Gordon Laird is the bestselling author of Power and Slumming It at the Rodeo. His writing and commentary have been featured on CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC, The Walrus, Report on Business, Mother Jones, The Huffington Post, Maclean's, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, CBC Radio, and CBC Newsworld. He is the winner of several National Magazine Awards, including top honours for Investigative Journalism and One-of-a-Kind Writing. 

Laird's most recent book, The Price of a Bargain, was published in fall 2009 (press and reviews here). Now in paperback with a revised introduction, The Price of a Bargain explores America's faltering future, China's rise, and the tricky fate of a global economy hooked on affordable consumerism. Translations are being published published in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and mainland China during 2011-2012. 

Named “one of the best and best-informed minds in the world” by The Globe and Mail, Laird speaks to a diverse range of audiences on everything from consumer culture to climate change. As an author, his recent literary appearances include: The Ottawa International Writer’s Festival, Edmonton’s LitFest Non-Fiction festival, Different Drummer Book Series, and the Pages Calgary speaking series.

Laird has also been been active in culture, economics, and social policy research, and he has presented his work to to the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network, the Rotman School of Business, University of Calgary Law School, Simon Fraser University, the Wellesley Institute, the Parkland Institute, and the Canadian Solar Power Association, as well as the Politics and Theory Lecture Series at the University of Alberta. Laird served as 2003-2004 Media Fellow for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, with whom he continues to collaborate, work that included a cross-Canada speaking tour in 2007-2008 to share his research on poverty and homelessness.

Laird's 2003 book, Power: Journeys Across an Energy Nation, included early reporting on the effects of climate change in the arctic, and the global emergence of Canada's oil sands. Power was cited as a Globe and Mail top 100 book for 2003. Laird's book credits also include anthologies such as Food and Fuel (2008) and Return of the Trojan Horse (2005). 

Laird lives next to the Rocky Mountains in Calgary, Canada. He also serves as a board member and volunteer at Jamie's Preschool, one of North America's first preschools for cancer kids and their siblings.