Speakers and Performers
We are delighted to announce the full line-up of speakers, performers, and special guests at PopTech 2009.
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Naïf Al-Mutawa creator of The 99, the popular Islamic-themed comic series
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Will Allen urban farmer reinventing urban agriculture in Milwaukee, WI
Watch Will Allen’s talk at PopTech 2009.
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Massoud Amin complex systems expert and National Security Advisor to the US Air Force
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Kurt Andersen best-selling author, cultural critic and host of Studio360
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Dan Ariely behavioral economist and bestselling author of Predictably Irrational
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Zee Avi chanteuse and YouTube phenomenon
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Steve Barr founder of Green Dot Schools
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Assaf Biderman architect and engineer who studies the impact of new technologies on cities
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Nick Bilton designer and media researcher at the R&D Lab of The New York Times
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Chandler Burr perfume critic at the The New York Times
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George Church geneticist and initiator of the Human Genome and Personal Genome Projects
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Anthony Doerr writer and essayist
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Esther Duflo development economist and antipoverty researcher
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Nicholas Felton designer and personal informatician
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John Fetterman Mayor of Braddock, PA
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John Forté singer songwriter
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James Fowler author of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives
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Amanda Geppert Director at The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention – Ceasefire
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Daniel Goleman leading psychologist of emotional and ecological intelligence
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Robert Guest Washington correspondent and the Lexington columnist for The Economist
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Tony Hey Corporate Vice President of External Research, Microsoft Research
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Chris Jordan artist whose large scale photography depicts consumerism and its aftermath
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Zoë Keating electronic cellist
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Kacie Kinzer creator of anthropomorphic robots
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Laura Kurgan Director of the Spatial Information Design Lab
spatialinformationdesignlab.org
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Jonah Lehrer author of How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist
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Kyna Leski architect and design educator, RISD
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Zach Lieberman performance, installation, and online artist
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Dennis Littky educator & founder of Big Picture Learning
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Reuben Margolin kinetic sculptor
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Ashley Merryman co-author of NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
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Daniel Nocera artificial photosynthesis and solar energy pioneer
mit.edu/~chemistry/faculty/nocera.html
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Mark O’Connor new American classical fiddler
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Gideon Obarzanek choreographer and Artistic Director, Chunky Move
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Dean Ornish founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute
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Neri Oxman architect and material ecologist
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Aydogan Ozcan creator of breakthrough mobile-based public health tools
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Katy Payne bio-acoustician and authority on the language of elephants
birds.cornell.edu/brp/elephant/
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Michael Pollan leading food journalist and activist
Watch Michael Pollan’s talk at PopTech 2009.
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Logan Richardson saxophonist
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John Rogers CEO and founder of Local Motors
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Alec Ross Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
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Reihan Salam co-author of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream
newamerica.net/people/reihan_salam
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Lincoln Schatz artist and creator of generative portraiture
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Rinku Sen Executive Director of Applied Research Center
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Ruby Jane Smith ingenue fiddler
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Willie Smits founder and Chief Science Officer of Tapergy, the zero-waste, people, planet, profit, global bio-fuels company
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Paul van Zyl transitional justice expert and former Executive Director of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee
untreaty.un.org/cod/avl/faculty/vanZyl.html
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Luis von Ahn computer scientist, and researcher on “human computation”
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Lorrie Vogel designer, Nike
nikebiz.com/responsibility/considered_design/
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Marije Vogelzang designer of eating
Watch Marije Vogelzang’s talk at PopTech 2009.
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Michael Wesch digital anthropologist studying the social impact of YouTube
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Erica Williams Deputy Director, Campus Progress
americanprogress.org/aboutus/staff/WilliamsErica.html
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With:
Dan Coyle, talent researcher and author of The Talent Code
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Nancy Duarte, renowned communications designer
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Hans Jensen, cello instructor
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Philippe Newlin, Head of Tasting, Wine and Spirits Magazine
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Healy Hamilton, biodiversity researcher, California Academy of Sciences
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Josh Weiss, Associate Director of the Harvard Program on Negotiation
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Sheila Kennedy, professor of architecture at MIT and Principal, Kennedy & Violich Architecture Ltd. (KVA)
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Kevin McSpadden, Chief Marketing Officer, Timbuk2
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John Bielenberg, designer, Virtual Telemetrix