Escaping Screens: A Tech-Free Travel Quest, Part II

A stranded American tourist shares the story of a six-month screen-free quest through India and Nepal just as the coronavirus explodes. Part II.

By Tom Grotewohl | August 12, 2020 | Cognition, Culture, Media, Philosophy, Society, Well-Being | Acceptance, Addiction, Art, Awareness, Boredom, Boundaries, Concentration, Conscientious Tech Use, Consciousness, Convenience, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Creativity, Distraction, Dystopia, Electronic Devices, Experience, Food, Ganges, India, Jungle, Localism, Lockdown, Meditation, music, Nature, Nepal, News, Obsession, Pandemic, Peace, Photography, Presence, Renunciation, Ritual, Sacred, Screen Sabbath, Serendipity, Smartphone, Social Media, Spirituality, Superficiality, Tech-Free, Time, Tranquility, travel, Wisdom, Writing

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Escaping Screens: A Tech-Free Travel Quest, Part I

An American tourist stranded in India shares his story: six months traveling without a screen, only to pick one up again just in time for the global meltdown.

By Tom Grotewohl | July 30, 2020 | Cognition, Culture, Media, Philosophy, Society, Well-Being | Acceptance, Addiction, Art, Awareness, Boredom, Boundaries, Concentration, Conscientious Tech Use, Consciousness, Convenience, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Creativity, Distraction, Dystopia, Electronic Devices, Experience, Food, Ganges, India, Jungle, Localism, Lockdown, Meditation, music, Nature, Nepal, News, Obsession, Pandemic, Peace, Photography, Presence, Renunciation, Ritual, Sacred, Screen Sabbath, Serendipity, Smartphone, Social Media, Spirituality, Superficiality, Tech-Free, Time, Tranquility, travel, Wisdom, Writing

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“Billion Dollar Bully” Yelp Keeps Pressure On Businesses

Despite bad publicity and lawsuits, Yelp continues to tank ratings in order to punish those who won’t advertise.

By Art Keller | February 5, 2020 | Advertising, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Food, Law | Advertising, Billion Dollar Bully, Bullying, Communications Decency Act, Conflict of Interest, David Balto, Davide Cerretini, Dining, Documentaries, Eric Goldman, Extortion, Food, FTC, Harvard Business Review, Kaylie Milliken, Levitt v. Yelp, Marketing, Ratings, Restaurants, Reviews, Section 230, Vince Sollitto, Yelp, Yelp Exposed

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Podcast #27: Robert Lustig on Biochemistry and Health

Author and endocrinologist Robert Lustig explains the neurochemical difference between happiness and pleasure and how it’s been exploited to make so many of us fat, addicted, and depressed. Then, he reminds us how to reclaim our health.

By Mo Lotman | February 27, 2019 | Cognition, Environment, Family, Food, Health, Medicine, Neurology, Podcasts, Well-Being | Academia, Addiction, Adolescence, Alcohol, Amino Acids, Aristotle, ATP, Availability, Behavior, Biochemistry, Caffiene, Calories, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, Cavities, Cell Death, Child Development, Chronic Metabolic Disease, Chronic Renal Disease, Clinicians, Cocaine, Computers, Connection, Connectivity, Contentment, Contribute, Coping, Cortisol, Dementia, Dentistry, Depression, Diabetes, Diet, Dieticians, Doctors, Dopamine, Drugs, Dyslipidemia, Endocrinology, Enjoyment, Environment, Exercise, Exposure, Facebook, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Flow, Food, Food System, Fructose, Giving, Glucose, Happiness, Health Care, Heroin, Hypertension, Hypothalamus, Information, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Marketing, Metabolic Syndrome, Metabolism, Mindfulness, Mirror Neurons, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Money, Multitasking, music, Myelin, Neurons, Neurotransmitters, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Obesity, OCD, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Opioids, Peer Pressure, Personal Responsibility, Philanthropy, Pleasure, Polycystic Ovarian Disease, Prefrontal Cortex, Processed Food, Profit, Propaganda, Quantification, Refining, Regulation, Religion, Reward, Sales, Seizures, Seratonin, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, Social Security, Stimulation, Substance Abuse, Substances, Sugar, Suicide, Taking, Taylorism, Technology, Tolerance, Tryptophane, Utilitarianism

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The Problems of Industrial Meat: A Primer

Industrial meat production has extraordinary costs to animal welfare, the environment, and human health. Acknowledging the immorality of these practices gives us an opportunity to align our behavior with our more humane ideals.

By Samantha Maxwell | April 25, 2018 | Agriculture, Environment, Ethics, Food, Health | Antibiotics, Beef, Chicken, Cows, Diabetes, Environment, Factory Farming, Food, Free-Range, Greenhouse Gases, Humane Practices, Hunting, Industrial Agriculture, Industrial Meat, Industrialization, Killing, Meat Production, Mechanization, Methane, Morality, Obesity, Organic, Pigs, Pork, Poultry, Protein, Slaughter, Superbugs

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Podcast #15: David Greenfield on Internet Addiction

Psychiatrist, professor, and author David Greenfield, founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, was one of the first medical professionals to recognize and study the addictive qualities of the Internet. He explains what we know, what it means, and what can be done.

By Mo Lotman | January 17, 2018 | Cognition, Family, Health, Neurology, Podcasts, Psychology, Society, Well-Being | Addiction, Alienation, Behavior, Boot Camps, Boredom, China, Community, Creativity, Detox, Distracted Driving, Dopamine, DSM, Facebook, Food, Gambling, Gaming, Health Care, Heroin, Humanity, Impulse Control, Inequality, Internet, Medicine, Public Space, Self-Medication, Sex, smart phones, Social Disconnection, Social Media, Teens, Unhappiness, Variable Ratio Reinforcement Schedule, Variable Reward, Video Games

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For Yelp, Extortion Has a Starring Role

Yelp uses the power of its rating system to bully small businesses into buying their expensive advertising; if they decline, so do their ratings.

By Art Keller | August 23, 2017 | Advertising, Culture, Economics, Ethics, Food, Law | Advertising, Alia Meddeb, Better Business Bureau, Billion Dollar Bully, Bullying, Dining, Documentaries, Extortion, Food, FTC, Google Reviews, Janie Gilarde, Kaylie Milliken, Marketing, Morocco, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, North African Cuisine, Ratings, Restaurants, Reviews, Rod Brant, Tunisia, Yelp

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Mark Schatzker on Flavor and Food

The Dorito Effect author Mark Schatzker describes what he learned about the relationship between flavor and nutrition, and how the food industry has been leading us astray.

By Art Keller | April 5, 2017 | Agriculture, Food, Genetics, Health, Well-Being | Artificial Flavor, Blandness, Breeding, Carotendoids, Cattle, Chemicals, Chicken, Deliciousness, Doritos, Flavor, Food, Food Science, Garden Gem, Genetic Engineering, Harry Klee, Heirloom Chicken, Heirloom Tomatoes, Industrial Farming, Julia Child, Mark Schatzker, Natural Flavor, Nutrition, Obesity, Omega-3, Strawberries, Supermarkets, Taste, The Dorito Effect, Tomatoes, Vitamins

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