Editorial/Executive Leader, Author, Journalist. Former Editor of Boston Globe Ed Page, Washington Post columnist, WH advisor, MIT. First one in the water.
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Articles by Bina Venkataraman
RIP American innovation
RIP American innovation (washingtonpost.com) RIP American innovation By Bina Venkataraman 2025051209455100 It's fun to be from the most inventive country on Earth.
How AI could assist medics in disaster zones - The Washington Post
PERRY, Ga. — First came the swarm of drones. They rapidly surveyed the site of a simulated plane crash to make a map of where the actors and dummies lay among the wreckage. The robotic dogs followed, traversing the charred terrain of rocks and fallen pine trees to ask the victims about their injuries.
Harris’s appeal to Georgia’s many Indian American voters is split - The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness I went to a swing state to ask South Asian voters when identity matters — and when it doesn’t. GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Ever since Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, I’ve been curious about the role Indian American voters could play in November. Would their pride in the vice president’s heritage drive them to the polls?
Bina Venkataraman
Washington, D.C. Columnist covering topics related to the future Education: Brown University, bachelor of arts in international relations; Harvard Kennedy School, master of public policy Bina Venkataraman writes a column on the future for The Washington Post and is its editor-at-large for opinion strategy and innovation.
ASL interpreters would make the Harris-Trump debate better - The Washington Post
Instead of warring over whether their microphones will be muted while the other is speaking during the upcoming presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump should be worried that they could essentially be muted for millions of Americans who don’t hear well during the live Sept. 10 broadcast. While broadcasters to air most programs with closed captioning, the service is often delayed and rife with errors during live political events.
What the Google antitrust ruling could mean for companies and consumers - The Washington Post
Google has a favorite line when it comes to antitrust cases against the company: “Competition is just a click away.” But U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta didn’t buy it this time. He ruled this week that by paying for default placement on platforms such as Apple’s iPhone, Google unlawfully extended its monopoly in search — no matter that consumers can still choose from the small players offering alternatives for trawling the web, if they want to.
Who is to blame for AI becoming more human? - The Washington Post
The dustup over ChatGPT allegedly mimicking a famous actress’s voice raised concerns about making artificial intelligence seem more human. Three of our columnists — Amanda Ripley, Josh Tyrangiel and Bina Venkataraman — talk through their own experiences dealing with AI and how our relationship with this new technology could evolve. Use the audio player or The Post’s “Impromptu” podcast feed to listen to the entire conversation.
How Latino influencers are fighting misinformation in South Florida - The Washington Post
In the early hours of a Saturday morning in April, a man in a bar fight in the Miami suburb of Doral shot and killed a security guard who tried to intervene. Soon residents started sharing a rumor over WhatsApp and Telegram. The killer, conspiracists asserted, must have belonged to a criminal gang from Venezuela infiltrating the United States.
Why so much fuss about an eclipse?
Returning to Wooster, my hometown of 27,000 people in northeastern Ohio, is usually an occasion not to worry about street parking or dinner reservations. But on April 8 — thanks to the region’s position in the path of the total solar eclipse — I’ll be among the throngs of out-of-towners donning funky glasses to watch the sun disappear behind the moon’s shadow and experience eerie darkness at 3:15 in the afternoon.
Why so much fuss about an eclipse?
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Opinion | Why so much fuss about an eclipse?
Returning to Wooster,my hometown of 27,000 people in northeastern Ohio, is usually an occasion not to worry about street parking or dinner reservations. But on April 8 — thanks to the region’s position in the path of the total solar eclipse — I’ll be among the throngs of out-of-towners donning funky glasses to watch the sun disappear behind the moon’s shadow and experience eerie darkness at 3:15 in the afternoon.
Why you’re always forgetting things, according to a memory scientist
“Why drag about this corpse of your memory,” Emerson offered in “Self-Reliance.” It was an invitation to let go of past beliefs and things once said aloud — indeed, former versions of ourselves — for the sake of reinvention. The transcendentalist preacher’s son even once told his daughter Ellen that it was “a vice to remember,” hoping to get her to stop fixating on mistakes she’d made in her homework.
Por qué está bien olvidarse de algo todos los días (y por qué Borges quería olvidarse de mucho)
“¿Por qué arrastrar este cadáver de tu memoria?”, ofrecía el filósofo trascendentalista estadounidense Ralph Waldo Emerson en su libro Autosuficiencia, de 1841. Era una invitación a desprenderse de creencias pasadas y de cosas que una vez se dijeron en voz alta -de hecho, de versiones anteriores de nosotros mismos- en aras de la reinvención.
Review | Why you’re always forgetting things, according to a memory scientist
These days, most of us are instead trying to remember, whether it’s where we left our car keys or reading glasses or who the president of Mexico is. Semantic memory, the ability to recall facts and figures, differs from episodic memory, the ability to travel back to the past in our minds and re-create — however hazily — a scene.
How to fix the nightmare of modern flying - The Washington Post
I’m a compulsive noncomplainer — and nowhere is this habit more apparent than when I’m on an airplane. Even when a 90-minute hop between Boston and D.C. turns into an 11-hour saga. Even in the face of tarmac paralysis, redirection by thunderstorm, refueling delays and returns to the gate to unload irate passengers: You won’t hear me whine.
What it will take to make clean energy affordable - for everyone - The Washington Post
Imagine living in a different kind of country: One in which everyone, regardless of income, has access to clean, efficient and affordable energy. Cities where community solar installations power low-rent apartments and residents share in the profits. Rural areas where all homeowners can get the most efficient appliances to lower their monthly bills. Poor neighborhoods where the air kids breathe is as clean as the air in the wealthiest suburbs.
What advances in sickle cell therapies show about biomedical ‘progress’ - The Washington Post
Comment Save One of the year’s most notable medical breakthroughs came this month, when the Food and Drug Administration approved the first CRISPR gene-editing therapy. But what should be cause for celebration — a potential cure for a genetic illness that mostly affects millions of poor people in Nigeria, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as people of color in the United States — comes with math too grim to declare victory just yet.
Opinion | Forget Mars. Take me to a rock concert in near-Earth orbit.
Columnist| December 26, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. EST (Video: Glenn Harvey for The Washington Post) Comment Save Most of the impulses people have to leave Earth for the cosmos hold little appeal. Flee a beautiful planet we’ve wrecked to live underground on Mars, where there are no forests or oceans? No, thank you. Sleep in a tin can in low orbit for a day job mining asteroids so that people can power their smartphones? That’s a space-age oddity I’d skip.
AI show can help patients with rare diseases find a diagnosis - The Washington Post
Comment Save Since finding a primary care doctor these days takes longer than finding a decent used car, it’s little wonder that people turn to Google to probe what ails them. Be skeptical of anyone who claims to be above it. Though I was raised by scientists and routinely read medical journals out of curiosity, in recent months I’ve gone online to investigate causes of a lingering cough, ask how to get rid of wrist pain and look for ways to treat a bad jellyfish sting.
In Maine, a return of tribal land shows how conservation can work best - The Washington Post
Columnist| November 1, 2023 at 7:57 a.m. EDT The Mattamiscontis stream in central Maine flows through land that has been in Penobscot stewardship since the late 1980s. The tiers of stone placed in the river are a method of fishery restoration.
In Bogotá’s poorest quarters, women glimpse a future of equality - The Washington Post
Columnist| September 27, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. EDT People pass by a mural in the Ciudad Bolívar district of Bogotá, Colombia, in December. (Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images) BOGOTÁ, Colombia — One day in the distant future, caregiving could be as celebrated as carrying a football into an end zone. Rather than toil in the shadows, people who juggle children and aging parents might be applauded for their skills — or stopped on the street by admirers.
Montana climate ruling can be example to world
A decade ago, the idea of young people suing their governments for failing to act on climate change seemed naive. How would they prove in court that planetary warming was harming them or would harm them in the future? Even if they did, could they show that forcing one state to curb greenhouse gas pollution would spare them harm from global climate change?
Young people might be able to use an ancient right to save the climate - The Washington Post
... a clean and healthful environment ... ... a clean and healthful environment ... ... a clean and healthful environment ... and September 1, 2023 at 7:30 a.m. EDT A decade ago, the idea of young people suing their governments for failing to act on climate change seemed naive. How would they prove in court that planetary warming was harming them or would harm them in the future?
Opinion: Teaching the world a better way to age
KYOTO, Japan — If you want a glimpse of the future, go to Japan. Forget the Shinkansen, the high-speed bullet trains that have been around since 1964. And don’t get distracted by the cat cafes or the caregiving robots — solutions to loneliness and labor shortages, respectively, that could have far easier remedies if people were willing to, say, rescue stray animals or open the borders to immigrants.
Japan can teach the world a better way to age
If you want a glimpse of the future, go to Japan. Forget the Shinkansen, the high-speed bullet trains that have been around since 1964. And don’t get distracted by the cat cafes or the caregiving robots — solutions to loneliness and labor shortages, respectively, that could have far easier remedies if people were willing to, say, rescue stray animals or open the borders to immigrants.
Japan can teach the world a better way to care for the elderly - The Washington Post
Columnist| August 15, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EDT A elderly shopper in the Ueno area of Tokyo on July 30. (Shoko Takayasu/Bloomberg) KYOTO, Japan — If you want a glimpse of the future, go to Japan. Forget the Shinkansen, the high-speed bullet trains that have been around since 1964.
Opinion Too many treatable diseases go unnoticed. This could change that. By Bina Venkataraman
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/26/newborn-genetic-screening-preventable-illness-treatments/
Newborn genome screening could save lives and bring thousands of cures - The Washington Post
The day a young boy ends up in the hospital with liver failure is not the best time for his parents to find out they might have prevented the problem by giving him a zinc supplement from an early age. The day a small girl has a seizure that results in irreversible brain damage is the wrong time to learn she has a genetic mutation that, if diagnosed at birth and managed with a high-fat diet, would not have meant lifelong intellectual disability.
Lab-grown chicken raises the question: Is guilt-free meat possible? - The Washington Post
Chicks at a poultry farm in India in June. (Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg News) Opinion Is guilt-free meat possible? July 3, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. EDT Comment on this story Comment If you haven’t noticed, a lot of people have stopped eating octopus. Ask them why, and they’ll talk about the intelligence of cephalopods, perhaps citing a certain documentary popular during the pandemic. I remember a similar trend around the time of the movie “Babe” that prompted a rash of people to stop eating bacon.
Opinion | AI ghosts are coming. But must we perform from beyond the grave?
Opinion AI ghosts are coming. But must we perform from beyond the grave? June 22, 2023 at 7:30 a.m. EDT (Video: Glenn Harvey for The Washington Post) Comment on this story Comment When Tom Hanks recently declared that he expects an AI version of himself to keep performing after his death, the so-called Everyman actor hinted at a future that’s coming for all of us. Hollywood’s special effects and computer-generated imagery have long tricked us into believing in what isn’t real.
The court is right about Google and Twitter. But Congress has to act.
No one in their right mind wants the Islamic State to recruit terrorists or organize deadly attacks via YouTube. This is why it's tempting to decry the Supreme Court rulings on Thursday that absolved Google and Twitter of liability for certain terrorist attacks. But the court was right not to mess up the foundational law of the internet.
In an age of AI and drones, why are land mines still killing?
Vancouver - Last week, the young technology billionaire Alexandr Wang asserted onstage at the annual TED conference that artificial intelligence will dominate the future of warfare. He urged democracies to invest in the next generation of weaponry.
Nikita, the National Zoo's tiger, can show us the future of wild sex - The Washington Post
Opinion What a tiger at the National Zoo can tell us about the future of wild sex April 12, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EDT (Video: Glenn Harvey for The Washington Post) Comment on this story Comment Narrated audio| Listen11 min When I met Nikita, the majestic, golden-eyed female Amur tiger at the National Zoo in D.C., she might have been pregnant. (We should know any day now; her cubs would be due in June.) But she had never had sex with the father-to-be.
What readers tell us they want from social media in the future
Imagination is alive and well - at least outside Silicon Valley. While many people today agree that Facebook and Twitter feel like toxic wastelands, not that many people have ideas for how to fix them. So we recently asked you to envision a better kind of social media in response to an essay I wrote about the momentum that is building to reinvent online communities.
Technology of the future shouldn't trap people in the past
If you are a chain smoker applying for life insurance, you might think it makes sense to be charged a higher premium because your lifestyle raises your risk of dying young. If you have a propensity to rack up speeding tickets and run the occasional red light, you might begrudgingly accept a higher price for auto insurance. But would you think it fair to be denied life insurance based on your Zip code, online shopping behavior or social media posts?
Opinion | A better kind of social media is possible — if we want it
Opinion A better kind of social media is possible — if we want it March 6, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EST (Video: Glenn Harvey for The Washington Post) Comment on this story Comment Talk to almost anyone today about social media, and you’ll hear that it’s toxic. One might diagnose it with having an excess of outrage, another too little free speech. Some bemoan the invasion of privacy, the scourge of lies and hate, the capricious rule of technology titans, the trashing of attention spans.
Opinion | A better kind of social media is possible — if we want it
Opinion A better kind of social media is possible — if we want it March 6, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EST (Video: Glenn Harvey for The Washington Post) Comment on this story Comment Talk to almost anyone today about social media, and you’ll hear that it’s toxic. One might diagnose it with having an excess of outrage, another too little free speech. Some bemoan the invasion of privacy, the scourge of lies and hate, the capricious rule of technology titans, the trashing of attention spans.
Are you for real? The most urgent question with artificial intelligence as a new interlocutor.
PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 26, 2023-- OffWorld is the global pioneer in AI-powered industrial Swarm Robotic Mining systems and they are now taking orders for delivery of multi-species deployments commencing in 2024. The new line of robot species is built for surveying environments (on the surface and deep underground), performing precision excavation, and collecting, hauling, and processing material.
The Science of Life: Past, Present and Future Thoughts (virtual)
Scientists and science writers discuss what it means to be alive in a world where life can be created, is under threat, and is still being discovered.
Specializing in Problems That Only Seem Impossible to Solve (Published 2008)
Dec. 15, 2008 “It’s a little plastic toy,” said Jessica Fridrich, tossing a Rubik’s Cube between her long-fingered hands on a stormy afternoon in her office at Binghamton University, her fingernails painted with a pastel pink gloss. But the little toy, an icon of the era of Pac-Man and high-top sneakers, has made a big comeback. For a thriving subculture of people who try to solve the cube as fast as possible, Dr. Fridrich is a pioneer and a patron saint.
Why you should think about being a good ancestor
Yes, we know it takes plenty of time and energy to be a good person in the here and now. But due to the major threats facing our society and planet, we need to consider our impact on future generations, too. Writer Bina Venkataraman explains why, and she tells us how we can start acting in ways that benefit those to come. We live in a culture that encourages instant gratification, amid markets that turn on quarterly profits.
There are better ways to measure progress
From "The Optimist's Telescope" by Bina Venkataraman. Published by arrangement with Riverhead, a member of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright 2019 by Bina Venkataraman. Caution pays off in the long run for communities that face a high risk of natural hazards.
Bina Venkataraman on thinking ahead in a reckless age
In a talk that draws on her new book The Optimist’s Telescope, Bina Venkataraman, the Director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, illuminates our untapped power to think longer term. To be alive today is to have the power to shape the future in ways unimaginable to previous generations — whether it's engineering the planet’s climate or editing the human genetic code. The stakes are high to think ahead when our attention is focused more on the immediate.
How a simple if/then ritual can help you reach your goals
We all have important things we want to accomplish, but there are so many distractions and stumbling blocks that may get in our way. Here, writer Bina Venkataraman shares a startlingly easy strategy to use to defeat future challenges. Playing poker is like planning for the future in one sense: You're making decisions with limited information, and a lot depends on chance.
Review | Too much data, too little imagination: Why it’s hard to achieve long-term goals
Matthew Hutson is a freelance science writer in New York and the author of “The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking.” We’re swimming in data, and we can’t help but use it. Likes on Facebook measure our social standing, financial indicators slice up company growth, standardized tests track student progress, and smartwatches count our every step. Measurement generally allows for prudent planning, but sometimes it focuses our attention on mere proxies for what we care about.
Challenge for a reckless age: Be better ancestors
The world of the possible Subscribe to Shift Happens The following is adapted from the book The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in A Reckless Age, by Bina Venkataraman. Copyright © 2019 by Bina Venkataraman. Reprinted with the permission of Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Watch Venkataraman’s TED talk on the same topic here. A few years ago, I visited my grandmother in India.
The 2020 Presidential Race Is Suffering From a Lack of Imagination
The 2020 presidential race is suffering from voters’ blinkered focus on the recent past. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Unsplash, Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash, Trifonov_Evgeniy/iStock/Getty Images Plus, and Libby Penner/Unsplash.
Opinion: Why we still need climate optimism
Updated September 16, 2019 4:00 PM On every avenue of public discourse today, there seems to stand a proverbial man with a sandwich board proclaiming, "The End Is Nigh." The latest doomsayer is the novelist Jonathan Franzen, who in the New Yorker last week argued that we should relinquish any hope of stopping climate change and instead turn our attention and investment to preparing for catastrophe.
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