One thing we talk a lot about on The Vergecast is how to engage with technology without losing your mind. One version of that discussion has to do with fitness, and the so-called quantified self: what does it take to make use of the tools and trackers available to you, without letting exercise take over your life? It’s a fun, complex topic, and one we come back to often.

There is, however, another side to the debate. What if you want the most data, the most insights, the most feedback, the most coaching, whatever it takes to do better, no matter what? That requires a different set of tools, and a different relationship with technology.

Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and the author of the new book, The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports, has spent years developing that relationship. (He’s also a very fast runner — the type who wins races rather than just finish them.) And on this episode of The Vergecast, he describes his approach to running and to running tech. He walks us through how he uses his Garmin watch, the custom GPT he built to give him nutrition and workout advice, and how he experiments with his workouts to find out what data matters and what simply doesn’t.

After that, The Verge’s John Higgins joins the show to deliver some helpful advice ahead of the holiday season. You might be heading home for Thanksgiving this week, which means you might need to turn off some motion smoothing – but what is motion smoothing? And why is it ever on in the first place? John also helps us decide which Frame-style TV is the one to get, how you should customize your new set right out of the box, and more.

Finally, David answers a question from The Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) with some follow up to a previous question about inexpensive earbuds. We’ve gotten a lot of recommendations, and figured we should share.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started: