Bio

I'm a California-based journalist, photographer and consultant. I'm perhaps best known for my one-on-one interviews with influential writers and thinkers. I'm the former host of "Insight and Outlook," a program of ideas heard on National Public Radio stations across the United States.

I've published widely in newspapers and magazines, and have written, edited, and contributed to many publications, among them Immigration in America (2011), Doing Democracy (2010) and the latest volume in the series Nobel Peace Lectures (2009).

My journalism also extends to photography. My images have been published in books and periodicals worldwide, including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, GQ, Elle Décor, Marie Claire, Outside, Sierra and National Geographic Traveler. My work has also been widely exhibited at museums and private galleries across the U.S. and Europe.

Over the last decade, I've devoted much of my time to consulting with academic, government, and nonprofit organizations on issues involving social innovation and civic renewal. I've led several national studies and research projects aimed at understanding how social innovators do their work, the power of informal networks, the dynamics of collaboration, and other topics.

I'm a longtime associate of the Kettering Foundation. I've also worked with the Harwood Institute, Pew Partnership for Civic Change, the National Issues Forums, University of Michigan, Pacifica Graduate Institute, University of California, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. State Department, among other organizations.

I was born in Washington D.C. in 1965. At the age of five, my family moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where I was raised and educated. I returned to the U.S. in 1990 and now live in southern California with my wife and our two daughters.