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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The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has reopened after a three-year closure. Like a growing number of museums, it hopes new tech doesn't get in the way of looking at the art. -
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art re-opened this weekend with groundbreaking interactive technology meant to enhance the experience of looking at art. But can there be too much tech in a museum?
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Google says it will ban all payday loan ads from its site. Consumer advocates say the lending practice hurts the poor and vulnerable.
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NewsThe blood-testing startup led by Elizabeth Holmes soared on hype and celebrity boosters. Now it's under federal scrutiny. It could show that Silicon Valley's success model doesn't work in biotech. -
NewsWhoever ends up running his estate will face some tough decisions about how to handle his musical legacy. What happens to the music in his vault? Will future concertgoers see him as a hologram? -
Yahoo goes on the block Monday. The tech company will accept bids for its Internet businesses, properties estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Despite its reputation as a digital dinosaur, Yahoo is the third most trafficked site on the web. NPR looks at users who have stuck with Yahoo.
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NewsPotential buyers are due to submit bids for Yahoo's core Internet business on Monday. Yahoo may be the number three search engine, but it's struggled to attract investors and keep up with competitors. -
Critics of the patent system say it's too easy for people to save a slew of semi-realistic ideas, then sue when a firm separately tries to make something similar. A new website fights fire with fire. -
The Justice Department has asked a federal court to vacate its order that Apple write software to help the FBI access data in the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone.
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After four years of hype, the Oculus Rift hits the market Monday. It's just one of several virtual reality systems — but not all the VR gadgets are up to snuff.
