David Shenk
David Shenk is the award-winning and national-bestselling author of six books, including The Genius in All of Us ("deeply interesting and important" - New York Times), The Forgetting ("remarkable" - Los Angeles Times), Data Smog ("indispensable" - New York Times), and The Immortal Game ("superb" - Wall Street Journal). He is a popular lecturer, a short-film director/producer, and a contributor to National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Nature Biotechnology, Gourmet, Harper's, Spy, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The American Scholar, The Huffington Post, NPR, BBC and PBS. Shenk lives in Brooklyn. [MORE AT DAVIDSHENK.COM]
His most recent book, The Genius in All of Us: New Insights Into Genetics, Talent, and IQ (Doubleday, 2010), was welcomed as "a deeply interesting and important book" by the New York Times, "profound," by the London Evening Standard, and "a thinking man's Outliers" by New York magazine. Salon's Laura Miller said, "The Genius in All of Us has quietly blown my mind." (More reviews here).
Following his book, Shenk was invited to be Senior Fellow of the Delta Center at the University of Iowa. There he collaborated with fellow Delta scholars (University of Iowa) and John Spencer (University of East Anglia) to create "How We Develop," a special collection of articles written by some of the world's most deep-thinking scientists. It was published by Wiley in 2017. This collection is designed to help the world understand - both broadly and in exquisite detail - exactly why the concept of "innate" is dead. We are all creatures of development. Genes do not produce traits on their own; they dynamically *interact* with the environment to create everything about who we are.
The Immortal Game: A History of Chess (Doubleday, 2006) was hailed as "superb," by The Wall Street Journal, "fresh and fascinating" by The Chicago Sun-Times, "engaging" by The Washington Post, and "a thrilling tour" by Entertainment Weekly. Author Jonathan Cott called it "one of the most remarkable books I've read over the past many years -- its 'brilliancy' illuminates so much of life in all its aspects." (More reviews here). In 2011, Shenk was featured in the HBO film "Bobby Fischer Against the World."
The Forgetting: Alzheimer's, Portrait of an Epidemic (Doubleday, 2001) won First Prize in the British Medical Association's Popular Medical Book Awards, and was welcomed by John Bayley as "the definitive work on Alzheimer's." The Los Angeles Times Book Review called it, "a remarkable addition to the literature of the science of the mind." (More reviews here). In January, 2004, PBS broadcast "The Forgetting," a prime-time documentary inspired by the book. In 2006, the book was featured in Sarah Polley's Oscar-nominated film "Away From Her." Shenk speaks frequently on the history, biology and social urgency of Alzheimer's disease. He has advised the President's Council on Bioethics on dementia-related issues, directed five short animated "pocket films" about Alzheimer's, is a Senior Advisor to Cure Alzheimer's Fund, and Creator/Executive Producer of the "Living with Alzheimer's" film project.
Prior to The Forgetting, Shenk published two books and dozens of essays on the emotional, social and political ramifications of the information revolution. Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut (HarperCollins, 1997) was hailed by The New York Times as "an indispensable guide to the big picture of technology's cultural impact." Neil Postman called it "brilliant," and the Toronto Globe and Mail called it "a blessing." The book, profiled on 60 Minutes, was supported by a fellowship from the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University, and was later named a finalist for the McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communication Policy. Following Data Smog, Shenk wrote a column for Hotwired, contributed commentaries to NPR's "All Thing's Considered," and co-founded "Technorealism," a movement encouraging balanced consideration of technology's effects on humanity. In the Fall of 1998, Shenk spent two months in Japan on a United States-Japan Foundation fellowship, exploring the ramifications of extreme technology-saturation, collecting soba-choku, and drinking lots of green tea. The End of Patience: More Notes of Caution on the Information Revolution (Indiana University Press, 1999) is a Data Smog-followup collection of essays and commentaries which Sven Birkerts called, "Exhilarating to read . . . a startling glimpse of where we are." Dan Rather commented, "Shenk may understand the Information Age better than anyone else: he sees benefits and perils that everybody else seems too rushed to notice, and I predict that the notes of caution he sounds in The End of Patience will be remembered by future generations for their prophetic accuracy."
In 2004, his original term "data smog" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
His most recent book, The Genius in All of Us: New Insights Into Genetics, Talent, and IQ (Doubleday, 2010), was welcomed as "a deeply interesting and important book" by the New York Times, "profound," by the London Evening Standard, and "a thinking man's Outliers" by New York magazine. Salon's Laura Miller said, "The Genius in All of Us has quietly blown my mind." (More reviews here).
Following his book, Shenk was invited to be Senior Fellow of the Delta Center at the University of Iowa. There he collaborated with fellow Delta scholars (University of Iowa) and John Spencer (University of East Anglia) to create "How We Develop," a special collection of articles written by some of the world's most deep-thinking scientists. It was published by Wiley in 2017. This collection is designed to help the world understand - both broadly and in exquisite detail - exactly why the concept of "innate" is dead. We are all creatures of development. Genes do not produce traits on their own; they dynamically *interact* with the environment to create everything about who we are.
The Immortal Game: A History of Chess (Doubleday, 2006) was hailed as "superb," by The Wall Street Journal, "fresh and fascinating" by The Chicago Sun-Times, "engaging" by The Washington Post, and "a thrilling tour" by Entertainment Weekly. Author Jonathan Cott called it "one of the most remarkable books I've read over the past many years -- its 'brilliancy' illuminates so much of life in all its aspects." (More reviews here). In 2011, Shenk was featured in the HBO film "Bobby Fischer Against the World."
The Forgetting: Alzheimer's, Portrait of an Epidemic (Doubleday, 2001) won First Prize in the British Medical Association's Popular Medical Book Awards, and was welcomed by John Bayley as "the definitive work on Alzheimer's." The Los Angeles Times Book Review called it, "a remarkable addition to the literature of the science of the mind." (More reviews here). In January, 2004, PBS broadcast "The Forgetting," a prime-time documentary inspired by the book. In 2006, the book was featured in Sarah Polley's Oscar-nominated film "Away From Her." Shenk speaks frequently on the history, biology and social urgency of Alzheimer's disease. He has advised the President's Council on Bioethics on dementia-related issues, directed five short animated "pocket films" about Alzheimer's, is a Senior Advisor to Cure Alzheimer's Fund, and Creator/Executive Producer of the "Living with Alzheimer's" film project.
Prior to The Forgetting, Shenk published two books and dozens of essays on the emotional, social and political ramifications of the information revolution. Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut (HarperCollins, 1997) was hailed by The New York Times as "an indispensable guide to the big picture of technology's cultural impact." Neil Postman called it "brilliant," and the Toronto Globe and Mail called it "a blessing." The book, profiled on 60 Minutes, was supported by a fellowship from the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University, and was later named a finalist for the McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communication Policy. Following Data Smog, Shenk wrote a column for Hotwired, contributed commentaries to NPR's "All Thing's Considered," and co-founded "Technorealism," a movement encouraging balanced consideration of technology's effects on humanity. In the Fall of 1998, Shenk spent two months in Japan on a United States-Japan Foundation fellowship, exploring the ramifications of extreme technology-saturation, collecting soba-choku, and drinking lots of green tea. The End of Patience: More Notes of Caution on the Information Revolution (Indiana University Press, 1999) is a Data Smog-followup collection of essays and commentaries which Sven Birkerts called, "Exhilarating to read . . . a startling glimpse of where we are." Dan Rather commented, "Shenk may understand the Information Age better than anyone else: he sees benefits and perils that everybody else seems too rushed to notice, and I predict that the notes of caution he sounds in The End of Patience will be remembered by future generations for their prophetic accuracy."
In 2004, his original term "data smog" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
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