Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and the New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being

About this book

From the award-winning journalist and TED Radio Hour host comes a timely investigation into how screens and sitting are reshaping our bodies—and how a simple shift can change everything. In today’s world, a normal day means sitting in front of a screen for eight to ten hours. Meeting after meeting. Email after email. We leave our desks drained, overstimulated and unfocused, only to go home, sit down again, and scroll some more. The result? Headaches, back pain, restless sleep, and rising rates of preventable disease. We know technology is breaking us down—so why can’t we break away? It’s a question that Manoush Zomorodi has always wanted to answer. As the host of the TED Radio Hour, she has interviewed experts, conducted citizen experiments, and sought out research about how our digital lives are changing the way we think, learn, and feel. Now, in Body Electric, she presents an eye-opening investigation into the impact technology and sedentary living has had on our bodies and brains, from breath and eyesight to blood pressure, posture, and productivity, and shares what science (and tens of thousands of participants in a groundbreaking study with Columbia University Medical Center) have taught her—it’s the small shifts, not the digital detoxes, that will make us healthier. Filled with perspective-shifting data and real-life applications and tools, Body Electric is the next must-listen for fans of Four Thousand Weeks and The Anxious Generation, and anyone feeling trapped by their technology.