The space across which desire reaches
Round-up + hearing loss, passing, and loneliness
Last year-ish, Vika and I were interviewed for this great podcast/NPR show, Embodied, on how hearing loss complicates and informs our relationship.
They re-released it recently and you should give it a listen wherever you get your podcasts. (It’s also on YouTube, though the subtitles there are 10% wrong. But on the main Embodied page, there are transcripts.)
Here’s a teaser. (The image is inspired by a story that, I think, ultimately got cut, but here’s the TL;DR version: One time, during sex, I lost my hearing aid. We tore the room apart looking for it. Couldn’t find it. Then, when saying goodbye, I discovered it in Vika’s hair. How? Why. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Perhaps because of the podcast, I’ve been thinking more about hearing loss lately, and in particular, the loneliness that comes with it.
“Blindness separates people from things,” as Helen Keller put it. “Deafness separates people from people.”
But it’s not just deafness and it’s not just me. A third of Americans say that they feel lonelier tha…