David Shenk is an American writer, lecturer, and filmmaker. He is author of six books, including The Genius in All of Us (2010), Data Smog

Data Smog

Data Smog is a 1997 book by journalist David Shenk and published by Harper Collins. It deals with the author's idea of how the information technology revolution would shape the world at large and how the incredible amount of data available on the Internet would make it more difficult for the...

 (1997), The Forgetting (2001), and The Immortal Game (2006), and has contributed to National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, Gourmet, Harper's, Wired, The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Nation, The American Scholar, NPR and PBS. In mid-2009, he joined TheAtlantic.com as a correspondent. He is a 1988 graduate of Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

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Books

Shenk has published the following books:

• Skeleton Key: A Dictionary For Deadheads (1994) (Co-written with Steve Silberman)
• Data Smog
  Data Smog
  Data Smog is a 1997 book by journalist David Shenk and published by Harper Collins. It deals with the author's idea of how the information technology revolution would shape the world at large and how the incredible amount of data available on the Internet would make it more difficult for the...
  
  : Surviving the Information Glut (1997)
• The End of Patience: More Notes of Caution on the Information Revolution (1999)
• The Forgetting: Alzheimer's, Portrait of An Epidemic (2001)
• The Immortal Game: A History of Chess (2006)
• The Genius In All Of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong (2010)

Films

In 2004, PBS broadcast the Emmy award-winning "The Forgetting," which was inspired by Shenk's book of the same name. The film was directed by Elizabeth Arledge. Shenk appeared in the film and served as a writer and consultant. http://www.pbs.org/theforgetting/watch/index.html

In 2006, "The Forgetting" was featured on-screen and read aloud in the Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley is a Canadian actress, singer, film director, and screenwriter. Polley first attained notice in her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television series, Road to Avonlea...

 film "Away From Her

Away From Her

Away from Her is a 2006 Canadian film which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and also played in the Premier category at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival...

." Polley said that the book was "hugely influential" to her in making the film.

In 2007, Shenk wrote, produced and directed four short films on Alzheimer's disease. http://www.aboutalz.org

Awards & Honors

• 1995: Fellow, Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University
• 1997: Finalist, McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communication Policy
• 1998: Fellow, The Japan Society
• 2000: Named one of "10 Masters of the New Economy" by CIO magazine.
• 2001: The Forgetting awarded First Prize, British Medical Association’s Popular Medical Book Awards
• 2001: The Forgetting picked as An Amazon Top Book of 2001
• 2004: Emmy Award for PBS's "The Forgetting"
• 2004: Shenk's original term "data smog" added to the Oxford English Dictionary
• 2006: The Immortal Game picked as a Globe and Mail Top Book of 2006 and Toronto Star Top 100 Book of 2006

External links

• Shenk's homepage
• Shenk's blog at The Atlantic
• A Quick Look At Alzheimer's: Four Pocket Films to Increase Understanding of a 21st Century Epidemic
• PBS's "The Forgetting"
• ABC News: David Shenk Answers Your Questions About Alzheimer's Disease