The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast - S 10 E 17
“A profound investigation into what makes us human. . . . I have been distracted by this book for several months.” - B.E.E.
American Medieval with Matthew Gabriel
Although our guest doesn’t still skateboard (much), he does have a great new book on the history of a gesture - to turn away from grief/ shame. What does it mean to bear witness in the medieval and modern worlds?
The Gist with Mike Pesca
University of Chicago professor Benjamin A. Saltzman joins the show to discuss his book, Turning Away: The Poetics of an Ancient Gesture. He explores the artistic and emotional history of averting our gaze—and why looking away often signals profound engagement rather than indifference.
Knowing with Eric Oliver
What Deserves our Attention? How do we know our selves, the world, or anything else for that matter? Join University of Chicago professor Political Scientist Eric Oliver as he explores this question with some of the world’s most interesting minds.
Townsend Center Book Chat
Turning Away: A Poetics of an Ancient Gesture in conversation with Professor Martin Jay at UC Berkeley
Hermitix Podcast
Turning Away from the World / The Poetics of an Ancient Gesture on Hermitix, a podcast focusing on one-on-one interviews relating to fringe philosophy, obscure theory, weird lit, under-appreciated thinkers and movements.
A History of Turning Away - Typebar Magazine
“Typebar Magazine interviewed Saltzman via video call to discuss the cultural history of turning away from horror, what is the "right" amount of detachment when faced with myriad horrors, and as always, typewriters.”
The Future of Attention with Gloria Mark
“This is a beautiful book that examines our impulse to look away, a response that is at once instinctive, cultural, philosophical, and morally complex.”
The Last Show with David Cooper
The Profound Gesture of Turning Away
Seize the Moment
On episode 252, we welcome Benjamin Saltzman to discuss the gesture of turning away, the shame and grief behind it, how it became a moral topic, turning away in art and Timanthes’s lost painting of Agamemnon, Plato’s tripartite concept of the soul and turning away as a mark of confusion, rigidity and steadfastness as signs of courage and character, cognitive flexibility and knowing when to turn away, Hannah Arendt and misinterpreting averted gazes as the foundation of totalitarianism, and understanding aversion without its moral trappings.