Alec Foege, “The Tinkerers: The Amateurs, DIYers, and Inventors Who Make America Great”

Summary: In The Tinkerers: The Amateurs, DIYers, and Inventors Who Make America Great (Basic Books, 2013), Alec Foege presents this big idea: tinkering is an important driver of innovation, always has been, and–if we play our cards right–will continue to be so for a long time. Listen to Alec and you will learn what a “tinkerer” is, how tinkering is different from, say, engineering, and the ways in which American corporations are trying to incorporate (pardon the pun) tinkering into their business cultures. We also talk a bit about the cultural significance of Tinker Toys. Listen to the interview; buy the book; tinker away. Who knows what you’ll come up with?