Did you know it’s possible to exit a two-night hospital stay mostly unscathed? Neither did we! Not until Boston Karen came along, that is. Amy reflects on a rare positive health care experience and we wonder at the difference a single provider can make. We dig into the concept of structural medical gaslighting and discuss how much agency individual providers have in their own and their patients’ experiences. We also share a bunch of ways we can begin to dismantle the existing medical industrial complex wherein structural medical gaslighting thrives. Importantly, we give a long-overdue shoutout all the Karen/Karins we’ve loved before and acknowledge #notalkarens (after some brief confusion over whether we mean #NotAllKarens or #NoTallKarens).

BOSTON KAREN

I shiver under the covers, shrinking from the natural light worming its way across my bed. A cuddle from Boston Karen is exactly what I need right now.

She knows. She's magic. A healer.

Boston Karen pokes her head under the covers. What must she be thinking about the grown woman before her, teeth chattering, body shaking, cowering from the light, tears streaming down her face? What trauma could have evoked this response?

A warm shower. The most banal of events. In a handicap-accessible, hospital-clean shower, no less.

Continues at https://amyblackstonephd.substack.com/p/boston-karen

CITED IN THIS EPISODE

1. Brauer Lara, Werner de Cruppé, and Max Geraedts. 2025. “‘Take me seriously’: A qualitative interview study exploring healthcare experiences of endometriosis patients.” PLoS One 20(5): e0323883. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0323883
2. Berenstain, Nora. 2019. “White Feminist Gaslighting,” Hypatia 35: 733-758.

Intro music: Humoresque by Antonín Dvořák from Suzuki Flute School Volume 3; Played proudly and poorly by Amy Blackstone

Outro music: Moon Over Ruined Castle by Rentarō Taki from Suzuki Flute School Volume 1; Played proudly and poorly by Amy Blackstone

For more information, go to amyblackstonephd.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amy confesses to having imaginary relationships with a whole bunch of people and we consider whether she is totally nuts or simply engaged in a bunch of parasocial relationships (or possibly both?). We go on to discuss the benefits of parasocial relationships for people with chronic illnesses, potential drawbacks for all parties involved, and what lessons social science has for us on the topic.

PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Dear Deb,

I met you once in Nashville after a show and though my brain is foggy these days, it’s a moment I’ll cherish forever.

Years later, you gave me the gift of visiting my home state of Maine and - even better - presented a show that allowed a person like me (light sensitivity, noise sensitivity, all the dumb sensitivities) to stay for the whole thing and share my very favorite artist with my parents who’d come to tow to help with my caretaking.

Continues at https://amyblackstonephd.substack.com/p/dedication

CITED IN THIS EPISODE:

1. Horton, Donald, and R. Richard Wohl. 1956. “Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance.” Psychiatry 19 (3): 215–29.
2. Liebers, Nicole, and Holger Schramm. 2019. "Parasocial Interactions and Relationships with Media Characters–An Inventory of 60 Years of Research." Communication Research Trends 38(2):4-31
3. Struck-Peregończyk, Monika, and Iwona Leonowicz-Bukala. 2023. "Changing the Narrative: Self-Representations of Disabled People in Social Media." Przeglad Socjologii Jakosciowej 19(3):62-79.
4. Schiappa Edward, Gregg Peter B., Hewes Dean E. (2005), The Parasocial Contact Hypothesis, “Communication Monographs”,vol. 72(1), pp. 92–115, https://doi.org/10.1080/0363775052000342544

Intro music: Humoresque by Antonín Dvořák from Suzuki Flute School Volume 3; Played proudly and poorly by Amy Blackstone

Outro music: Moon Over Ruined Castle by Rentarō Taki from Suzuki Flute School Volume 1; Played proudly and poorly by Amy Blackstone

For more information, go to amyblackstonephd.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As former residents and forever fans of Minneapolis, we’re outraged and heartbroken by the occupation, kidnapping, and murder of residents that our government is shamelessly unleashing on the people who live there today. Everything is very much NOT alright. But Minnesotans are hardy - and hearty - folk and we love them and the state we moved from those 20+ years ago, deeply. In this episode, Amy shares an essay she wrote recently about the occupation in Minnesota and what the occupiers don’t understand about the people they so foolishly thought they could intimidate. We go on to reflect on our years in Minneapolis and the various ways that social trust has been the key to building the strong community ties that took ICE by storm.

TO MINNEAPOLIS, WITH LOVE

Normally, the chill in Minneapolis melts easily - all it takes is a smile, a nod, a simple kindness - but there’s a new kind of ICE in town, the likes of which Minnesotans have never seen and, before they can melt it, it is quite literally killing them. Watching as the city that ushered me into adulthood is occupied and its people are kidnapped and murdered by our very own government is the sort of apocalyptic cognitive dissonance that was most definitely not on my Bingo card this year. Or ever.

Continues at ⁠⁠https://amyblackstonephd.substack.com/p/to-minneapolis-with-love

CITED IN THIS EPISODE:

1. Howley, Kerry. January 23, 2026. “Your Friendly Neighborhood Resistance.” New York Magazine. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/minneapolis-vs-donald-trump-ice-invasion.html
2. Strand, Palma J.,J.D.L.L.M., and Malka R. Kopell M.P.P. 2025. "A "Civity" Approach Helps Build the Civic Muscle that Underlies Healthy Communities." American Journal of Public Health 115(4):506-510 https://libraries.maine.edu/auth/EZproxy/test/authej.asp?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/civity-approach-helps-build-civic-muscle-that/docview/3188476442/se-2.
3. As promised in the episode, note that the state with the HIGHEST levels of social trust in the nation, even higher than Minnesota, is (drum roll, please).... UTAH!

Intro music: Humoresque by Antonín Dvořák from Suzuki Flute School Volume 3; Played proudly and poorly by Amy Blackstone

Outro music: Moon Over Ruined Castle by Rentarō Taki from Suzuki Flute School Volume 1; Played proudly and poorly by Amy Blackstone

For more information, go to amyblackstonephd.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.