan Kennedy tells the story of Marty Goddard who created the rape kit but allowed others to get the credit before dropping out of sight.

Percival Everett, 2024 National Book Award winner, rereads one book often

December 6, 2024 at 4:29 p.m.

Percival Everett has won the National Book Award for fiction for his novel “James,” a reimagining of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the point of view of the enslaved character Jim.