Telling the Bees: An Interspecies Monologue

In a bid to wean himself off Facebook and Twitter, media scholar and cultural theorist Dominic Pettman decided to revive an ancient custom. He decided to tell the local bees of his thoughts, theories, musings, and meditations. The result was an apian journal that parses the daily news and the routines of modern life in a more sustained and reflective way than the Pavlovian posts to which we are so addicted.

The account that emerges from Pettman’s regular discussion with the bees forms a compelling portrait of the tumultuous period running from the Fall of 2019 to New Year’s Eve, 2022. What began as a reflection on the traumatic effects of an ＂unprecedented＂ presidency soon evolved into a real-time response to the equally extraordinary events of the pandemic and its aftermath.

One key concern that emerges from Pettman’s ongoing discussion with the bees is the extent to which, thanks to the alienating effects of neoliberalism, we were already engaged in an advanced form of social distancing long before anyone had heard of COVID. Other key themes include education, human-animal relations, climate change, mediated intimacy, attention ecologies, collective memory, slow violence, the self-fulfilling prophecy that is New York City, the never-ending end of history, and the mundane strategies we share in a bid to forge on, despite the accumulating challenges of the twenty-first century.

Telling the Bees is an invitation to rediscover the art of reflection and a profound meditation on human connection, alienation, and our collective yearning for intimacy in an age of distance. Through what Pettman describes as an ＂interspecies monologue,＂ readers are treated to a unique perspective on navigating the complexities of the twenty-first century, inspired by the ingenuity and resilience of our natural cohabitants.

Dominic Pettman is University Professor of Media and New Humanities at the New School. His publications include Creaturely Love, Sonic Intimacy, Peak Libido, and, with Eugene Thacker, Sad Planets.