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Is it time for a movement to reclaim attention? Discussing Attensity! with the Friends of Attention artwork
Can We Have Your Attention?

Is it time for a movement to reclaim attention? Discussing Attensity! with the Friends of Attention

  • 40:08
  • March 17th 2026

In this episode Claire & James speak to D. Graham Burnett, the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History and History of Science at Princeton University and co-editor of Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement; and Peter Schmidt, the Program Director of the Strother School of Radical Attention. They form part of the The Friends of Attention; a loose network who share an interest in all things attention.

Their book, Attensity! A Manifesto for the Attention Liberation Movement, argues that a movement of collective resistance is needed to tackle the 'human fracking' of attention.

Strother School of Radical Attention https://www.schoolofattention.org/

The Friends of Attention https://friendsofattention.org/

Attensity! A Manifesto for the Attention Liberation Movement: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/478341/attensity-by-attention-the-friends-of/9780241810965

Other books/resources mentioned this week - so you can start studying, organising, and finding sanctuary:
The Attention Merchants by Tim Wu: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16591/9781782394853

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16591/9781802063271

The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource by Chris Hayes: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/16591/9781914484940

Finally, Louis Theroux’s documentary ‘Inside the Manosphere’ on Netflix (paywall) https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81920687 

Can We Have Your Attention? is a podcast exploring the unseen forces that shape what we see, what we buy, and who we become. Hosted by Claire Coady and James Wickham, we dive into the mechanics of the Attention Economy to understand how value is created (and manipulated) in a distracted world.

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Can We Have Your Attention?

Can We Have Your Attention? is your guide to surviving and thriving in the modern attention economy. We talk about the players fighting for your focus – from the algorithms optimising your feeds to the ad tech and brand strategies that keep you scrolling.

We go beyond the click-bait bad news and look for solutions. Each episode explores digital wellbeing, media literacy, and practical mental health tools to help you build resilience against distraction and burnout. Whether you want to understand the creator economy, manage your screen time, or simply reclaim your mind from big tech, join us to learn how to pay attention to what truly matters.

Your Guides to the Attention Economy: Hosted by Claire Coady, a marketing expert who has advised governments and global brands on how to win the battle for attention, and James Wickham, a former BBC journalist who has spent a career inside the 24-hour news machine. Together, they combine 40+ years of experience to help you understand who is fighting for your focus, and how you can fight back.

This is a Phonogram production.