Listening is a way of being present in the world and with others. It establishes a relationship of care between the listener and the listened-to, whether it is a person testifying to war and suffering, a natural phenomenon threatened with destruction, or music performed on stage at a festival. Being ephemeral, intangible, and invisible, listening often goes unnoticed. How can attentive listening be understood as bearing witness? How is such listening mediated by technology? What does it mean to listen collectively? In short, what would an ethics of listening sound like?

Miriam Rasch is a writer and philosopher interested in the ethics of technology. She studied literature and philosophy and works as an educator in art and design research for Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam. Her book Frictie: Ethiek in tijden van dataïsme (2020) was awarded the Socrates Cup for the best philosophical work in the Dutch language. Luisteroefeningen (Listening Exercises), about an ethics of listening in times of polarisation, came out in August 2024. An English edition will be published by Columbia University Press.