Today we’d like to introduce you to Ramesh Srinivasan.
Hi Ramesh, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
There are so many stories to tell! I’ve traveled all over the world since I was in my early 20s and did so also as a youngster with my family. And what I saw and learned through my travels is how kind the vast majority of people in our world are. This drives my writing, speaking, teaching, and advocacy for a digital world that is equitable, just and compassionate – in the image of we the people around the world and our planet. Educationally, I am a split-brain type – very much in the arts and humanities but my degrees were in Engineering; which all together helps me write for the media and academia about the core issues we human beings face today around new technologies and how to ensure that they truly serve us all at this fascinating time. But in many ways the arts (and artists) are my home and community – I have been a DJ for many years dating back to my college days (and do some sets occasionally with LA’s own Dublab), played in quite a few bands, and am a huge fan of the arts of all kinds. I also spend a great deal of time on trails and all around beautiful forests and beaches around California with my dog Viva, who I met in a village outside of Oaxaca, Mexico. I’m also deeply into meditation, Buddhism, tennis and sports.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Struggles and challenges have been my best teachers. And it’s not been easy. But following my heart and spirit, and trusting in myself has really helped me find my ways.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have written dozens of articles for media around the world and do a great deal of outreach with TV/radio/podcasts – from MSNBC to NPR to the Guardian to Wired and the NY Times. I write many articles about the democratic potentials of new technology and how to get us there, about disinformation and the troubling economics and labor issues associated with AI and new technologies, about environmental and climate change issues and their relation to the digital ‘revolution’ and so much more. I also have hosted for The Young Turks my friends here in Los Angeles and was a national surrogate for Sen. Sanders’ national campaign and worked for Biden-Harris’s innovation policy committee. I work also with a number of progressives in Congress and movements all around the world. Whether it’s storytelling, analysis, philosophizing, policy, or more –I try to do everything I can to support our wider public and world so that new technologies serve us all. Not to mention that as a UCLA professor I think it’s so important we truly serve the public interest
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I LOVE the diversity – people from all around the world and the great food, arts, and cultures associated with that. Immigrants are our lifeblood here in LA and I’m grateful to be part of that world, being a first gen/child of immigrant Indian-Americans. But wow I really wish I could get around this city more easily and that it was a bit more compact. And I miss the redwood and other lush forests up further North and in the Pacific NW.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://rameshsrinivasan.org
- Twitter: @rameshmedia
- Youtube: https://www.rameshsrinivasan.org/media
