Close Enough to Feel, Far Enough to Forget

Close Enough to Feel, Far Enough to Forget

We pass by. We hesitate. We look down, look past, look away. This episode is about the taboo we have built around homelessness—how we have learned, collectively, to make people disappear from view, out of discomfort more than indifference. It is about those fleeting encounters on the street that we try to erase as quickly as they happen. Beneath that avoidance lies something more fragile: anger, not only at what we see, but at ourselves—at our helplessness, our discomfort, our quiet cowardice in the face of suffering that is too close to ignore. This episode is about that tension: between visibility and erasure, between encounter and avoidance, between what is there—and what we try not to see. --- Statistics mentioned:  - About one-third of homeless people report having been assaulted (INSEE) - About 40% of homeless people are women (French Senate Report 2024) - "After spending 1 year on the streets, 100% of the women declare having been raped" (declaration to Senate of Aurélie Tinland, psychiatrist at Public Assistance Hospital in Marseille) & French Senate Report mentioning that all NGO working with homeless women report that all of them have been victims of rape & sexual violence https://www.senat.fr/rap/r24-015-1/r24-015-1_mono.html#toc94 [https://www.senat.fr/rap/r24-015-1/r24-015-1_mono.html#toc94] - Life expectancy: ~45–50 years (consistent estimation from public health authorities and NGOs)

Reading Édouard Louis Changed How I See Right Radicals

For the first time, I’m bringing a book into this space — because it moved something in me that theoretical considerations never could. Reading Qui a tué mon père by Édouard Louis forced me to confront a reality I had only understood abstractly: what it actually feels like to be born into poverty and never escape it. To grow up in a body worn down by labor. To be shaped — and crushed — by policies written by people who will never live their consequences. This episode is in the end about anger, again. Legitimate anger. The kind we’re quick to dismiss when it turns toward right-radical parties. Instead of asking “How could they vote like that?”, I’m asking: What did we fail to see? Who benefits from keeping people trapped in misery? And how do we — as progressive, educated people — participate in that failure? It’s an uncomfortable & humbling lecture, and I hope this episode will give you a glimpse in what it made me feel.

Why do we still couple?

Society tells us we should be happy on our own. That autonomy is fulfillment. That love is optional. We hear that single women are happier than those in relationships. That humans are not necessarily made for monogamy. That freedom means not needing anyone. And yet—despite knowing all this—we still invest enormous amounts of time, energy, emotion, and imagination into the search for one person. Someone with whom happiness might feel steadier. Someone with whom a life could take shape. Why is that? In this episode, I explore why the couple narrative continues to hold such power—even among progressive, emancipated minds; even among women who reject traditional roles; even among people who don’t want marriage, or children, or prescribed futures. Setting aside social expectations and organizational norms, I turn to the individual question: Why are we still drawn to this partnership ? What is it, deep down, that we are looking for in another person? A reflection on intimacy not as conformity, but as the human desire to be seen, accompanied, and known—over time, in the ordinary, in the unfinished.

Ep. 13: Women walking brave

Walking down the street shouldn’t feel like a battle — but it often does.  In this episode, I talk about learning to stand tall, to build that quiet confidence that keeps you unbothered when men with bad intentions won’t leave you alone.  But what if that composure often turns into distance? If the armor that protects also isolates through the mask of indifference?  ...until the street becomes a place where no one meets the other’s eyes. A reflection on confidence, vulnerability, and what is lost in the silent negotiations of safety. ----- Readings mentioned Example of a study on gendered occupation of playgrounds Karsten, L. (2003). Children’s Use of Public Space: The Gendered World of the Playground: The Gendered World of the Playground. Childhood, 10(4), 457-473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568203104005 [https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568203104005] (Original work published 2003)

Ep. 12: Scroll, Click, Repeat - Trapped in the feed

You just wanted to check the news — and twenty minutes later, you're lost between memes, outrage, and breaking stories.  In this episode, we talk about that strange tension between wanting to be informed and getting sucked into the digital carnival.  Why does it feel so addictive? Why does it mess with our emotions?  And what does it say about the way information itself has changed? Let's deep-dive into this craziness for a few minutes, taking a step back to contemplate what's happening online and within ourselves.