Laura Sydell

Credit NPR

Laura Sydell fell in love with the intimate storytelling qualities of radio, which combined her passion for theatre and writing with her addiction to news. Over her career she has covered politics, arts, media, religion, and entrepreneurship. Currently Sydell is the Digital Culture Correspondent for the NPR's All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition and NPR.org.

Incredibly excited to be reporting on one of the great stories of our time, Sydell focuses on the ways in which technology is transforming our culture. She profiled artists who found a new way to create music with an orchestra made up of half robots; and independent musicians who find the Internet is a better friend than a record label. Sydell focuses on the ways social media transforms everything from personal relationships to shopping.

Sydell traveled India and China to look at the impact of technology on developing nations. In China, she reported how American television programs like Lost broke past China's censors and found a devoted following among the emerging Chinese middle class. She found in India that cell phones are the computer of the masses.

Among her all-time favorite pieces is a profile of a private eye who found a way to incorporate Buddhist faith into her job by working exclusively on death penalty cases. Sydell also featured a mother's devotion to a son charged with a brutal murder and the bus that carries her and others with incarcerated family members from New York City to a prison upstate.

Before joining NPR in 2003, Sydell served as a senior technology reporter for American Public Media's Marketplace, Sydell looked at the human impact of new technologies and the personalities behind the Silicon Valley boom and bust.

Before coming to San Francisco, Sydell worked as a reporter for NPR Member Station WNYC in New York. Her reporting on race relations, city politics, and arts was honored with numerous awards from organizations such as The Newswomen's Club of New York, The New York Press Club, and The Society of Professional Journalists.

The American Women in Radio and Television, The National Federation of Community Broadcasters, and Women in Communications have all honored Sydell for her long-form radio documentary work focused on individuals whose life experiences turned them into activists.

After finishing a one-year fellowship with the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, Sydell came to San Francisco as a teaching fellow at the Graduate School of Journalism at University of California, Berkeley.

Sydell graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree from William Smith College in Geneva, New York, and earned a J.D. from Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law.

Intel Legends Moore And Grove: Making It Last

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Credit Courtesy of Intel

Intel's first hire (from left), Andy Grove, and Intel co-founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore in 1978, the 10th anniversary of the company. Grove is sitting on a graphical layout (a rubylith) of one of Intel's early microprocessors.

Credit Courtesy of Intel

Credit Cindy Carpien / NPR

Andy Grove (left) and Gordon Moore, who worked together for over 30 years, share a laugh at the Moore Foundation in Palo Alto, Calif.

Credit Courtesy of Intel

Intel produced the world's first successful microprocessor. This photo shows that famous 4004. Intel chips today are in four out of five personal computers.

By Laura Sydell

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Part 3 of a series on Silicon Valley's history

In Silicon Valley, the spotlight is often on young entrepreneurs with fresh ideas that will change the world — people like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, or Jack Dorsey of Twitter.

But for decades, two older titans of the high-tech industry thrived in that fast-paced world: Gordon Moore and Andy Grove of Intel.

Speaking recently in a rare joint interview, the two discussed how their company survived, and what they think of the current crop of Silicon Valley techies.

Intel's Odd Couple

2:20 am

Thu April 5, 2012

America's Magnet For Innovation, And Investments

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Credit Cindy Carpien / NPR

Virginia Klausmeier (left) makes her pitch for Garage Technology Ventures to invest in her clean diesel fuel company, Sylvatex, to Bill Reichert and Joyce Chung, two of the firm's general partners.

Credit Courtesy of Arthur Rock

Arthur Rock in the 1970s. In 1968, he helped Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce found Intel — the only company he invested in that he was certain would succeed, he says. Rock was later a founding investor in Apple Computer.

By Laura Sydell

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Part 2 of our Silicon Valley history series

Think of the most technologically innovative companies of the past 50 years, such as Intel, Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter. Each company has a Silicon Valley address — and each one got backing from venture capitalists. Over the past decade, more than 35 percent of the nation's venture capital has gone to Silicon Valley startups.

High-tech and venture capital go hand and hand in the valley where technology and venture capital grew up together.

2:00 am

Wed April 4, 2012

A Rare Mix Created Silicon Valley's Startup Culture

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Credit Courtesy of Intel

William Shockley (at head of table) celebrates winning a share of the 1956 Nobel Prize. Gordon Moore (seated far left), Sheldon Roberts (next to Moore), Robert Noyce (middle standing), and Jay Last (far right) are half of the "Traitorous Eight."

Credit Cindy Carpien / NPR

The list of more than 40 firms Arthur Rock asked to invest in the Traitorous 8. He was asking for $1.5 million and a share in the business for each of the founders. "None of the companies would do it," Rock says.

Credit Cindy Carpien / NPR

A plaque commemorating where Shockley set up in a lab in 1956. Shockley wanted to make better silicon-based transistors, but soon abandoned the pursuit. The building now houses an international produce market.

By Laura Sydell

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The first in a 3-part series airing this week on Morning Edition.

When Facebook goes public later this spring, its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, will be following in the footsteps of a long line of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs that includes Steve Jobs and Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But there was a time when the idea of an engineer or scientist starting his or her own company was rare.

3:38 pm

Thu February 23, 2012

California Industries Spar Over Internet Piracy

Credit Fredrik Persson / AFP/Getty Images

Supporters of the website The Pirate Bay, one of the world's top illegal file-sharing websites, demonstrate in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2009.

By Laura Sydell

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There's a civil war going on in California. It's the north vs. the south — Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley. And much like that other American Civil War, there are two different economic worldviews at stake. One of the highest-profile battles was fought last month, when large Internet sites like Wikipedia staged an online blackout to protest anti-piracy bills in Congress.

The north won that battle, and for now, the legislation is on hold. But the war between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over how to deal with intellectual property is far from over.

6:00 pm

Fri January 20, 2012

Four Views On Megaupload

Credit David Rowland / EPA /Landov

Bram van der Kolk, Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Kim Schmitz, also known as Kim Dotcom, (from left to right) are remanded in custody in New Zealand on Friday.

By Laura Sydell

Originally published on Fri January 20, 2012 6:08 pm

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When the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI shut down the web site Megaupload yesterday, there were many responses, from outrage to confusion to applause, and nearly as many questions. One that stood out was simple: If Megaupload provides a service that can be used for legal pursuits, are they legally responsible for the users who use it to illegally share copyrighted material?

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Starting Up: Silicon Valley's Origins

2:26 am

Fri April 6, 2012