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alisonprato

Brooklyn, NY, United States

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Alison Prato writes about popular culture, entertainment, current events, fashion and more--specializing in profiles of celebrities, innovators, thinkers, and doers. She has written for everyone from Playboy to New York to Harper's Bazaar.

Stories by alisonprato:

One mother’s nightly learning ritual with her son

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One mother’s nightly learning ritual with her son

on

Erin Freschi, a California mom who has worked in education for nearly 25 years, has a nightly ritual with her 8-year-old son, Sawyer. Instead of bedtime stories or songs, Freschi and her son wind down by watching TED Talks. The name of their unique ritual? TED Before Bed. “It started when Sawyer was in first []

My City: Life as a blind architect in San Francisco

Ideas

My City: Life as a blind architect in San Francisco

on

On St. Patrick’s Day in 2008, Chris Downey, an architect, planner and consultant who lives in Piedmont, California, some 10 miles east of San Francisco, reported to the hospital for surgery to remove a brain tumor. The procedure was a success. But two days later, his sight started to fail. On the third day, it []

Christchurch in pictures: Life after a devastating earthquake

Gallery

Christchurch in pictures: Life after a devastating earthquake

on

Christchurch-based Danny Squires is director of Space Craft Systems and co-founder of WikiHouse/NZ, a global  project aiming to make it possible for anyone to design, download and “print” houses. Squires was going about his daily business in Christchurch on February 22, 2011, when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake ripped through the city, causing horrific damage and killing []

My City: An artist spray-paints Cairo’s uncertain future

Ideas

My City: An artist spray-paints Cairo’s uncertain future

on

Early one morning, hours before the sun would rise, Lebanese-Egyptian artist, activist and historian Bahia Shehab was alone on the streets of Cairo, spray-painting a stenciled message that spoke out against the stripping of veiled women. It’s a campaign she discussed in “A thousand times no,” her inspiring TED Talk, and it was not only []

Adelaide, Australia, in pictures: Jason Sweeney shares his favorite sights (and sounds)

Gallery

Adelaide, Australia, in pictures: Jason Sweeney shares his favorite sights (and sounds)

on

As part of this TED profile, we asked Jason Sweeney to make audio recordings at his favorite places in his home city of Adelaide, Australia. Here, hear the sounds of the city — and enjoy the accompanying photographs, shot by Kristin Alford, with commentary by Sweeney.  [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/112426817″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Read []

My City: sound artist Jason Sweeney on life in Adelaide

Ideas

My City: sound artist Jason Sweeney on life in Adelaide

on

Jason Sweeney lives and works in Adelaide, Australia, a city he describes as “a prototype for what a developed city in the western world could be like.” Here, he describes his life in the city. Also, see and hear his favorite Adelaideian spots in the photoessay by Kristin Alford, accompanied by audio snippets of the []

My City: Trash anthropologist Robin Nagle talks New York City garbage

Ideas

My City: Trash anthropologist Robin Nagle talks New York City garbage

on

In the first of a series of city-related articles, we profile Robin Nagle, anthropologist-in-residence at the Department of Sanitation and long-time resident of New York City. She describes a life dedicated to, well, trash, and documents some of her favorite locations throughout the American city’s boroughs, captured in an accompanying photoessay by Ryan Lash. In []