Ann Hoevel: CNN Geek Out Vlog Interview

I met Ann Hoevel a year ago when I attended DragonCon for the first, and last time given what I perceive as its love and tolerance for a bit too alternative of lifestyle that goes beyond what even I will tolerate. The interview she granted was just over 6 minutes and later approved by CNN PR, hence its posting on YouTube and here below.

In short, Ann said her motivation for approaching CNN and starting CNN Geek Out was that journalists didn’t take nerd culture seriously. “We report on the movies that nerd like, and the games that nerds like, and what nerd by, but we don’t ask the question ‘Why?’,” Ann said. She sees Nerds as early adopters of tech. I think I see what Nerds are a different way.

When I was coming up, Nerds were interested in science and science fiction, and their career paths were directed toward something that was scientific. In my case it was the future of cities and city planning, as well as architecture and some engineering – later, system dynamics.

But for the newer generation of Nerds, the focus is new tech, but not an interest in science as much. For Ann the symbol of Nerd world is glasses, whereas for me, who has contact lenses, it was the pocket protector. Ann, who looks like she’s 25, is a bit older, and me at 50, but my friends say really 25 plus 7, so there’s a difference in what we think nerd culture is.

As for CNN Geek Out, I’ve not seen much content since Comic Con 2012, and I noticed that Ann’s writing general news stories, or at least one. That said, CNN Geek Out is still active, thankfully. Here’s the video:

Stay tuned.