Known as the godmother of Silicon Valley, Esther Wojcicki has inspired Silicon Valley legends such as Steve Jobs and is affectionately called ‘Woj’ by her many friends and admirers. She is famous for founding the media arts programme at Palo Alto High School and teaching a journalism class that has changed the lives of thousands of students, many of whom have gone on to have an outsize influence of their own. She has created the Moonshots in Education movement to help shift the culture of education to one that empowers both students and teachers. She is a leader in Blended Learning and the integration of technology into education. She is the mother of a super family, raising three happy daughters who have each made their own mark on the world as the CEO of YouTube, the Founder and CEO of 23andMe, and a top medical researcher.
Ruth Copland speaks to the highly creative and inspiring globally renowned educator, journalist, thought-leader, and author of the new book How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results at the famed media arts centre at Palo Alto High School where Esther Wojcicki still teaches. Ruth talks to Esther about what gave her the confidence and creative dynamism to challenge the education system; what sparked her passion for education and the arts; how she defines a successful person; whether failure is part of success; what inspired her to write her book; the role of journalism in the age of ‘fake news’; what she hopes her legacy will be, and much more.
To listen to the interview click here Esther Wojcicki | It's A Question of Balance (broadcast 4 May).
In addition, Esther Wojcicki serves as Vice Chair of Creative Commons and has been intimately involved with Google and GoogleEdu since its inception, where she was one of the leaders in setting up the Google Teacher Academy and remains a guiding force. She has two Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Palo Alto University and Rhode Island School of Design and was California Teacher of the Year in 2002. Esther believes strongly in the relationship between the school and home. As a mother, she and her husband Stan, a professor and former chair of the physics department at Stanford, fostered creativity and critical thinking in their daughters. Esther Wojcicki’s new book <em>How To Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results</em> draws on her considerable experience and success in both her personal life and career. It's a book all parents should read, and anyone who cares about how we can help children find success on all levels and on their own terms.
Photo: Esther Wojcicki (left) at the California Theatre, San Jose, after receiving the Cinequest Life of a Maverick Award and being interviewed live onstage by Ruth Copland (right). Photo credit Freedom Cheteni.
For more info and to listen to past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
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Ruth Copland, Interview, Its A Question of Balance, on the street, machines
Do we need to learn that just because we can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that we should? Where is the end-point? How much of your life do you want to give over to machines? If we abdicate too many mental and physical tasks to machines could we end up in a Wall-E world of atrophied bodies and brains, or is it the logical way to create a wonderful utopia?
Ruth Copland features her interviews out and about on the street asking people - Why do we seem to want everything done for us? And what will happen when it is? (broadcast 27 April).
For more information and to listen to past shows click here www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
The future holds out the prospect of driver-less cars and many other ways in which we can basically sit back and have everything done for us. Why is this desirable? One of the prime reasons given for using machines is to do jobs that humans don’t want to do and thus free up leisure time. Is free time the ultimate ‘win’ in our society? Or if we gain leisure at the expense of using the full capacity of our bodies and minds are we degrading human experience?
From the advent of labour-saving devices which simplified cooking, cleaning, and washing, we have moved towards increasing automation of tasks through technology. It is customary for businesses’ phones to be answered by automated voice systems, manufacturing has been streamlined replacing workers with machines, and computers complete all sorts of tasks that used to be done with brain power. There’s even people working on creating sex robots. Where will it all end? Ultimately, how much of our lives do we want to give over to machines?
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Are we all in this together or is it each country for itself? Conflict, poverty, and immigration are challenging us to consider what national identity means and how it should be protected or expanded. Should we be part of a global solution to challenges facing people in all parts of the world? Or do we need to focus solely on our own country?
Do you think of global citizenship as requiring one world system? Or as being more about one planet where there are diverse cultures and ways of doing things but we are interconnected? Does your sense of national identity supercede your sense of global identity? Or vice versa?
Ruth Copland feature her topic conversations on the street. Broadcast 13 April.
For more information and to listen to past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
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One in three Americans define themselves as spiritual but not religious*. There are approximately 56 million religiously unaffiliated adults in the U.S yet "the share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God…[is] still remarkably high by comparison with other advanced industrial countries…at 89%"**. What is the difference between spirituality and religion? How do you define spirituality? Why is religious affiliation declining? A Pew survey found that about half of U.S. adults express reservations about the conduct of religious institutions, saying they are too concerned with money, power, and rules, and too involved with politics. Perhaps this could this be an explanation of the decline in religious affiliation even though most Americans agree that religious organisations perform positive functions in society. There are so many different religions and versions of each religion, might promoting spirituality over religion be helpful to break down barriers and connect people? What do you think?
For more info and to listen to past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
* BBC Point of View
** The Pew Research Religious Landscape Survey analysis in 2015
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Known for X-Men: First Class and The People vs OJ respectively, Edi and Tayler are the stars of 'Princess of the Row' also featuring Martin Sheen, Jacob Vargas and Ana Ortiz. Ruth Copland features an excerpt from the film and talks to Edi and Tayler about their lives and careers and what attracted them to play the father and daughter in this poignant yet life-affirming film about homelessness, mental health, war veterans, and family ties.
To listen to the interview click here Edi Gathegi & Tayler Buck | It's A Question of Balance (broadcast 6 April)
'Princess of the Row', which had its world premiere at Cinequest is a poignant, dramatic and ultimately uplifting story. A creative 12-year-old foster girl bounces around the sometimes abusive foster care system for most of her life, and ditches school to visit her military veteran father who is homeless on the streets of LA’s Skid Row He’s mentally ill after suffering a battle-induced brain injury during his service in the Iraq war. The injury renders him unable to recognize his own daughter most of the time. But to Alicia, it doesn’t matter because she loves him and remembers the father he used to be: a caring man with a love of storytelling.
Alicia has inherited her father’s creativity and wants to be a writer when she grows up, spending her time writing fantasy tales about a Princess on a quest. Alicia’s social worker recognizes her gift and decides to place her in the perfect home with an award-winning author played by Martin Sheen and his wife played by Jenny Gago. As their lovely home is 10 hours from LA Alicia is fearful of never seeing her father again and decides to escape the city with him. On the run, Alicia must cope with her father’s severe PTSD breakdowns, outwit social service workers searching for her, and overcome the worst kind of thugs on the streets of LA, all to make her one dream a reality: to live with her father as a family.
For more info and to listen to past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
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Acting in over 40 feature films in 10 Indian languages Nandita has received widespread acclaim and numerous awards for her acting, and has been repeatedly recognized for both her art and her world community activism. Her directorial debut Firaaq premiered in 2008 at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival after being screened at Telluride. She has twice been on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival, among others, and was conferred the ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters’ by the French Government. She is the first Indian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Women’s Forum and was the Chairperson of the Children’s Film Society India, and a World Fellow at Yale in 2014. Nandita is a strong advocate of social issues, which is evident through her work.
To listen to Ruth Copland's in-depth conversation with Nandita about her fascinating career, life, and her new film 'Manto'
click here Nandita Das | It's A Question of Balance (broadcast 30 March).
Nandita Das's biopic 'Manto' was the opening night featured film at the 2019 Cinequest Film Festival in Silicon Valley. Manto, which Nandita Das wrote and directed, is about Saadat Hasan Manto who is celebrated as one of the greatest short story writers from South Asia. The film is set during the four most tumultuous years of Manto’s life during the Independence of India from Britain. It focuses on both his family life and writing, interweaving five of his short stories into the tale of his life. It is a film about two emerging nations and one man trying to make sense of it all. You can see Manto now on Netflix, it’s a moving, atmospheric film that illuminates a difficult historical period through the experience of a dedicated artist. Ruth Copland interviewed Nandita at Cinequest and then later in the studio.
For more info and to listen to past shows visit www.itsaquestionofbalance.com
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