How can people use storytelling technologies (from interviews with elders to new artificial intelligence apps) to build a healthier life during the digital age? 

I'm Laken Brooks, and I was raised by my grandparents in rural Appalachia. My grandfather was a dowser or water-witcher: a person who finds sources of water to dig wells. He didn't graduate from the third grade, but he could read the rolling hills like a book to find streams flowing underground. 

Stories refresh me like a glass of fresh spring water. I'm a dowser of words. 

I study folklore, disability, and digital technologies. My journalistic swim lanes include rural life, healthcare accessibility issues, technology, and arts education.

Read my writing in national outlets like CNN, Forbes, BuzzFeed, Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post, Refinery29, Salon, and more.