Whitney Rodgers
Award-winning journalist, filmmaker and Current Affairs Curator at TED, where she curates and moderates conversations on urgent public-interest issues; previously produced for NBC News, including Dateline NBC.
Public Health Must Treat Misinformation as an Outbreak
Epidemiologist and science communicator Jessica Malaty Rivera argues that public-health emergencies involve two outbreaks: the pathogen itself and the information surrounding it. In conversation with TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers, she says trust cannot be assumed or commanded through expertise; it must be earned through listening, transparent explanation of evidence and uncertainty, and messages that account for people’s histories and fears. Rivera’s case is that communication is not an add-on to prevention but part of the intervention.
Science Lessons Should Start With Questions, Not Answers
Former NASA engineer and YouTuber Mark Rober argues that science instruction should begin with a phenomenon that makes students want an explanation, rather than with equations or definitions they are asked to memorize. His proposed free Class CrunchLabs curriculum for grades three through eight uses videos to create that initial question, hands-on activities to investigate it, and teachers to guide the learning. Rober’s case is that spectacle can earn attention, but inquiry and teacher-led discussion must turn it into understanding.
Science Lessons Should Start With a Phenomenon, Not a Formula
Former NASA engineer and YouTube creator Mark Rober argues that science instruction should begin with a phenomenon students want to explain, rather than with formulas or vocabulary they are asked to absorb. His free Class CrunchLabs curriculum for grades three through eight uses short videos and low-cost experiments to prompt investigation, with teachers leading the discussion and sense-making. Rober’s claim is not that screens can replace teaching, but that a stronger initial hook can help teachers overcome what he sees as a motivation gap.
AI Can Support Human Connection, but It Cannot Replace Reciprocity
AI companionship has moved from fringe behavior into ordinary emotional life, touching romance, parenting, work and grief, sextech expert Bryony Cole argues. Her concern is not that AI intimacy must be rejected, but that people should decide deliberately whether these systems help build human connection or begin to replace the friction, reciprocity and presence that relationships require.