Shepherd Siegel, PhD is an activist, previous professional rock and jazz musician, and educator in music, career + technical, and special education. His first teaching assignment was with youth in lockup in the County Juvenile Detention Center. Striving to make the greatest positive impact, he earned his doctorate from UC Berkeley while inventing innovative internship programs for troubled and troubling youth, including those with disabilities. Along the way, he played with the jazz trio Swingmatism and the power pop band Thin Ice. While more active as a writer, Dr. Siegel sustains a wide-ranging interest in music. He has written over 30 peer-reviewed and other published journal articles, a textbook that enjoyed two editions (Career Ladders), and the 2018 book Disruptive Play.

Dr. Siegel is uniquely qualified to train his playful lens on politics and culture and tease out the Trickster element as it has shown up, tickled society, and then just as quickly disappeared. His diverse academic background—degrees in music, career + technical, administration and special education, and studies in anthropology—equip his scholarly pursuits. His activism grows out of the new visions forged in the bohemia of the San Francisco Bay Area. His presentations and talks have established him as a reliable and entertaining public intellectual on the subject of tricksters in politics and culture. Born in Chicago, Dr. Siegel has lived the longest in the Bay Area and Seattle, where he now resides.