![]() His landlord asked Chao to tutor his son in algebra. And while he was out of work and freelancing as a computer programmer to pay the bills, a bit of serendipity happened. ![]() Robin Chenoweth : Losing his job allowed him the space to imagine the possibility of change. How is this actually making the world a better place? How is this supporting and connecting with the people who, you know, really need and deserve the love that government or society is not giving them? Theodore Chao: But, I really questioned what it was all worth, after 9/11 happened. I mean there's a lot of fun in that there was a lot of attention in being involved in media and being, you know, involved in a sexy new company, in a website that was trying to cater to youth culture. But for me, particularly in that it shut down the company and it really forced me to think about what I was doing. I think that one was definitely heavy for a lot of us, right? That that one had a big impact. Theodore Chao: I think a lot about days that had a major impact on my life. 9/11 drew a line in the sand for Teddy Chao. Robin Chenoweth: This is Ohio State’s Inspire Podcast, a production of the College of Education and Human Ecology. Suddenly change was not a choice anymore. And though circumstances were very different than they are in 2020, the national crisis then had a similar effect on him as events lately have had on people in America. The dotcom’s venture capitalist pulled out and Chao’s job went up in smoke. 9/11 wreaked havoc on New York City and on the economy. Robin Chenoweth: One day was a disruptor and a game changer for Teddy Chao. And then I was constantly, going from upstairs to downstairs where I could see on the TV, what was going on. Because it was such a tall set of towers across the river, I saw it all happen. We could even see the building the World Trade Center. I remember going to my roof and being able to see the smoke coming out. Theodore Chao: We were living in Brooklyn right across the river from downtown. Robin Chenoweth: He switched on the set and then climbed the steps to his apartment roof. Theodore Chao: And so, I still remember specifically my roommate coming in and saying, ‘Hey man, you should turn the TV on. Everything was going swimmingly, until one morning when his roommate jostled him awake. Chao went to Amsterdam to help film the Cannabis Cup - what Chao calls the Oscars of the marijuana industry - and around the United States, marketing to college youth culture. Robin Chenoweth: It was fun work for a guy just out of college. Theodore Chao: We were building video codex so that people could watch video online and things that we take for granted today with YouTube or Vimeo or other streaming services of just being a watch video and then going to the next video and categorizing videos and making videos - these are all things that I remember having to build from scratch years ago, because there wasn't anything like it. Robin Chenoweth: Sounds familiar, right? Remember this was four years before YouTube was created, and six years before the release of the iPhone. Theodore Chao: The basis was, if you give cameras to youth oriented groups, break dancers, BMX bicyclers, people who do, improv comedy and you allow them to just sort of film, a lot of their skits and things they do, and then we hire a team editors cut them into bite sized chunks and you put this content online you get these small snippets of what life is like in these subcultures that might not often get a lot of attention. Years before he became an Ohio State researcher unraveling how to make mathematics accessible to kids, he was a new Johns Hopkins graduate, 22 years old and flying high, making a boatload of money at a dotcom start up in New York City. It happened to Theodore Chao, back in 2001. They are figuring out what they stand for.That reboot of values might occur at several points during our lives. During natural disasters, people step into new roles as protectors, defenders.Īnd during times like we’ve experienced lately, of social unrest and isolation due to coronavirus, some people have done a hard reset on what’s important in their lives. Research shows that divorces spike in the aftermath of war. Robin Chenoweth: In times of crisis, people take stock of what is valuable to them.
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