Body Electric Part 2: When Human Met Desk

TED Radio Hour

NPR

Social Sciences, Science, Society & Culture, Technology

4.3 • 21.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2023

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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

Are you signed up for Columbia's study, or following along with the series? We want to hear your thoughts! Send us a voice memo at bodyelectric@npr.org. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ, and on Facebook @tedradiohour.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR, sponsor Honeywell, helping meet your sustainability goals with
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0:09.2	are in the journey.
0:10.5	Learn more at Honeywell.com slash NPR.
0:14.5	Hello and welcome to episode two of Body Electric.
0:20.7	So I recently participated in a lab study that required me to sit for eight hours straight
0:28.4	working on my laptop.
0:30.7	Yeah, just another day at the office for a lot of us.
0:33.3	I'm going to be sitting for the entirety of your visit.
0:36.0	But what was different about this was that while I was working,
0:40.0	those Columbia University researchers you met in episode one,
0:44.4	were monitoring my every move.
0:47.0	Well, not just my movements, also my heart rate.
0:50.6	Right above your diaphragm.
0:52.0	Glucose levels, blood pressure.
0:55.4	And I was super curious.
0:58.3	What was happening inside my body while I sat on my butt for all that time?
1:04.6	Because I have been trying to get off of it a lot more over the past couple of years.
1:09.9	Like a lot of people, I have struggled with my workout routine.
1:14.5	I used to go to the gym in the mornings, kill it at boot camp,
1:18.8	and then sit for eight hours straight at my desk.
1:22.3	But when the pandemic happened, I just started walking a lot.
	...

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