Author and Journalist
Maggie Jackson is an award-winning author and social critic with a global reach.
Her new book, Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure, explores why we should seek not-knowing in an era of flux and angst. Nominated for a National Book Award and named an Amazon Top New Release, Uncertain was selected as a top book of 2023 and 2024 multiple times, including as one of the 25 best non-fiction titles of 2024 according to the Next Big Idea Club led by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Dan Pink and Adam Grant. Lauded as “surprising and practical” (Gretchen Rubin) and “remarkable and persuasive” (Library Journal), Uncertain has been featured in media worldwide and is set to appear in multiple languages.
Exclusively represented by BrightSight Speakers, Jackson’s renowned book Distracted: Reclaiming our Focus in a World of Lost Attention (2nd Ed., 2018) sparked a global conversation on the costs of fragmenting our attention. Praised as “influential” (The New Yorker) and “essential” (Nicholas Carr), Distracted won the 2020 Dorothy Lee Book Award for excellence in tech criticism and helped inspire Google’s global initiative to promote digital well-being.
A former columnist for The Boston Globe and foreign correspondent for the Associated Press in Europe and Asia, Jackson also has written for the The New York Times and other leading publications around the world. She has appeared widely in the press, including on MSNBC; in The Washington Post and Boston Globe; on NPR’s All Things Considered and On Point shows, and on popular podcasts such as Vox’s Gray Area and Kate Bowler. Jackson has won more than a half-dozen awards for her writings along with numerous fellowships and grants. A high-energy keynote speaker, panelist, and moderator, she has advised leading executives, scientists, educators, and change-makers worldwide.
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General Session Keynote: Maggie Jackson, Author and Journalist
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM CST