KQED's Forum How Private Soundtracks Are Changing Public Life: The New Normal of Constant Headphone Use
Dec 8, 2025
Jenny Odell, an artist and critic known for her work on attention and time, joins Gloria Mark, a Professor Emerita of Informatics at UC Irvine and author of 'Attention Span.' They dive into the impact of constant headphone use on our attention, relationships, and social interactions. Topics include how personal soundtracks reshape public spaces and foster isolation, the cognitive costs of audio consumption, and the contrast between mediated listening and nature's ambient sounds. They also discuss the need for intentional listening and reclaiming silence in our noisy world.
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Private Soundtracks Became The New Default
- Portable audio created private soundscapes that let people inhabit inner worlds in public spaces.
- That shift started with the Walkman and has accelerated with AirPods and endless streaming.
Headphones Shrink Presence Beyond Hearing
- Wearing AirPods changes how we attend to surroundings and other senses, making us more self-involved.
- Auditory isolation alters visual attention and the overall feeling of being present.
Earbuds As An Unspoken Social Barrier
- Headphones create an inward-outward attention split and act as a social signal to avoid interaction.
- People interpret earbuds as 'do not disturb,' reducing spontaneous encounters.
