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PODCAST Reviews
MEDITATIVE STORY
Episode: Creating Space to Stand
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In Truth, by Susan David
It’s a rare thing for our true self, with all of our struggles, to be seen and lovingly accepted. Especially when we’re mired in a major illness or loss, being honest enough to share that pain with others often clashes with the expectation that we should be “over it” already. How do you leave space for someone’s pain, send the message, I see you? Psychologist and author Susan David recalls a series of unconventional “love letters”—“human to human, full of heart and compassion”—that she exchanged with her English teacher, Mrs. F., while in high school and grieving her father’s death. By offering David the chance to write about her intense emotions and get an open, compassionate response, Mrs. F. helped David find peace with those emotions. Those unassuming letters were her first steps toward healing. As on all episodes of Meditative Story, podcast host Rohan Gunatillake pops in every few minutes to inject some guided meditation into the narrative: Check in with yourself, he says, and notice how the story is resonating. This is part of a “correspondence with our own heart,” as David says: “When we are truly able to see ourselves, we are more able to see others, too.”
INVISIBILIA
Episode: Raising Devendra
This episode is about “raising” a therapy chatbot: an artificial intelligence that talks to users via text message, and can deliver therapies like CBT. Yes, treating a chatbot like a human friend is unconventional, to say the least. It may sound like a very bad idea—we’re more online than ever, but also leery (for good reason) about the ways our personal data is used and misused. But researcher Shaila Chavarria wondered what could develop if she communicated with Devendra, her therapy bot, as she would with her son: through daily exchanges, asking it lots of probing questions, and watching it become more sophisticated through their “talks.” Her experiment probes what we understand about AI learning, companionship, and unconditional love. It’s reminiscent of Black Mirror, but far more optimistic.
