Note To Self

There are a lot of tools out there that claim to train—even change—your brain. So do they work? We put them to the test and things get... interesting.

If your phone was stolen, you'd most likely be concerned that the thief would now have access to your bank account...and your vacation photos. But what if the thief was the government?

What happens when we start thinking of ourselves as walking, breathing, calorie-consuming piles of data? We asked hundreds of people to weigh in (figuratively speaking).

Douglas Rushkoff, author of "Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus," argues that our fixation on "growth" has made us less financially secure, with big consequences for our communities.

As promised! The time has come to talk about sex. Or, rather, to swipe about sex. 

How much would it take for someone to hack YOUR life? And really, how worried do you actually need to be? This is what happened when Fusion's Kevin Roose asked some of the best hackers in the world to have at him. 

We tried using apps to stop sugar cravings. It... didn't work. Now, we want to hear your stories.

What we learned through a week of experimenting with information overload interventions.

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Discuss something you’ve heard, read, or watched with someone for at least seven minutes, by phone or in person. Social psychologist Sherry Turkle explains why and how. More details here: http://wny.cc/XUksG

Your third challenge: Avoid a trending topic, or “must read” today. Consume only what's valuable to you. Issued by Cates Holderness, who launched The Dress meme, and Ann Blair, historian of information overload. More instructions here: http://wny.cc/XOEXS

Tidy up your apps and transform your phone into a portal of wisdom. Brought to you by "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" author Marie Kondo herself. More information here: http://wny.cc/XPaMH 

No multi-tasking today. Work on one thing at a time, and give each task your full focus. For more information: http://wny.cc/XLutv 

All of the information you need about information overload. Sign up for Note to Self's Infomagical project at wnyc.org/infomagical!

Caterina Fake (the person who popularized the term "FOMO") talks with Anil Dash (the person who coined the term "JOMO"). Turns out, they're good friends.

Two Dots game director David Hohusen on what it's like to balance "caring about users' well-being" with "designing an addictive game." The brave man came back!

If you had to guess, how many facts have you taken in today? Dr. Daniel Levitin says it's probably way too many to process.

Love it or hate it, there's at least one important thing only voicemail can do. A reprise of one of our favorite episodes from 2015.

Your kid's seven new LEGO kits really do matter for the future of creative thinking.

Caitlin Dewey, one of our favorite technology and culture critics/newsletter curators, picked five stories of the year for your listening (and actually relaxing into the idea that we don't REALLY have to care about EVERYTHING) pleasure.