Journalist

After interning with NPR’s KQED Forum team, being a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News and other Bay Area publications, I found my niche interviewing celebrities, cultural icons and business people in Silicon Valley for BBC World Service reports and other media.
My interview with Nobel Prize winning Paul Krugman went viral, a BBC report — featuring Adam Grant — on how kindness is contagious was impactful, and my report on planet-friendly food made the homepage of the BBC. But it’s the personal reactions that touch me most. When readers — or listeners — tell me how moved they were by my writing, or that it helped them see the world in a more positive light, that’s what gives me the greatest joy.
I have an MA from Cambridge University in England and a BSc. from Paisley University in Scotland. Here are some of my interviews for the BBC, my interview series Fresh Dialogues, and other outlets:
  • Meryl Streep
  • Richard Branson
  • Martin Sheen
  • Robert Ballard
  • Diane von Furstenberg
  • Jeremy Irons
  • Serah Kahiu
  • Vinod Khosla

Some of my favorite reports and panels:

  • BBC Report on Climate-friendly Zero Motorcycles

    Electric cars have grabbed the headlines, but what about electric motorbikes? Richard Hatfield of Lightning Motorcycles, believes riding his high-performance superbike borders on the divine. “It feels like the hand of God thrusting you up the road,” he says.

  • Solar Impulse

    Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg have a unique plane called the Solar Impulse. It has a wing span of 230 feet and it’s powered entirely by solar panels attached to those wings. They want to prove that this kind of clean technology really can work and help solve our energy problems, so they’re currently flying it right around the world.

  • Talks at Google: Space Ship One

    Alison van Diggelen moderates a lively all-star panel to discuss SpaceShipOne and the birth of private spaceflight. The experts include: veteran technology journalist and author Julian Guthrie; Mike Melvill, the world’s first commercial astronaut; Matt Stinemetze, engineer and project manager on SpaceShipOne; and Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles & Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
  • BBC report on Vertical Farming

    BBC report on Vertical Farming

    Plenty, a Silicon Valley company, plans to revolutionize farming by bringing it indoors and dramatically reducing water use. It has ambitious plans to replicate its warehouse farms in Japan, China and across Europe. BBC Click’s Alison van Diggelen explores: the veracity of its technology; its environmental claims; its use of AI and automation; and how it plans to disrupt the agricultural industry.
  • The Veggie Burger That Bleeds

    The Veggie Burger That Bleeds

    The meat industry is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions and deforestation. But can lab-grown veggie alternatives wean us off our meat addiction? Tech companies are betting on it. Evan McCormack is staring at a big juicy burger at a Silicon Valley cafe. It looks like meat. It smells like meat. It even bleeds like meat. But it’s not.

  • Who Wants to be a Bitcoin Millionaire?

    Bitcoin is the world’s leading virtual currency, but unlike real money, it’s not properly regulated, which makes it attractive to criminals selling drugs, arms and lies. Alison van Diggelen interviews Tim Draper, a major bitcoin booster for the BBC’s Panorama TV show.
  • The Green Economy: Where are the opportunities?

    The Green Economy: Where are the opportunities?

    The green economy is one of the fastest growing economic segments, but where are the jobs and investment opportunities? Alison led a panel discussion with green job experts from Google, SolarCity and others, including Parag Chokshi, VC Josh Green, Linda Keala and Nanci Klein.
  • BBC report re Apple $1 Trillion

    BBC report re Apple $1 Trillion

    In 2018, Apple beat Silicon Valley rivals like Amazon and Microsoft to become the first to hit the $1 trillion valuation. Since the iPhone first went on sale in 2007, Apple shares have soared by 1,100%. Alison reported live on this milestone for the BBC World News.

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