
Episode #54
Power Surges, Forest Bathing, and Brick-ing the Feed
George and Col balance a sudden electrical power surge and the "Brick" app experiment with Labor Day forest bathing, real-world business AI metrics, and academic research. In Episode 54 of Content Chaos , co-hosts George LaRocque and Colleen Kenny reconnect after a busy Labor Day weekend to share weekly updates. George breaks down hosting a 12-year-old birthday sleepover featuring an outdoor backyard movie screen and a raucous, sleep-deprived group of kids. Col recaps her Labor Day weekend at her brother's lake house in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania. She highlights her experience "forest bathing"—a practice originating in Japan focused on disconnecting from digital devices to let the nervous system reset in nature—as well as celebrating her NYU student Katie Kubiak setting a Paralympic swimming record at the Parapan Pacific Championships. The conversation turns to household friction during the "what could be better" segment, where George details an internet outage that dropped two client calls. Tracing a frayed power filament on an exterior utility line, he called the power company for an emergency repair. A Verizon representative explained that household voltage spikes can trip internet connections—leading George to realize the outage accidentally helped him catch an electrical hazard before it worsened. Col connects this event to modern digital reliance, emphasizing why education must focus on foundational problem-solving before introducing digital tools. She also shares her experience using a "Brick"—a physical hardware blocker that restricts distracting phone apps—to protect her mental focus and manage app-induced distractions. During the "what did you learn" segment, George shares research regarding real-world business technology adoption. Contrary to media narratives claiming ubiquitous AI integration, data shows global AI adoption among small and medium-sized businesses sits between 18% and 19%. George points out that while major corporations dominate headlines, most mid-market enterprises lack the internal expertise to implement AI at scale. Col closes the episode by sharing her experiences studying Design-Based Research at Rutgers. She highlights a shift in academic funding, noting that as federal grants decrease, major tech firms like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google are funding university research. Col and George discuss how corporate funding creates potential biases in research, raising questions about who will maintain access to advanced AI models once subsidized access ends. In this episode, George and Col discuss digital wellness, household tech, AI adoption, design-based research, forest bathing, small business, corporate funding, content strategy.

