This October Patchwork Nation Director Dante Chinni spoke at TEDxMidAtlantic 2011. His presentation ‘You Don`t Know America, Or How Community Triumphs Over Soccer Moms and Red and Blue States in the 21st Century U.S.’ explored how the U.S. news media often misunderstand and mischaracterize American communities. 

Chinni talked about how his experience as a reporter travelling to various communities around the country had led him to create Patchwork Nation to gain a more nuanced perspective on the many different kinds of communities and subcultures within the United States. The work led to the creation of this site and the book Our Patchwork Nation..

The project was noticed TEDx organizers who chose Chinni to discuss it at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, DC on October 29. The presentation can be seen in the video below.

Dante Chinni at TEDxMidAtlantic 2011 from Jefferson Institute on Vimeo.

TED conferences bring together the world’s leading thinkers and doers for a series of talks, presentations and performances. Speakers at the at TED events are some of the world’s most fascinating, innovative and influential individuals who are challenged to give “the talk of their life” in 18 minutes or less. The theme of this year’s TEDxMidAtlantic confab was “A Sense of Place.”