GoKawiilis the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Manoush Zamorodi is an accomplished reporter, podcast host, and author. Her new book, Body Electric, takes a comprehensive look at how technology is impacting our physical health. It’s a collaboration between NPR and Columbia University Medical Center that picks up where her first title, Bored and Brilliant, left off. That book looked at how technology was hampering our mental health. I highly recommend it to anyone who feels like being constantly attached to a device is sapping their energy and creativity.
Both books grew out of her extensive podcasting work. After heading up WNYC’s Note To Self, Zamorodi went on to host NPR’s TED Radio Hour, and even gave a TED Talk of her own in 2017 that has racked up over seven million views. So we wanted to know, how does Manoush stay productive, and what does her current relationship with tech look like?
What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer?
I was a devoted user of Pocket, the app that saves articles to read later, for over a decade, and was devastated when Mozilla shut it down. I’ve been using Matter ever since, and it seems to do the job just as well, if not better (highlighting actually works!), but I’ve noticed I use it more these days as a repository for research that I want to reference later.
What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone?
I realllllly wish that I didn’t have to contort my body to spend time on it. I have a constant low-grade literal pain in my neck that only goes away when I’m off my phone for a full day. That said, I’m so not ready to “upgrade” to Meta glasses or anything on my face just yet.
How many tabs do you have open right now?
37. How embarrassing. They’re mostly Google Docs, Riverside, LinkedIn, email (opened multiple times), scientific articles, and the Amazon rankings for books. I notice that I get annoyed when I can’t find the right tab quickly, so I just open a new one. (Hence, Gmail is open in three places)
... continue reading