Laura Sydell
Laura Sydell fell in love with the intimate storytelling qualities of radio, which combined her passion for theatre and writing with her addiction to news. Over her career she has covered politics, arts, media, religion, and entrepreneurship. Currently Sydell is the Digital Culture Correspondent for NPR's All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, and NPR.org.
Sydell's work focuses on the ways in which technology is transforming our culture and how we live. For example, she reported on robotic orchestras and independent musicians who find the Internet is a better friend than a record label as well as ways technology is changing human relationships.
Sydell has traveled through India and China to look at the impact of technology on developing nations. In China, she reported how American television programs like Lost broke past China's censors and found a devoted following among the emerging Chinese middle class. She found in India that cell phones are the computer of the masses.
Sydell teamed up with Alex Bloomberg of NPR's Planet Money team and reported on the impact of patent trolls on business and innovations particular to the tech world. The results were a series of pieces that appeared on This American Life and All Things Considered. The hour long program on This American Life "When Patents Attack! - Part 1," was honored with a Gerald Loeb Award and accolades from Investigative Reporters and Editors. A transcript of the entire show was included in The Best Business Writing of 2011 published by Columbia University Press.
Before joining NPR in 2003, Sydell served as a senior technology reporter for American Public Media's Marketplace, where her reporting focused on the human impact of new technologies and the personalities behind the Silicon Valley boom and bust.
Sydell is a proud native of New Jersey and prior to making a pilgrimage to California and taking up yoga she worked as a reporter for NPR Member Station WNYC in New York. Her reporting on race relations, city politics, and arts was honored with numerous awards from organizations such as The Newswomen's Club of New York, The New York Press Club, and The Society of Professional Journalists.
American Women in Radio and Television, The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and Women in Communications have all honored Sydell for her long-form radio documentary work focused on individuals whose life experiences turned them into activists.
After finishing a one-year fellowship with the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, Sydell came to San Francisco as a teaching fellow at the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California, Berkeley.
Sydell graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree from William Smith College in Geneva, New York, and earned a J.D. from Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law.
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In Silicon Valley, it's difficult for women to come forward if they want to join the ranks of its richest. Some think the best way to fight harassment is to tread carefully and get to the top. -
Some First Amendment advocates joined a suit against the president for blocking people from his Twitter account — and they are making a novel argument about the right to communicate in a digital age. -
With more than 100 million subscribers around the world, Netflix is the premier video streaming service. But, as competition from Amazon, Hulu and others heats up, can Netflix stay on top? -
The platforms promoted the name of a man falsely accused of being the shooter by surfacing less-credible sites. The companies say they're working on fixes, but analysts say the challenge is massive. -
About half of Harvey Mudd College computer science graduates are women, up sharply in the past decade. It and other schools found success by adjusting their curriculums and making other changes. -
The software engineer's internal memo created controversy after it was leaked. The memo, called "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber," criticized the company's efforts to diversify its workforce.
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Silicon Valley is known as the nation's tech hub, but decades ago New Jersey had that distinction. The state was once home to Thomas Edison's lab and Bell Labs, the home of Nobel laureates. -
In the late 19th century, French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville patented the earliest known sound recording device. But his accomplishments were only recognized recently. -
Google is making a push into virtual reality with a headset that doesn't require a user to connect to a phone or computer. Amidst massive hype, virtual reality has been slow to take off.
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A murder video uploaded to Facebook brought attention to how the company monitors upsetting content. Artificial intelligence may be a solution, but experts say it could bring unwanted results.
