Something You Should Know
Water vs. Tech: How Moisture Ruins Your Devices & Why We Need Stress
28 Apr 2025
Kibosh, chicanery, affluent and Seuss (as in Dr. Seuss) are words a lot of people mispronounce. This episode begins with the correct pronunciation of these and other mispronounced words you may not be aware you are saying incorrectly. http://mentalfloss.com/article/32273/11-common-words-youre-probably-mispronouncing You (or someone you know) have most likely dropped your phone in the toilet, spilled coffee on your laptop or had some other electronic device suffer “death by liquid.” Our electronic devices are very much NOT water-proof. Why is that? That horrible feeling you get when you get your devices wet is a combination of guilt, panic and horror. Yet, it happens to almost everyone. Why can’t they make these devices more resistant to liquids? That is an interesting question which I explore with Rachel Plotnick. She is a historian and cultural theorist whose research and teaching focus on information, communication, and media technologies. She is also author of the book License to Spill: Where Dry Devices Meet Liquid Lives (https://amzn.to/3Ru1xyz). Stress kills! But it is also good for you. In fact, GOOD stress can actually counter the effects of the bad stress in your life. So, what is the difference between good and bad stress? And how can you make stress work for you? Here to explain all this and the science behind it, is Dr. Sharon Bergquist, MD. She is an award-winning physician and visionary researcher renowned for spearheading a science-based approach to applying lifestyle as medicine. She has a Ted-Ed video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-t1Z5-oPtU) about how stress affects you which has been viewed over 8 million times and she is author of the book The Stress Paradox: Why You Need Stress to Live Longer, Healthier, and Happier (https://amzn.to/43XOj4B). Most of us have some trouble remembering the names of people right after we meet them. It seems doing something with your eyes and making a few movements with your body can help you recall names according to some research. Listen and I’ll tell you how it works. https://www.livescience.com/1473-moving-eyes-improves-memory-study-suggests.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times.
And I'm Paul Scheer, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters.
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Today on Something You Should Know, some commonly mispronounced words that even English teachers get wrong. Then, why aren't our electronic devices, like smartphones, waterproof? Because they're going to get wet.
I mean, it's pretty much a constant refrain where people are talking about, oh no, I had this liquid mishap. What do I do? How do I fix it? Am I supposed to put this in a bowl of rice? Or, you know, I ended up taking this to the store. They said I got it wet, even though I didn't.
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