(USA, 1968) writes on design, technology, science, and culture, among other subjects, for many publications, including Wired, Slate, The London Review of Books, Gourmet, The Wall Street Journal, Men's Vogue, Artforum, Travel and Leisure, Rolling Stone, The New York TimesMagazine, Cabinet, Metropolis, and Popular Science. His most recent book is the New York Times bestseller Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) (Knopf, 2008). He is also the author of two previous books: Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002), and offbeat architectural travelogue of the nation’s secret Cold War past; and The Sneaker Book (The New Press, 1998), a cultural history of the athletic shoe (published in Italian and Swedish editions). He has given lectures at colleges and business conferences, and has appeared on a wide variety of radio and television programs around the world.