This week on Binchtopia, Eliza returns from her off-grid era to dive into the history and evolution of body technology, from ancient tracking rituals to Silicon Valley’s quantified self movement. The girlies break down Fitbits, Oura Rings, Prenuvo scans, and sleep apps to examine how our obsession with optimizing the body blurs the line between health, surveillance, and control. Digressions include Taylor Swift’s public clowning, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B beefing with each other’s kids, and the biological necessity of annihilation anxiety.

This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette.

SOURCES

A Panopticon on My Wrist: The Biopower of Big Data Visualization for Wearables

Beyond Human: Lifelogging and Life Extension 

Denial of Death by Ernest Becker

Effectiveness of wearable activity trackers to increase physical activity and improve health: a systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses 

Exploring the impact of commercial wearable activity trackers on body awareness and body representations: A mixed-methods study on self-tracking 

Full-body MRIs: Peace of mind for some, "bane of my existence" for others 

Health Wearables, Gamification, and Healthful Activity 

I covered my body in health trackers for 6 months. It ruined my life. 

Interventions Using Wearable Activity Trackers to Improve Patient Physical Activity and Other Outcomes in Adults Who Are Hospitalized 

Know Thyself: Tracking Every Facet of Life, from Sleep to Mood to Pain, 24/7/365 

Memex: A Romantic Theoretical Tool for Thought 

Orthosomnia: Are Some Patients Taking the Quantified Self Too Far? 

Perceptions of Wearable Health Tools Post the COVID-19 Emergency in Low-Income Latin Communities: Qualitative Study 

Prevalence of Orthosomnia in a General Population Sample: A Cross-Sectional Study 

Ring of power: Oura will soon be worth $11b 

Self-Tracking by Gina Neff & Dawn Nafus

Terror Management Theory

The double-edged sword of self-tracking: investigating factors of technostress in performance-oriented cycling and triathlon 

The Quantified Self by Deborah Lupton The Rise of Wearable Devices during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review  

Wearable Devices Can Increase Health Anxiety. Could They Adversely Affect Health? 

Wearable Devices to Improve Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Behaviour: An Umbrella Review 

Wearable systems without experiential disruptions: exploring the impact of device feedback changes on explicit awareness, physiological synchrony, sense of agency, and device-body ownership 

White Noise by Don Delillo

Will a Full-Body MRI Scan Help You or Hurt You?