Zoe Bachman is an educator, researcher and artist. She is interested in getting people to think more critically about technology’s place in society. She currently works on the Curriculum and Product teams at Codecademy, where she leads curriculum development and product discovery for innovative learning experiences. She is also a founding member of the collective tendernet, whose work explores speculative design, networked devices, and surveillance through an intersectional feminist framework.
Which three books would you recommend?
Pedagogy of the Oppressed Paolo Friere
This book is for anyone interested in education, student or teacher. Friere breaks down the power dynamics commonly found in traditional classrooms and shows how teaching can be a site for collaboration and activism. It completely reshaped how I thought about the practice of teaching and is something I've carried forward throughout my professional journey.
Octavia's Brood Adrienne Marie Brown and Walidah Imarisha
I saw adrienne marie brown talk about this book at Red Emma's in Baltimore shortly after it came out and it completely shifted my thinking as an activist. As an artist and educator doing social justice work, this book showed me how imagination can inspire and drive the difficult work of making political change. Thinking speculatively about how our world can be different helped me see what needs to change in the present.
My Year of Rest and RelaxationOttessa Moshfegh
Reading this book totally blew my mind apart as to what an enjoyable book could be. The main character was so intentionally irritating, yet still managed to be weirdly endearing. The whole premise was wild — what can possibly happen in a book if someone sleeps away an entire year? There's something about Moshfegh's style that's addicting and while this was the first book of her's I read, I'm eager to read everything else she's published.
What is your favourite bookstore or library?
The Greenlight Bookstore on Flatbush Ave — it's my neighborhood bookstore! They've got an amazing book selection from radical presses and employees always ready to help you find your next read.