TED Community

Languages, linguistics, literature and culture. But especially words. I love meeting people from all over the world telling their stories. These are what makes TED so inspiring.

Learning and development as a path to human sustainability. I’m curious about AI as my latest obsession and was blown away at the TED AI conference. On the side, I’m writing a historical fiction novel as my contribution to remembering the lessons of the past.

Education. Relationships (especially of couples and families). Psychology. Literature Travelling Fashion

Finding the stories that make complex things feel human. I spent a decade writing books about subjects ranging from Alexander Hamilton's financial genius to what it's actually like to ride a fire truck in St. Louis to a Mars rover that outlived her mission by 14 years. Now I'm doing the same thing with AI — not the technical specs, but the people, the decisions, and the consequences. I'm passionate about the question behind the question: not "what can AI do?" but "what does it mean for the rest of us?" I'm also passionate about the craft of long-form conversation. After 100+ podcast episodes I've learned that the best interviews happen when you shut up and follow the thread you didn't plan for. And I'm passionate about tennis, though passionate is doing a lot of heavy lifting given the quality of my backhand.