Steve Henn
Steve Henn is NPR's technology correspondent based in Menlo Park, California, who is currently on assignment with Planet Money. An award winning journalist, he now covers the intersection of technology and modern life - exploring how digital innovations are changing the way we interact with people we love, the institutions we depend on and the world around us. In 2012 he came frighteningly close to crashing one of the first Tesla sedans ever made. He has taken a ride in a self-driving car, and flown a drone around Stanford's campus with a legal expert on privacy and robotics.
But Steve's favorite technology stories are the ones that explain how little-understood innovations can change the way millions of us behave. Why do people buy cows in Farmville? Why are video games so compelling and why do some people have such a hard time setting Twitter aside? He is fascinated by how digital companies attempt to mold our behavior and study our every move in a world where we are constantly interacting with connected devices.
Prior to moving to Silicon Valley in 2010, Steve covered a wide range of topics for the public radio show Marketplace. His reporting kicked off the congressional travel scandals in late 2004, and helped expose the role of private military contractors at Abu Ghraib.
At Marketplace, Henn helped establish collaborations with the Center for Public Integrity and the Medill's School of Journalism.
Steve spent his early life on a farm in Iowa where his parents, who are biochemists, hoped to raise all their own food and become energy self-sufficient. It didn't work. During college Steve hoped to drop out and support himself by working in the fishing industry in Alaska. That also didn't work. After college he biked around the country with his sweetheart, Emily Johnson. He then followed Emily to Africa, volunteering at Soweto Community Radio. That did work out. He and Emily are now happily married with three daughters.
Steve graduated from Wesleyan University's College of Social Studies with honors and Columbia University's Graduate school of Journalism.
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The quest for cheap, reliable electricity to power enormous cloud computing facilities is sending tech companies to the ends of the earth. -
A bug called Heartbleed has revealed a hole in one of the most popular encryption programs online. Tech professionals are working on other ways to protect your data beside needing a password.
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As companies scramble to patch a bug that exposed much of the Internet for two years, you can protect yourself by practicing some good Web hygiene. -
A bug has been discovered in one of the Internet's principal encryption programs. The bug enables attackers to evade security and eavesdrop on information supplied to companies online by users.
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Over the past few months, the country's biggest technology firms have spent billions buying startups like WhatsApp and Nest. That has analysts wondering if another tech bubble is about to burst. -
On the eve of the next trial in the continuing patent war between Apple and Samsung, one of the iPhone's original designers is speaking out publicly for the first time. -
The price and difficulty of building robots has fallen, and Google has scooped a half-dozen robotics firms. It's a safe bet that bots will be an increasing part of our workplaces and daily lives. -
Bitcoin's growth was built on the idea it was a currency of the people, unattached to any central bank or regulating authority. But a major theft has put that vision to a tough test.
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After a long and closely watched CEO search, Microsoft has tapped Satya Nadella, an insider and 22-year veteran of the company. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is stepping down as chairman and will help Nadella shape technology and product development.
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In Silicon Valley, zero profit and even zero revenue don't make a company a loser. Tech companies like Snapchat and Twitter, which have not yet turned any profit, can be worth billions of dollars based on future potential alone.
