This talk reflects on a year of radical shifts in the politics and practices of higher education teaching, and what that's looked like from the perspective of a teacher and researcher who has been exploring with students and colleagues for more than a decade how "online can be the privileged mode" (Manifesto for Teaching Online 2011, 2016, 2020). The nature and limits of that privilege are under the lens here as Jen explores issues of contact, trust, and the shifting meanings of 'distance' in pandemic times.