Iterate Weekly - Issue 53
Smart fridge stats, The Imperfectionist, Peloton's Podcast, Hemster's Rescue Kits, and reading Cultish
Welcome to issue 53 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
My Smart Refrigerator Monthly Stats
A few months ago, our refrigerator died. It’s a traumatic experience to say the least. You want to shop around for the best new fridge, but you also have food that needs to be kept cold as soon as possible. We made the quick decision to purchase a smart fridge from LG and have been mostly pleased with our decision.
But there is something that I wasn’t expecting from this new appliance. It sends me monthly reports via email. It’s almost like a report card for how I performed as a refrigerator owner for the past month. Let’s just appreciate this absurdity, but also highlight a few of the findings.
My filters don’t need replacing - Both the air filter and water filter are in good shape, no action needed here!
I’ve consumed 6,512 ounces of water - That’s about 50 gallons or 193 liters. Is this a good number? LG tells me that I’ve saved 385 plastic water bottles, so that’s something!
I average 32 door opens per day - This seems like a high number right? Don’t worry, I’m only opening the freezer about 3 times per day.
Sure, you can turn off this feature if you don’t care about such trivial matters. More power to you if you have more important things to do than analyze refrigerator stats.
But I now have some data to measure against for this coming month. Gotta minimize those refrigerator door openings! Gotta keep up my water intake!
Thank you LG for providing another aspect of my life that has been quantified!
🎓 Education/Art
The Imperfectionist
I want to give a shout out to “The Imperfectionist” the amazing newsletter written by author Oliver Burkeman.
Burkeman’s popularity skyrocketed last year after the release of his book, “Four Thousand Weeks” which I declared the best time management book I ever read back in the December 14th edition of this publication.
If you’re looking to improve your time management skills or just learn some something new each week, I suggest you subscribe. His latest article on the “Reverse Golden Rule” has given me a new appreciation for the self-help genre and the idea of “self-compassion”.
♻️ Health & Environment
Peloton Gets Creative with Their Podcast
Peloton has a new podcast. It’s called Fitness Flipped, hosted by Tunde Oyeneyin.
This isn’t really a surprising development. It seems odd that Peloton waited this long to officially launch their own podcast right? They have a slew of charismatic instructors (like the aforementioned Oyeneyin) just waiting to hop behind the mic as a podcast host. I’m not writing this to talk about the podcast but how I discovered it.
I’ve written before about how much I enjoy Peloton’s outdoor audio workouts. It’s been a really great way for me to work in some strategic speed workouts and just have more fun when I’m running alone. Recently, when looking for an audio workout to do, I saw that the Fitness Flipped podcast was listed as a workout option.
Intrigued, I went ahead and started the workout. I was greeted by the voice of one of the typical audio running instructors. But rather than lead the full workout themselves, they just did a quick warmup intro and then played the entirety of the week’s podcast episode. In one instance, the instructor suggested to increase the rate of perceived exertion each time a new guest chimed in during the podcast conversation. A progressive tempo run while learning from the podcast, a novel idea!
Halfway through the podcast, the instructor pops back in to tell you to turn around if you’re doing an out-and-back route. Then after the podcast is over, they jump back in for some final words to close out the workout.
This may not sound like much to you, but it’s an impressive repurpose of content in my mind. I often listen to podcasts when running, but this felt even more interactive. It’s a podcast about working out, while you’re working out. And baking in ways to increase workout intensity while you’re learning from a podcast is even more impressive.
Kudos to Peloton for trying something new here. I’d love to see more hybrid workout/learning audio content in the future.
🛍 Grab Bag
Hemster Looks to Extend the Life of Your Clothes
You can consider this a quick public service announcement for extending the life of your clothes. Fast fashion really takes its toll on the environment. The more we can extend the life of our clothes or find them new owners via the resale market, the better.
Hemster is a company built to help consumers get the perfect fit for their clothes. They partner with fashion companies to offer complimentary tailoring when you purchase their garments. I’ve personally used them for a pair of pants once and was genuinely impressed with the innovation. The company saves your wardrobe “patterns” (think about the cut of your favorite pair of jeans) and then lets you re-use them (get more of your pants tailored to fit exactly like your favorite pair of jeans!)
Their new product is called a “rescue kit” and they’re hoping it will keep clothes in circulation longer and away from the landfill. Customers will make an upfront purchase of a kit, send in clothes that need repair, and Hemster’s experts will repair the items and send it back. Repairs will cover things like ripped seams, missing buttons, etc. Up to four garments can be repaired in each kit.
With the high costs of shipping and reputable tailoring services, Hemster makes it easy and relatively affordable to breath life back into your damaged clothes. All while helping the environment in the process!
💬 Quote of the Week
"Mortality makes it impossible to ignore the absurdity of living solely for the future."
- Oliver Burkeman
📕Content Recommendation
Cultish
This week I’m recommending the book “Cultish” by Amanda Montell.
It came to my attention via an alumni book club that I’m a part of and I’m so glad the group chose it as this month’s title.
The book dives deep into the language behind cults. Sure, they talk about Jim James, Heaven’s Gate, and most of the “major cults” of our day. But where the book gets super interesting is when it examines the more fringe cult cases or mainstream influences of cultish language in business and the American workforce.
Maybe you’ve never willingly joined a cult, but if you’ve taken a group workout class, or attended a company retreat you’ve likely been exposed to some of the language that Montell expertly dissects in this book. I can’t recommend it enough.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!