WNYC’s New Tech City Launches “Bored And Brilliant”

(New York, NY – January 8, 2015) — With the New Year comes new resolutions, and a digital detox should be at the top of the list. While many people have developed an near-addiction for reaching for their smartphone while waiting in line or walking to work, studies have shown that allowing our minds to idle may actually be the key to enhancing our creativity, productive imagining and problem-solving.

This January, WNYC's New Tech City — a weekly podcast that explores where digital gets personal — launches a new campaign: "Bored and Brilliant: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Spacing Out,” a weeklong challenge designed to inspire less phone time and more creativity in seven days.

During a kick-off event on Wednesday, January 14 at 7pm, New Tech City Host Manoush Zomorodi will invite audience members to take part in an interactive experiment to test their creativity while learning how to better track time spent on their devices.

Special guests will include:
-- Maria Popova, founder of the popular Brain Pickings blog
-- Kevin Holesh, creator of the Moment app that lets you track your iPhone use
-- Nina Katchadourian, whose whimsical art is inspired by embracing boredom
-- John Keefe, WNYC's senior editor for Data News

For one week beginning Monday, February 2, New Tech City will issue a series of motivational podcast and radio challenges daring listeners to put some limits on their attachment to their smartphone and rediscover the pleasures of device-free time.

In partnership with the app Moment (for IOS), whose manifesto is to "put down your phone and get back to your life," and the app Break Free (for Android), participants will be able to track their progress and see how they stack up against Manoush and other New Tech City listeners. Each day of the challenge, Manoush will lead thought-provoking conversations with neuroscientists, creativity researchers, app developers, artists and celebrities as they share their personal stories and tactics.

"Bored and Brilliant" challenge schedule:
February 2 — "In Your Pocket" — Keep your phone down while walking down the street or in transit.
February 3 — "Photo Free Day" — See the world for a day just through your eyes, not through your phone’s screen.
February 4 — "Delete That App" — Choose the app that you are most addicted to and waste the most time on, and delete it.
February 5 — "Take a Fauxcation" — Schedule an away message telling the world you are focusing on off-line projects. Even just for an hour.
February 6 — "One Small Observation" — Take your newfound phone-free time and notice something you would have missed before.
February 7 & 8 — “Get Creative with Nina Katchadourian” — Get bored and take on a creative task, inspired and guided by artist Nina Katchadourian.
"I haven’t really been bored since I got a smartphone 7 years ago," said Zomorodi. "But what's the trade off? One of the things I hear from listeners again and again is that looking at their phone has become a reflex, a way to fill every nook and cranny of unoccupied time. Well, guess what? Me too. Technology is awesome, but I think it’s time to start being more thoughtful about where and when we use it. I’m so excited to embark on this experiment as a group, as we rethink our relationship to our phones together and find new and interesting way to use our time and our minds."

Results from the challenge will be shared on the New Tech City podcast during the week of February 11.

Information and tickets for the "Bored and Brilliant" live event: http://www.thegreenespace.org/events/thegreenespace/2015/jan/14/bored-and-brilliant-lost-art-spacing-out/
Sign up to participate in "Bored & Brilliant": www.newtechcity.org/bored

About Manoush Zomorodi:
Manoush Zomorodi is the host of WNYC's New Tech City, a public radio podcast about the personal ways that technology is changing the way we live. Zomorodi led "Team Digital Detox" in WNYC’s 2014 "Clock Your Sleep" project. Also in 2014, Zomorodi was named Best Host by the Alliance for Women in Media, and was the winner of three New York Press Club Awards. Previously, she produced and reported for BBC News and Thomson Reuters Television. She is the author of Camera Ready: How to Present Your Best Self and Ideas On Air or Online, one of the top-selling journalism ebooks on Amazon.

About WNYC:
WNYC is New York's premier public radio producer and broadcaster, comprising WNYC 93.9 FM, WNYC AM 820 and "www.wnyc.org". As America's most listened-to AM/FM news and talk public radio stations, WNYCextends New York City's cultural riches to the entire country on-air and online, and presents the best national offerings from networks NPR, Public Radio International, American Public Media, and the BBC.WNYC is home to a newsroom of 65 journalists, and the producer of award-winning national programs and podcasts including Radiolab, Freakonomics Radio, The Takeaway, Studio 360, Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin and On the Media. For more information, visit www.wnyc.org .