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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A fork and spoon with built-in sensors can measure how long your meals last. Computers and sensors are being built into just about everything these days — a trend on display at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And lots of companies are working on getting your TV to play nicely with your smartphone. -
In Silicon Valley and around the world there are thousands of folks toiling away on new technologies, convinced that the thing they are building will transform the way we live. NPR's Steve Henn introduces us to five techies whose research and work he'll be keeping a close eye on in the coming year.
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It's unlikely 2013 will be the year that jet packs make it big, but the coming year could bring us a host of other new technology trends and products, like 3-D printers for consumers, even smarter smartphones, and more connected devices like glasses and cars. -
NPR's Steve Henn says the new Google Maps for iPhone is not only better than Apple's maps — it's also much better than the old Google app that had been on the iPhone from Day 1. -
Eden Full dropped out of Princeton to found a startup company that brings the solar panel technology she invented to developing countries as part of a fellowship. The unusual program, funded by tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, gives young people $100,000 to skip college and focus on their work and research instead. -
Apple's CEO Tim Cook made news by announcing the company will start manufacturing a line of Mac computers in the U.S. But Cook, like Steve Jobs before him, says the main reason Apple produces most of its products overseas isn't about price. It's about a lack of skilled workers in the U.S.
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For the first time, Apple's iPad has some competition: Google's Nexus, Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and the Microsoft Surface. Tech reporters Steve Henn and Laura Sydell have been testing out the latest tablets this holiday season — and found that content is king. -
Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Sandy, nowhere has the wait to restore power been longer than on Long Island. Utility mismanagement has deep roots there, where consumers are still paying for abuses that started more than 50 years ago. -
A nor'easter Wednesday promises new electricity outages in a region already reeling from Hurricane Sandy. The Long Island Power Authority is facing intense criticism for not acting more quickly to restore power in Sandy's wake, and beleaguered residents' patience is wearing thin. -
About a third of the roughly 1 million without power in New York live on Long Island. With temperatures falling, residents are desperate to get back in their homes. Officials, however, say powering up homes is a challenge because of electrical fire risks that could make a bad situation worse.
