EP 473: Unpacking Attention Fetishism with Jess Shane
Our podcast feeds and streaming services are full of real stories of real people. And not all of those stories feel... true. I mean, even if the facts are accurate, the way something is edited, packaged, and marketed can dramatically alter a story's impact.
Artist and audio producer Jess Shane wanted to create a project that would expose some of the problematic elements of this booming (and highly profitable) industry. The result is a podcast series for Radiotopia Presents called Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative. Listening to it made me deeply uncomfortable, so I knew I needed to have her on What Works to discuss it!
In this episode, you'll get the behind-the-scenes on this project. And you'll learn what happens when attention becomes a fetish.
Footnotes:
- Listen to Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative from Radiotopia Presents
- Find out more about Jess Shane
- Curated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling by Sujatha Fernandes
- The Crisis of Narration by Byung-Chul Han
00:00 - Edited for maximum shock value
03:37 - Introducing artist & audio producer Jess Shane
04:27 - Clip from Shocking, Hearthbreaking, Transformative
06:48 - Why does someone sign up to be a documentary subject?
07:50 - Curated Stories by Sujatha Fernandes
10:46 - The personal is personal?
12:23 - What is attention fetishism?
14:56 - Jess's misgivings with the documentary industry
18:16 - Rules of engagement
21:19 - The main character
23:00 - Clip from Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative
24:17 - We shouldn't dismiss the stories at the center of our critique
24:50 - Heeding the words of Audre Lorde
25:45 - The potential for a new beginning
26:23 - Credits
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