In a career that’s ranged from investigative journalism to travel, Michael has written for National Geographic, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. He’s reported from more than 20 countries and is the author of A Sense of Place, a collection of conversations with the world’s leading travel writers. His most recent book, The Creative Spark, gleans insights from his interviews with luminaries including Smokey Robinson, Amy Tan, Jane Goodall, Francis Coppola, Lucinda Williams and Merle Haggard. The late oral historian Studs Terkel called Michael his rightful successor. Shapiro’s recent Nat Geo stories include a tribute to Welsh writer Jan Morris and a look at how road-building is changing Nepal.