2.7 Phantom Limb

The Story Rounding out this second season of the podcast, I’m including a three part mini-series. Each story is half neuroscience and half personal story. I think the stories speak to the science involved. Personally, I’m fascinated with neuroscience and the ability for the brain to change. This second episode in this series is called Phantom Limb and explores what happens when someone loses something, either physical or otherwise. Paul’s Pick Roxane Gay is one of those writers that kept coming up in various conversations over the years. Finally, I got around to reading her latest book, Hunger. The New York Times bestselling author has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance and health. Personally, I cried several times while reading this book. It took me a long time to realize that the deeper and more personal you write, the more universal your story. I have lived a totally different life than Gay, but there were so many times that I connected to her pain, sensitivity and honesty.