Episode 352: Jenny Odell

Jenny Odell is a multidisciplinary artist and the author of How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. “I’ve noticed that the times I’m extra susceptible to being on social media is when I am feeling personally insecure or when I’m dealing with existential dread. That within itself is not part of the attention economy—that’s just a human being having feelings and reacting to things. For me, it’s a question of like, ‘What do I do with that?’ I can either feed it back into the attention economy and actually get more of it back—more anxiety or more existential dread—or I can go in this other direction and spend time alone or with people who care about the same things. Those are places where I can bring my feelings and they won’t destroy me.” Thanks to Mailchimp, Substack, and Pitt Writers for sponsoring this week's episode. @the_jennitaur jennyodell.com Jenny Odell on Longform [00:49] How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy (Melville House • 2019) [00:51] ”How To Do Nothing” transcript of keynote talk (Medium • 2017) [01:10] “A Business With No End” (New York Times • 2018) [02:30] Evan Ratliff on Cointalk [02:42] The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. (Evan Ratliff • Random House • 2019) [03:18] “There’s No Such Thing As A Free Watch” (Museum of Capitalism • 2017) [05:05] The Bureau of Suspended Objects [16:55] Gordon Hempton’s “Desert Thunder” [29:27] Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life (Adam Greenfield • Verso • 2017) [37:32] Braiding Sweetgrass (Robin Wall Kimmerer • Milkweed Editions • 2015) [39:25] “Notes of a Bioregional Interloper” (SFMOMA • 2017) [53:30] Mark Lombardi’s drawings [56:40] “On How to Grow an Idea” (Creative Independent • 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices