Jessica Hilltout was born in Belgium, 1977. She's been travelling ever since. Her parents exposed her to the world and this sparked her fascination with images. As a young woman, she attended Art College in Blackpool, England and later worked briefly (and unhappily) in commercial photography. In 2002 she traveled through Central Asia and Africa photographing the seemingly unimportant, the apparently hidden and finding beauty in both. In 2009, she set out on an adventure to capture the passion of football on the African continent at a grassroots level. Jessica travelled more than 20,000 km across 10 countries, equipped with a Hasselblad, 200 rolls of film, logbook, mini digital camera & digital printer and a stock of deflated footballs to trade for handmade balls. She wanted to speak of the World Cups that are played everyday by teams, friends, communities all over the continent where they are making balls, marking pitches, scoring goals and above all pleasing themselves. This project, AMEN, resulted in a beautiful photographic book, an excerpt in National Geographic, and worldwide exhibitions from 2009 to 2014.
Jessica Hilltout
Amen
Lewis H. Lapham is Editor of Lapham’s Quarterly, a magazine of history and ideas. Formerly Editor of Harper’s, he is the author of numerous books, including Money and Class in America, Theater of War, Gag Rule, and, most recently, Pretensions to Empire. The New York Times has likened him to H. L. Mencken; Vanity Fair has suggested a strong resemblance to Mark Twain; and Tom Wolfe has compared him to Montaigne. A native of San Francisco, Mr. Lapham was educated at Yale and Cambridge.
Lapham's Quarterly
Lewis Lapham on Amazon
Michael Moschen, a juggler without compare, has revolutionized this ancient circus art and turned it into a mesmerizing form of theatre. The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times have called his work "genius," "exhilarating virtuoso entertainment" and "flawless purity." Incorporating the rich beauty of art, science, physics, and mathematics, this MacArthur Fellow has performed both solo and collaboratively with leading artists Off-Broadway, in concert halls, and arts festivals in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Film credits include Hair and Annie. In a work beloved by Moschen aficionados, he also choreographed and performed with crystal balls as David Bowie's hands in the Jim Henson film Labyrinth. Mr. Moschen has lectured on innovation and creativity at such prestigious institutions as Carnegie Mellon, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Lincoln Center Education Program. When not performing, Mr. Moschen is creating.
Michael Moschen
Wall Street Journal
Mike Pesca is the host of the Slate daily podcast “The Gist.” He also contributes reports and commentary to NPR, where he spent ten years as the Sports Correspondent. He has also reported on economics, politics and the arts during his tenure at National Public Radio. Pesca, whose writing has appeared in Slate and the Washington Post, is the winner of the Edward R. Murrow award for best radio feature and the 1993 Emory University Softball official of the year. Mike was the first NPR reporter to have his own podcast, a weekly look at gambling cleverly titled "On Gambling with Mike Pesca." In addition to working on the National Desk at NPR, he filled in as host of “The Bryant Park Project,” “Talk of the Nation,” “On the Media,” “The Brian Lehrer Show,” and “The Leonard Lopate Show.” He first reached the airwaves as a 10-year-old caller to a New York Jets-themed radio show.
Mike Pesca Podcast
Mike Pesca Twitter
Sal Paolantonio has been a national correspondent for ESPN since August 1995, covering the National Football League for SportsCenter, Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, NFL Live and ESPN.com. Paolantonio has also contributed to ABC’s World News Tonight and Good Morning America, and he has hosted ESPN’s NFL Matchup. He is a regular contributor to 97.5 The Fanatic, ESPN’s affiliate in Philadelphia, where he hosts “The Sal Pal Football Hour.” Paolantonio was a political reporter (1985-93), as well as a beat reporter for the Philadelphia Eagles (1993-95), for the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 1994, he won the Associated Press Sports Editors Award for Reporting, and in 1995, he was named Philadelphia’s Best Sportswriter by Philadelphia Magazine. Paolantonio is the author of three books. His latest, How Football Explains America, was published in 2008. In addition to reporting for ESPN, Paolantonio was a professor in the English department at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia from 2002 to 2008, where he taught courses in political, sports journalism and communications.
ESPN MediaZone
Sal Paolantonio's Books on Amazon
Pat Kane is a Glasgow native and the Director of The Play Ethic. He had been exploring this subject in journalism since 1996 - observing the twin developments of the rise of the internet and the rise of New Labour, and wondering how the “new work ethic” promised by Blair and Brown would sit with the “playful interactions” afforded by digital culture. His work culminated in the book The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different Way of Living (2004). He has brought his playful thoughts into the world of commercial, organisational and even political consultancy. Pat was invited to become a Demos Associate in 2000; he was also appointed Visiting Fellow in the School of Management at York University, and became Britain's first-ever 'thinker in residence' at the Bristol Festival of Ideas in 2005. Pat has regularly appeared on Scottish and UK media (Channel Four to Radio Four). He was the presenter and journalist on two BBC Radio Scotland arts and ideas series based in America, and was awarded a 1996 UK Sony Radio Award (Bronze) for Radio Journalism on “Dollar Signs” (1996). He has written for Scotland on Sunday, The Guardian, New Statesman, and Marxism Today, among many other publications. Pat began a weekly op-ed column with the Herald newspaper in Glasgow in 1991, which continued (with a two year break) until the late nineties, exploring politics, culture and technology in Scotland, the UK and globally. Much of this is gathered in Pat's first book, Tinsel Show: Pop, Politics, Scotland (Polygon, 1992). Pat is also a musician with his brother, Gregory, in the band Hue And Cry.
The Play Ethic
Pat Kane's Twitter
Tom Chatfield (@TomChatfield) is a British writer and commentator. The author of five books exploring digital culture – most recently How to Thrive in the Digital Age (Pan Macmillan) and Netymology (Quercus). He also creates and designs content for games, apps and interactive media, including the award-winning game The End. Tom is interested in improving our experiences of digital technology, and in better understanding its use in policy, education and engagement. Past collaborators include Google, the BBC, Channel 4 Education, and Mind Candy. Tom speaks and broadcasts around the world on technology, the arts, and media. Appearances include TED Global and the Cannes Lions Festival; authors@Google; the World Congress on Information Technology; the Houses of Parliament; and Aspen Seminars for Leaders. A launch columnist for the BBC’s worldwide technology site, BBC Future, he writes and commentates widely in the international media, as well as guest lecturing at universities in the UK and Europe. Appearances include BBC One Breakfast, BBC Two Newsnight, BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and the World Service, and others ranging from NPR and ABC to Radio New Zealand. He’s an associate editor at Prospect magazine; a faculty member at London’s School of Life; a past guest faculty member at the Said Business School, Oxford; and a senior expert at the Global Governance Institute.
Tom Chatfield
Tom Chatfield's books on Amazon
Isabel Behncke is a primatologist, and is currently completing her doctorate at Oxford University with Robin Dunbar. She is interested in how our evolutionary past helps us to understand human social behaviour - and whether we can apply this knowledge to current issues that humanity is facing. She is particularly interested in social and behavioral complexity,and in particular the role of bonded relationships in these processes. She uses play behavior - and adult play in particular- as research foci to approach these issues. Isabel grew up in Chile enjoying its mountains and nature. She gained a first class BSc in Zoology and a MSc in Conservation biology from University College London (UCL), after which she worked helping set up private parks in the temperate rainforest of southern Chile. She returned to the UK to earn an MPhil with distinction from Cambridge University in Human Evolution. She co-convened “The Importance of Being Playful'” Minerva conference at Berkeley, and has been invited to speak at several international scientific and public conferences including TED, G20 and Zeitgest Google. She lives in Oxford with her partner, Akila the thieving wolfdog, and Bailey the gentle great dane.
Isabel Behncke
Isabel Behncke on TED Talk
