This episode features Heather Houser - Heather is an author, she's the Chair of "Planet Texas 2050", and she’s an Associate Professor of English at The University of Texas at Austin. Heather's new book "Infowhelm" is being released on Columbia University Press in June 2020, and while it was written prior to this Global Pandemic we've found ourselves in, there are incredible parallels. About Infowhelm: "How do artists and writers engage with environmental knowledge in the face of overwhelming information about catastrophe? What kinds of knowledge do the arts produce when addressing climate change, extinction, and other environmental emergencies? What happens to scientific data when it becomes art? In Infowhelm, Heather Houser explores the ways contemporary art manages environmental knowledge in an age of climate crisis and information overload."
We talk a lot about this book, and Heather's thoughts on COVID - has Heather's work and research prepared her for this pandemic? Maybe, in a way: her work as a professor has given her the opportunity to build community while taking in and processing heavy feelings, and she sees great strength in people admitting to and sharing their vulnerabilities and emotional experiences in this moment. She encourages us think about why we feel the way we do, and to account for our feelings and responses as a means to prepare us: going forward, we can hide, or we can move forward in the world and think of other futures or outcomes we may want to see come out of this.
You can find more info about, and pre-order Heather's book here: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/infowhelm/9780231187336
This interview was originally recorded on May 5th 2020
