Design Matters with Debbie Millman Manoush Zomorodi
May 11, 2026
Manoush Zomorodi, journalist, author, and podcaster who investigates how tech shapes attention and bodies. She talks about her shift from reporting to studying tech’s cultural effects. She describes listener experiments, research linking brief movement breaks to better health and focus, and designing systems that make restorative movement normal.
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How Cold-Calling The BBC Launched Her Career
- Manoush described joining the BBC by cold-calling the bureau chief and volunteering to intern for free, which launched a decade-long journalism career.
- She learned on the job in a high-pressure bureau, absorbing storytelling craft and people-watching that shaped her reporting style.
Kidnapping Simulation Left A Lasting Mark
- Manoush recounted kidnapping-simulation training where instructors hooded trainees and threw them in Jeeps to simulate abduction risk scenarios.
- The exercise left her with a scar and a colleague who quit journalism afterward and became a florist.
Early Internet Felt Like A Secret Superpower
- Early internet access felt like a secret reporting superpower because Manoush could find sources in chat rooms and book people faster than phone-based methods.
- That intimacy and ability to drop into subcultures shaped her curiosity about how digital life changes behavior.
