All Episodes

November 16, 2021 78 mins

"It's almost as if Plato saw Media Studies coming and invented this allegory for us to sort of set the stage from the beginning of western modernity. It's kind of uncanny how appropriate it remains. It's like it becomes more and more relevant as time passes."

Today I speak with Dominic Pettman about social media, distraction and libido.

About Dominic Pettman: 

Dominic is University Professor of Media and New Humanities at The New School in New York, where he teaches courses on posthumanism, animal studies, critical theories of technology, environmental humanities, attention ecologies, popular media forms, and philosophies of desire. He is the author of numerous books, including a loose trilogy exploring the relationship between Eros and ecology - Sonic IntimacyCreaturely Love, and Peak Libido. In this episode, we focus primarily on the last part of this trilogy and Infinite Distraction: Paying Attention to Social Media. Dominic himself is also on social media: https://twitter.com/DominicPettman 

What's YOUR interpretation of Plato's allegory? I would love to hear! Leave me a voicemail. It's really easy. You click the record button, speak, and hit send. I might play your message in a future episode and respond.

Support me through patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lifefromplatoscave 

I hope you enjoy the episode! Mario http://lifefromplatoscave.com/    I'd love to hear your questions or comments: Twitter: https://twitter.com/lifeplatoscave  Insta: https://www.instagram.com/lifefromplatoscave/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifefromplatoscave  Illustration © by Julien Penning, Light One Art: https://www.instagram.com/light_one_art/ 
Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.