Sound & Vision & Personal Fitness Trackers

Hello and welcome to the first Verge ESP episode of 2016! First of all, some good news: we're gonna be weekly this year. Second of all, some bad news: both Lemmy (of Motörhead fame) and David Bowie died. (Can someone please check on the rest of the iconic UK musicians?) We'll talk a little about how we were affected by their lives and careers — but that's hardly all. Did you notice all those health gizmos at CES this year? It's part of a weird trend, where tech companies can dodge FDA scrutiny by branding themselves as "wellness devices." As long as they aren't making health claims like "promotes weight loss," they can sell their fitness trackers without any external verification. Which is why they're body-shaming you as a marketing gimmick. Are gadgets the new diet books — meant to be bought but not seriously used? And why are people adapting serious technology, like EEG, to specious purposes? Liz continues her party-pooping streak. It's award show season, may God help us all. Emily had some feelings regarding The Revenant, the Golden Globes, the Oscars, and the general apparatus of Hollywood appreciation. Why do we even care about this stuff? What's worth getting worked up about? And why are so many prestige films so bad? (Is it possible to even make a prestige film without sticking Leonardo DiCaprio in it somewhere?) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices