New Books in Science, Technology, and Society The Friends of Attention, "Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement" (Crown, 2026)
Jan 20, 2026
D. Graham Burnett, a historian at Princeton, Alyssa Loh, a filmmaker and attention activist, and Peter Schmidt, director of the Strother School, dive into the urgent concept of 'human fracking,' where attention is commodified like a resource. They discuss how the Friends of Attention collective arose to reclaim our humanity from corporate exploitation. The trio explores redefining attention as a caring practice and emphasizes the need for sanctuaries and collective action to protect our focus from being mined by tech platforms.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Attention As A Human Commons
- The Friends of Attention define attention as a human capacity that's being commodified by tech firms through "human fracking."
- They argue attention is central to care, politics, and shared humanity, not just individual focus or productivity.
Origin At The São Paulo Biennial
- The Friends of Attention formed after artists and activists met at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 2018 and were alarmed by Bolsonaro's election.
- That moment spurred them to organize around attention's political role, leading to writing and projects like the book and school.
School Labs Reveal Public Hunger
- The School of Radical Attention runs attention labs that teach joint durational practices and political framing.
- These labs revealed broad hunger for vocabulary and tools to protect attentional life across communities.
