When did we stop looking?

About this episode

This episode explores the implications of the absence of eye contact in social interactions and its broader significance in society.

You walk into a café. The coffee is perfect. The service is efficient. And not once does anyone look at you. This episode starts with that small absence — and follows it somewhere unexpected. Through the emotional labour of public-facing work, the quiet logic of the screen, and the generational shift in what an interaction is even supposed to contain. Eye contact is not a nicety. It never was. And its disappearance says something about all of us — not just the people behind the counter. Mind the Gap with Michael Comyn.

People in this episode

Host: Michael Comyn

Topics covered

• social interaction
• emotional labor
• public-facing work
• generational shift
• eye contact

Keywords

• café
• service
• interaction
• emotional labor
• screen
• eye contact
• generational shift

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