bonniegrrl | PROGEEK: Xeni Jardin

Photo: Jacob Appelbaum

Awhile back I interviewed BoingBoing co-editor and BoingBoingTV host Xeni Jardin for Geek Monthly magazine. They haven't put the profile up on their blog, so I figured I would here so y'all can read about how rad Xeni truly is!
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PROGEEK: Xeni Jardin
(Geek Monthly magazine: Oct. 2007)

Words: Bonnie Burton

Xeni Jardin (pronounced /SHEH-nee zhar-DAN/) isn't your everyday journalist. She's a blonde bombshell superhero with a Wiki-like-brain full of info on computers, emerging technologies, video games, international politics, space travel and truly bizarre web culture. A technology contributor to National Public Radio's "Day to Day" program, a writer for Wired magazine and a regular tech commentator for news networks like CNN, ABC, and Fox News -- Jardin keeps busy jet-setting across the globe for stories worth reading – all with a geeky-cool twist.

"I just got back from a month in Central America, mostly Guatemala, researching stories about the role technology plays in justice and human rights, in countries where massive human rights violations have occurred during war," Jardin reveals. "Technological change, cultural transformation -- it happens everywhere, in places we think of as exotic, and in places so familiar we take the change for granted. In Guatemala, I've seen 60-year-old Mayan priests getting excited because a grandchild has opened up an Internet cafe in their K'iche village -- 8,000 feet above sea level -- in a place where no one has landline phones and most people earn about a dollar a day, if they're lucky."

Jardin keeps the curious masses informed about unjustly jailed bloggers, scam-baiters turning the tables on cons, anti-piracy efforts at colleges, restrictions of U.S. soldiers' blogs and food hackers whipping up high-tech cuisine.

"I'm a curious person, and I'm easily fascinated by things other people are really, really passionate about," Jardin says. "I may not share their obsessions, but you can feel a sort of click inside, when something's genuine, really real -- that's the stuff I get excited about. My favorite film of all time is Alphaville by Jean-Luc Godard. I love it so much. I also watch a lot of kitsch sci-fi right now, like the Queen of Outer Space with Zsa Zsa Gabor! I'm a huge fan of graphic novels from Warren Ellis, I'm reading his latest book now -- Crooked Little Vein: A Novel. And I have Bill Gibson's new book -- Spook Country -- on my nightstand."

In addition to her work with NPR, Jardin is also one of four co-editors of the popular web-culture blog BoingBoing.net where she dishes out links on everything from steampunk projects to romantic stormtrooper couples. "I met BoingBoing editor Mark Frauenfelder at a dinner party in Los Angeles with a bunch of nerds," Jardin says. "I told him BoingBoing was the coolest blog in the world, and he invited me to do a guest spot in the sidebar. The guest spot ended up becoming just about the biggest, most awesome thing that ever happened in my life."

As a regular blogger on BoingBoing.net, Jardin makes a habit of reporting on the topics that make other journalists more than gun shy. Recently, she blogged about an essayist on BME who revealed that Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove's father was not only gay but also heavily involved in the body modification scene (think body piercings and such).

"Generally, larger news organizations can't touch something like that early in the news cycle, partly because the story is so weird, partly because it involves adult content and strong language," Jardin explains. "They wait to see if another media organization with some credibility will go after it. But this story is a fascinating slice of history, and shows us something about one of the most influential (and in my opinion, interesting) political figures of our time. It wasn't at all a story slamming Karl Rove. It just shows us that he had a really interesting dad, and adds a layer of complexity to what we know."

Before Jardin became a tech celeb, the Virginia native began her wanderlust for travel as she trekked across Mexico and Central America. Eventually, she fell into the dotcom startup melee working as the Supervisor of Enterprise Web Technology at Latham & Watkins, one of the world's largest law firms. The online litigation support projects she directed were cited as industry-leading examples of legal technology.

Later serving as the Vice President of conferences for Rising Tide Studios, the publishing company behind Silicon Alley Reporter and Digital Coast Reporter, among other impressive tech publications, Jardin oversaw the company's annual conference series, which included The Rising Tide Summit hosted by TV journalist Charlie Rose, Silicon Alley 2001, Wireless 2001, The International Network, Internet Healthcare 2001, The Venture Capital Summit, Digital Coast 2000, as well as a series of invite-only CEO gatherings.

Keeping a close eye on Internet trends, fads and faux pas, is a big part of Jardin’s job as a tech pundit. So what is the next big way we use the Interweb with all its tubes and politics?

"I think a lot of that will depend on how open our networks remain," Jardin explains. "If the big cable companies and telcos have their way, a lot will change for the worse. I hope we don't look back on 2007 in 5 years -- on the relative freedom we enjoy online -- as a naive blip in time, like we do when we look back on the Summer of '69."

Following Jardin's many blogs, podcasts, photo galleries and link lists makes you instantly feel like being a sidekick for Indiana Jones or Doctor Who. Not to mention that she’s studied more languages than most people will ever see on IKEA furniture instruction manuals -- including Maohi (Tahitian), K'iche and Kakchikel Maya (Guatemala), Nahuatl (an indigenous language of Mexico), Mandarin Chinese, and Yoruba (Nigeria).

If she's not taking snapshots of girls dancing around gigantic robots at Coachella, she's flying high on Virgin Airline's inaugural domestic launch. Or sleeping in huts in West Africa while investigating their latest tech revolution. Or playing video games with Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton at E3. Or blowing stuff up in the Nevada desert to celebrate the Atomic Age. Or floating around in zero gravity with Dr. Buzz Aldrin, which Jardin describes as "one of those deeply geeky epiphany moments."

One of the more unusual times Jardin was asked to make a TV appearance was on the long-gone Dennis Miller Show. "He kept staring at me like there was something wrong with my head, before we went on air to do the live show," Jardin laughs. "He said I looked like this '80s supermodel who is one of Sylvester Stallone's ex-girlfriends. I was mostly afraid he was going to realize that I was a replicant, and the last damned thing I need is to be busted as a Nexus 6 on live television."

While we may never know of Jardin origins as a robot, it's clear she always soft spot toward this geeky, techie world and all its wonders. "As I was standing inside the backyard observatory my plumber/amateur astronomer grandfather built from scrap metal and junk, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- that's a primordial nerd memory, from when I was a very young child."

Find Jardin online here:
http://xeni.net
http://boingboing.net
http://npr.org/xeni