Welcome to the commune podcast. This is Jeff Krasno.

So today's episode is a reading from my friend Lori Beth Robbins.

But first, a little backstory.

The first time I beheld Lori Beth on social media, she was wearing nothing but a giant salmon

and holding a glass of wine. I mean, who would not be compelled? I was taken in, though,

by LBR's Facebook monologues and knifery, both equally dexterous. She is a poet gourmet, making art of food and story. And as I became a devotee

of her, she simultaneously developed an affection for my commusing articles, and our mutual admiration

blossomed in a number of long telephone calls. I think of them as communions, exchanges of intimate spiritual feelings.

It was on one of these calls I learned of Lori Beth's harrowing experience as a young woman.

She bravely shares this story with us here today on the podcast. So for those who may be triggered

by it, I hope you will feel ready to return to this episode another time.

Because, of course, through the exchange of story, the glaciers of separation thaw, revealing bridges that connect our islands of loneliness.

A Lori Beth found the ingredients to transform a gruel of PTSD into a bisque of post-traumatic growth.

And this is our individual and communal challenge to find meaning in our suffering.

Lori Beth serves as a beacon of hope.

So I hope you enjoy Lori Beth's reading of her article. We are stronger than our

struggles. My name is Jeff Krasna, and welcome to come.

We are stronger than our struggles.

Human flesh is an unfathomably lucrative commodity today with human trafficking, labor, sexual, child, and more being dirroger.

But if your only concept of these atrocities is from thriller movies or TV reports, then I am compelled to do my due diligence and speak up.

If you have a daughter, know someone who has a daughter,

or understand that every woman you meet is indeed somebody's daughter, then perhaps my story

...