Steve Henn
Steve Henn is NPR's technology correspondent based in Menlo Park, California, who is currently on assignment with Planet Money. An award winning journalist, he now covers the intersection of technology and modern life - exploring how digital innovations are changing the way we interact with people we love, the institutions we depend on and the world around us. In 2012 he came frighteningly close to crashing one of the first Tesla sedans ever made. He has taken a ride in a self-driving car, and flown a drone around Stanford's campus with a legal expert on privacy and robotics.
But Steve's favorite technology stories are the ones that explain how little-understood innovations can change the way millions of us behave. Why do people buy cows in Farmville? Why are video games so compelling and why do some people have such a hard time setting Twitter aside? He is fascinated by how digital companies attempt to mold our behavior and study our every move in a world where we are constantly interacting with connected devices.
Prior to moving to Silicon Valley in 2010, Steve covered a wide range of topics for the public radio show Marketplace. His reporting kicked off the congressional travel scandals in late 2004, and helped expose the role of private military contractors at Abu Ghraib.
At Marketplace, Henn helped establish collaborations with the Center for Public Integrity and the Medill's School of Journalism.
Steve spent his early life on a farm in Iowa where his parents, who are biochemists, hoped to raise all their own food and become energy self-sufficient. It didn't work. During college Steve hoped to drop out and support himself by working in the fishing industry in Alaska. That also didn't work. After college he biked around the country with his sweetheart, Emily Johnson. He then followed Emily to Africa, volunteering at Soweto Community Radio. That did work out. He and Emily are now happily married with three daughters.
Steve graduated from Wesleyan University's College of Social Studies with honors and Columbia University's Graduate school of Journalism.
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Executives have recently focused attention on Silicon Valley's workplace culture. While companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo operate by their own set of rules, what happens there may influence how many Americans work. The key components? Interactive learning and fun, one expert says. -
Facebook has unveiled a redesign of its News Feed, but any social network knows that drastic changes come with risks. Just look at Friendster, a site that fizzled after changes to the interface and a subsequent exodus made it less valuable to users. -
It's expected that more than a million software and programming jobs will open up in the United States between now and 2020. But the country's educational system is not on track to train enough people to fill those jobs.
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A 3-D printer allows people to easily create Yoda busts, Tintin's rocket ship — and even NPR action figures. But as this technology gets cheaper, the budding industry could face the same intellectual property battles that upended the music business a decade ago.
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After The New York Times published a scathing review of Tesla's Model S electric car, the automaker's CEO took to Twitter to slam the reporter. Disputed facts aside, the timing of the spat could hurt Tesla, which is under pressure to improve its financial performance.
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Up to 1 billion people in emerging markets will buy mobile phones in the coming years, and many will use them in lieu of a computer. While this might seem a natural opportunity for Apple, it may be a struggle for the tech giant to land these new customers.
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Hedge fund and private equity managers came out of the "fiscal cliff" agreement with a better tax setup than many affluent taxpayers. It largely keeps in place a practice that allows them to have their earnings taxed at a capital gains rate rather than at a higher rate for ordinary income.
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New York and New Jersey were still struggling with the effects of Hurricane Sandy as word came of a new storm about to hit the region. Officials began warning of possible new power outages and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he'll ask residents of some some low-lying areas to evacuate. For many people, the challenges of life after last week's storm are becoming a sort of routine: long lines for transit, long lines for gas, long commutes. But for those hardest hit, the paperwork storm shows no signs of abating.
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The estimated price tag for Superstorm Sandy could run as high as $50 billion. But homeowners and businesses in the Northeast aren't just dealing with damage from Sandy; they're also dealing with insurance companies. And figuring out what's covered and what's not can get very complicated. -
The fallout from Apple's controversial decision to drop Google Maps from the iPhone 5 continues. Customers aren't giving Apple Maps any love, and analysts say Apple made an uncharacteristic blunder in dumping Google.
