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