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Body Electric

Body Electric

NPR

Our bodies are adapting and changing to meet the demands of the Information Age. What is happening? And what can we do about it? This six-part series is an interactive investigation into the relationship between our technology and our bodies...and how we can fix it.
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Top 10 Body Electric Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Body Electric episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Body Electric for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Body Electric episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Many of us wear earbuds for hours at a time, sometimes all day long, and all that listening is taking a toll on our hearing. This episode, host Manoush Zomorodi investigates our headphone habits. She speaks with exposure scientist Rick Neitzel, who has partnered with Apple to create a first-of-its-kind study into how our daily sound exposure and listening patterns are affecting our hearing. Neitzel offers advice on safe listening habits that can help protect our ears in the long term.
Later, Manoush takes us into the future of "consumer hearables" and how tech companies want us to never — ever— take our earbuds out.
Interested in joining the Apple Hearing Study? Sign up here.
Binge the whole Body Electric series
here.Sign up for the Body Electric Challenge and our newsletter here.
Talk to us on
Instagram @ManoushZ, or record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected].
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Body Electric - Part 1: The Body Through The Ages
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11/17/23 • 28 min

In this special series, host Manoush Zomorodi investigates the relationship between our technology and our bodies and asks: How are we physically adapting to meet the demands of the Information Age? Why do so many of us feel utterly drained after a day spent attached to our devices?
Part one kicks off with an exploration into how economic eras have shaped the human body in the past with author Vybarr Cregan-Reid. Then, Columbia University researcher and exercise physiologist Keith Diaz and Manoush discuss his findings and propose a challenge to listeners: Let's see if we can end this cycle of type, tap, collapse together.
Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric
Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ, or record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected].
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
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Body Electric - What is Body Electric?
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11/16/23 • 2 min

On Body Electric, host Manoush Zomorodi investigates the relationship between our technology and our bodies... and she has a challenge for YOU.
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Body Electric - Part 5: The Mind-Body-Tech Connection
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11/17/23 • 26 min

In part five: host Manoush Zomorodi investigates what information overload does to our physical and mental health. Could our tech use be interfering with the critical dialogue that takes place between the body and the brain? Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Sahib Khalsa shares his latest research on interoception — the brain's ability to sense how the body is feeling — and how finding time to unplug from our devices can help us tune into our body's natural signals.
Also in this episode: neurologist Caroline Olvera takes us inside the "TikTok tics" outbreak — exploring why thousands of teens developed Tourette's-like symptoms after watching TikTok videos in 2021. Plus, how a school in Washington, DC helps kids stay connected to their bodies by creating a high-movement, low-tech environment.
Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric
We'd love to hear from you. Send us a voice memo at [email protected]. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Do you have "screen apnea"? Former Microsoft executive Linda Stone coined this term around 2007 after noticing she'd developed an unhealthy habit while answering emails: She held her breath. On this episode, she tells host Manoush Zomorodi how she tested her friends and colleagues for screen apnea and what she has done since.
Then, Manoush talks to the bestselling author of Breath, science writer James Nestor, who explains how shallow breathing impacts our physical and mental health. He takes us through a simple exercise to "reset" our breath and relieve screen time stress.
Binge the whole Body Electric series here.
Sign up for the Body Electric Challenge and our newsletter here.
Talk to us on
Instagram @manoushz, or record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected].
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
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Body Electric - What Zoom Does To Our Brains
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01/08/24 • 11 min

We've all heard of "Zoom fatigue"—that feeling of depletion and exhaustion after a long video call. New findings explain what video calls do to our brains and why they leave us feeling drained. Host Manoush Zomorodi speaks with researcher Gernot Müller-Putz about the latest findings and tips for preventing Zoom fatigue.
Click here to join the Body Electric challenge: npr.org/bodyelectric
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Body Electric - Part 2: When Human Met Desk
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11/17/23 • 23 min

In part two: host Manoush Zomorodi delves into how we met and fell hard for the personal computer—and why we continue to have this committed, yet tortuous relationship. We hear from historian Laine Nooney on how the computer revolution forever changed the way we use our bodies at work, at school and at home.
Manoush also visits the Exercise Testing Laboratory at Columbia University Medical Center where researchers collect data on how her body responds to a day of sitting compared to a day of constant movement breaks.
Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric
We'd love to hear from you. Send us a voice memo at [email protected]. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy

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Body Electric - Part 4: Below the Belt
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11/17/23 • 24 min

In part four: host Manoush Zomorodi explores the connection between our posture and our mood. A lot of us associate our neck and back pain with spending hours hunched over our phones and laptops. But what if that hunched posture is also making us feel tired, stressed, and anxious? Neuroscientist Peter Strick discusses his groundbreaking research on why exercising our core muscles lowers our stress.
Also in this episode: how a faulty, incorrect study went viral — claiming smartphones were causing people to grow horns on their backs. Science journalist Nsikan Akpan sets the record straight. Later, writer Paul Ingraham shares his daily strategy for doing movement snacks and strength building while balancing deadlines.
Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric
We'd love to hear from you. Send us a voice memo at [email protected]. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy

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Body Electric - Part 3: Why Our Eyes Are Elongating
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11/17/23 • 24 min

In part three: host Manoush Zomorodi explores how our tech habits are causing our eyes to change shape—to elongate—which causes nearsightedness. She investigates why rates of myopia among kids are soaring. She also speaks with Maria Liu, an optometrist with a quest to slow down the progression of myopia in children by opening the first ever myopia control clinic in the United States.
Later in the episode, we hear from a team of employees who tried incorporating "movement snacks" into their days for one week.
Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric
We'd love to hear from you. Send us a voice memo at [email protected]. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy

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Body Electric - Part 6: Walk Into The Future
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11/17/23 • 33 min

In part six: host Manoush Zomorodi digs into the preliminary results of the listener study with Columbia University researcher Keith Diaz. He shares the surprising — and encouraging — initial findings from more than 20,000 listeners who tried to incorporate movement breaks into their day.
Also on this episode, listener Dana Lopez Maile describes how the study was a "game changer" for her health. Yiliu Shen-Burke, founder of the augmented reality app SoftSpace, explains his vision of augmented reality. Finally, Manoush explores the future of screen time in a new era of artificial intelligence, and the inextricable convergence of humans and machines.
Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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FAQ

How many episodes does Body Electric have?

Body Electric currently has 24 episodes available.

What topics does Body Electric cover?

The podcast is about Health & Fitness, Podcasts and Science.

What is the most popular episode on Body Electric?

The episode title 'Your earbuds and you: What all that listening is doing to us' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Body Electric?

The average episode length on Body Electric is 17 minutes.

How often are episodes of Body Electric released?

Episodes of Body Electric are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Body Electric?

The first episode of Body Electric was released on Nov 16, 2023.

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