Season 5 Episode 12 | Laurie Sheck | Exploring AI, Art, and Empathy

What happens when one of the most intellectually fearless writers working today sits down to talk about:

* Dostoyevsky’s dialogic voice

* Frankenstein as misunderstood creation myth

* AI and the future of creativity

* Illness as altered consciousness

* Capitalism’s grip on media and academia

This conversation moves from 19th-century Russia to present-day neural networks — but the real subject is this:

What does it mean to remain human when machinery dominates the narrative?

We talk about:

• Writers who chase status vs. writers obsessed with the work• Why “students don’t read anymore” is lazy thinking• Why Frankenstein isn’t about a monster — it’s about responsibility• Why AI can replicate information but not vulnerability• Why empathy may be the last defensible human advantage

Laurie’s work — from A Monster’s Notes to Cyborg Fever — doesn’t simplify consciousness. It stretches it.

This episode is demanding. It’s ambitious. It’s not light fare.