Amanda Ripley is a writer and a senior fellow at the Emerson Collective. She is the author, most recently, of The Smartest Kids in the World--and How They Got That Way, a New York Times bestseller about what it's like to be a teenager in the world's education superpowers. Her first book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes--and Why, was published in 15 countries and turned into a PBS documentary.

In her books and magazine writing, Amanda explores the gap between public policy and human behavior. For Time, The Atlantic and The New York Times, she has written stories on drones, U.S. soccer, the upside to teenage defiance and the college dreams of Starbucks baristas. Her work has helped Time win two National Magazine Awards.