TED Community » Magda Rittenhouse

Sign in to send Magda an email »

About Me

Magda Rittenhouse covers US politics, culture and society for one of the oldest weeklies in her native Poland. She has worked as a journalist for several news organizations including BBC World Service in London and the Associated Press in Warsaw (back in the days when it relied on a mysterious network of telexes and telegraphs!). She is a TED translator, an avid photographer and a cello mom. Her book of essays about New York City -- spanning from the voyage of Henry Hudson to the LED spectaculars of Times Square -- is to be published by Poland's Czarne in 2013. She lives in Princeton with her husband David and daughter Helenka.

Location:
United States, Princeton, NJ
Current organization:
Tygodnik Powszechny
Past organizations:
BBC World Service, Associated Press
Current role:
journalist (print)
Gender:
Female
I am:
Brainstormer, Christian, Concerned citizen, Foodie, Global soul, Journalist, Parent, Photographer, Writer/Editor
My website links:
Garage full of ideas - story I wrote about TED (in Polish), Spa for your brain - TEDActive 2012
Universities:
University of Warsaw, Poland, University of Colorado Boulder
TED conferences attended:
TEDActive 2012
Member Picture Member Picture

TEDCRED 100+ TED AttendeeTED TranslatorAssociate

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Cities, urban planning, architecture; photography; media, technology and how people use them

An idea worth spreading

Each person we encounter has their strengths and weaknesses. It's good to focus on the former and work around the latter.

Talk to me about

Ian McEwan, Renzo Piano, Dorothea Lange, Alexander Calder, Frederic Olmsted; all things New York; how to grow roses; how to make creme brulee; how to have fun with a five-year-old...

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +161.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • +1

    A comment on Conversation: Is capitalism sustainable?

    Feb 27 2013: It seems to me that the question you are posing Luke (and really glad you turned our short exchange in the chat room into this conversation) has more to do with equality and the distribution of wealth, rather than the eradication of poverty. I doubt anybody would dispute that factories, farms (and plumbing!) will always be needed, despite various technological breakthroughs (even though the number of hours we have to toil in them might decrease). Poverty is always relative. Income disparity – the distance between those who sweat on a farm and those who work in a lab or a bank – is not.

    This distance, especially in the western world, has increased expotentially over the last few decades. In 1968 CEO of GM took home about 66 times the amount paid to a typical GM worker; today the CEO of Wall Mart earns 900 times the wages of his average employee. The wealth of Wal-Mart founders ($90 bln) is estimated at about the same as the bottom 40 % of the US population (120 mln people). To me, this seems unsustainable. Nathan Garfinkle („The Gospel of Wealth”) and late Tony Judt („Ill Fares the Land”) are among my favorite authors who have written about the issue perceptively, discussing how it correlates with all sorts of social problems (mental illness, crime, corruption, health problems, etc).

    In plainer terms, one could say that it is the question of dignity, and hope. If someone toiling in a factory or on a farm, feels his work is not being appreciated (and it is hard to feel otherwise if your income is so miniscule relative to someone working in a bank let’s say), and if they feel there is no prospect of their children „moving up” something is bound to happen... Or not?

    Capitalism and free market have a lot of potential for self-correction? One would want to think, that with a system of checks and balances they can work well (create possibilities for people to move up)? Or is it wishful thinking? (I also love dr Sivaram Hariharan’s liver/glycogen comparison!)

  • A comment on Talk: Chip Kidd: Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is.

    Apr 5 2012: Mr Sensible Shoe! GENIUS!
  • +2

    A comment on Conversation: What's the best hidden gem in the TED archive?

    Feb 16 2011: Majora Carter -- for being so strong and so beautiful and so inspiring!! I've listened to her first TED talk about 100 times and every time I do, it still sends shivers down my spine:

    http://www.ted.com/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html
  • +2

    A comment on Talk: Natalie Merchant sings old poems to life

    Apr 9 2010: i should be working right now, but just can't force myself to turn her off....

  • A comment on Talk: Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish

    Mar 11 2010: Let's call him Dan (aka self-righteous goodie-two-shoes-foodie). He is GREAT!

Favorite talksSee all »