Over the past few weeks podcasts have become my new obsession. I’ll admit it started because I was looking for something to listen to in-between Serial episodes (If you don’t know what I’m talking about stop reading and start binge listening to it immediately!).
One of the podcasts I stumble upon is Strangers. Though it’s not my favourite, I quite enjoy it and the latest episode (called Mind Shaft) blew me away. The host, Lea Thau, interviews Greg O’Brien, an investigative reporter diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Greg shares what’s it like to experience this horrible disease from the inside. He describes Alzheimer’s as dark and scary – ‘a mind that’s 5 miles deep’.
He tells his story because ‘if I’m not pushing forward … I’m falling backwards’. He’s eloquent and charming and tells a fascinating story. But it’s also incredibly sad, because he knows how it ends.
Greg has also written a book about his experience called On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s. I’ve just bought it and will post more about it when I’ve read it.
a girl who speaks 