Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Repair, Repurpose, Reimagine.

Manufacturers intentionally make their products hard to fix. Right-to-repair advocate Gay Gordon-Byrne fights for laws to stop companies from monopolizing repairs and let people fix their own stuff.

About Gay Gordon-Byrne

Gay Gordon-Byrne is executive director of The Repair Association, a role she's held since it was founded in 2013. The trade association's goal is to advocate for repair-friendly policies, regulations, and standards at national, state, and local levels.

The association has brought about legislation in over 30 states and pushed for improvements to copyright law. Currently, the group is working with state and federal legislators to pass "Right to Repair" bills.

Gordon-Byrne earned her bachelor's degree from Colgate University. She's author of the book Buying, Supporting, Maintaining Software and Equipment: An IT Manager's Guide to Controlling the Product Lifecycle.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Fiona Geiran and James Delahoussaye and edited by Katie Simon. You can follow us on Twitter @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadio@npr.org.

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