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:
- (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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What is What Works?
Work is central to the human experience. It helps us shape our identities, care for those we love, and contribute to our communities. Work can be a source of power and a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, that's not how most of us experience work—even those who work for themselves. Our labor and creative spirit are used to enrich others and maintain the status quo. It's time for an intervention. What Works is a show about rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to deep-dive analysis of how we work and how work shapes us.