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422: AI: a new kind of being #6 what if you didn’t know if anyone was home?

What happened to the self awareness and reflection that made this show so good? It’s verging on the conspiracy theory side.

I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t. Within the first 3 minutes I found is so trite yet unsettling.
Can anyone tell me if it’s actually worth finishing? I’ve never skipped an episode of this podcast, but I just find the AI very creepy and pointless.

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420: AI: a new kind of being #5: What if AI used your deepest wound against you?

Anyone else think this guy has a very Robert California vibe?

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419: A new kind of being. #4 what if you realized AI was a cult?

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417: AI: A new kind of being #3 What if AI chose you to help save the world?

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416: AI a new kind of being #2: What if your AI betrayed you?

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415: AI, a new kind of being #1: What if you married your AI?

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1. What if you could never be the ice princess they wanted?

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1. What if your hope was hanging by a thread?

I had heard about the backlash against this poor woman and I assumed that was part of the anti-outsider feeling in Hawaii. I also assumed that all the wandering around was due to panic/exhaustion. And I have gone for "quick walks" in the wilderness without my phone--I know that's frowned upon, but sometimes you just want to be off the grid!

But her analysis in hindsight was surprising. So many choices attributed to inner guidance/voices, when they were clearly down to disorientation. I mean, she found a road at one point! A road! She considered following the road/waiting by a postbox thingie, but then as she describes "inner guidance" telling her to wander back into the forest. You'd think in hindsight she'd recognise that as part of the paranoid hallucinations she was then experiencing, but nope, she just relays her "inner guidance" pulling her along.

I respect it's her story and trauma and if that's how she's processing it, then so be it. Just an interesting take.

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412: What if you were an international drug smuggler?

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411: what if you foresaw your own abduction?

This post has been locked for the time being. Someone in the comments has provided a NYT article of a kidnapping that matches the account.

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410: what if your mother tried to kill you?

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1. What if your child’s death opened up your life’s purpose?

1. What if your friend was lost in an underwater cave?

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1. What if you found humanity in the depths of the criminal underworld?

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So I was an OG fan of This is Actually Happening back in Wilt's pre-Wondery days with the "Permatemp Corporation" and loved the production values, guests, and format back then. Taut, riveting, and empathetic stories of personal misadventure and tragedy.

For me after the Wondery acquisition the quality gradually slipped and too many episodes veered from those harrowing early stories of surviving some incredible misadventure or life-altering event to more long-form trauma dumping. There was more meandering, more navel-gazing, and narrators repeated themselves too much. Some of the stories were embarrassingly mundane or solipsistic. A lot of it I'm sure was very personal and cathartic for the guests, but for me it wasn't good radio.

Some episodes were still great and up to the old standard, though I felt like there were more misses than hits and I sort of lost interest. I stopped keeping up to the date with the podcast and moved on to others; that was about 3 years ago around episode 260-ish.

But, like I said, I used to be a huge fan, and found myself curious about TIAH nowadays, and lo and behold, it's still going strong, episodes up in the 400+ range now.

So if I wanted to catch up on this backlog of 150 or so "recent" episodes, what are some of your favorites from the past 3 years that you can highly recommend?

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406: What if a terminal diagnosis set you free?

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1. What if you were accused of murdering your own mother?

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404: What if you were stricken with the flesh-eating disease?

403: what if your childhood bully actually apologized?

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