New Dimensions Finding an Antidote to the Attention Economy - Jenny Odell - ND3689
Dec 24, 2025
Jenny Odell, a multidisciplinary artist and writer from Oakland, talks about resisting the attention economy that commodifies our focus. She shares her experience in an Oakland rose garden as a refuge from stress and discusses how birdwatching fosters deeper attention. Odell reflects on the story of a 'useless' tree to challenge conventional notions of value. She highlights the importance of community engagement and collective creativity over hyper-individualism, while also examining the implications of digital interaction versus meaningful dialogue.
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Rose Garden Respite Spark
- Jenny Odell began spending spare moments sitting in an Oakland rose garden after the 2016 election and the Ghost Ship fire.
- That unplanned practice became the seed for her book and a way to process shock and grief.
All Attention Isn't Equal
- The attention economy treats all attention as a single shallow metric and rewards reactive behavior.
- Cultivating slower, different qualities of attention defends against this shallow, context-free mode.
Concert That Rewired Listening
- A John Cage concert changed how Jenny listened to everyday sound and made ambient noise consciously audible.
- She said the performance permanently expanded her attention to sound like a 'hearing aid' effect.