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Invisibilia

The End of Empathy

Invisibilia

NPR

Society & Culture, Personal Journals, Social Sciences, Science

4.622.6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2019

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Invisibilia is a show that runs on empathy. We believe in it. But are we right? In this episode, we'll let you decide. We tell the same story twice in order to examine the questions: who deserves our empathy? And is there a wrong way to empathize? If you or somebody you know might need help, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255 or at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This program contains strong language and topics that might not be suitable for all listeners.

0:06.0

In 2015, Jack did something brazen and romantic. The kind of gesture movies end on and

0:12.1

history textbooks hinge wars on. He went and saw about a girl.

0:16.6

Just flew down there, like middle of the night. I just showed up where I thought she was staying.

0:24.3

Jack and his girlfriend had broken up. He wanted to win her back. They weren't living in the

0:29.1

same part of the country, so he flew to her place, hoping that a trip across state

0:33.0

lines was what it would take. I'm like, look, I'm here. Let's talk. I really want to fix this.

0:39.4

She picked me up and we were driving around for a while. His girlfriend pulled into a parking lot

0:44.0

and parked her car. Then something terrible happened. I was half naked. I was just in my boxers

0:50.8

and she starts strangling me. What Jack now knows is his girlfriend is crazy. Her moods change

0:58.7

without warning. She flirts with other men. Then complains to Jack when they reject her.

1:03.2

And now she's strangling him, trying to kill him. It's probably a sight to be seen.

1:08.6

An erratic woman in a parking lot in the middle of the night trying to kill a man wearing nothing

1:13.2

but his underwear. And when the cops inevitably show up, Jack does something selfless.

1:19.2

He lies. And he says he's suicidal so that the attention will be on him.

1:24.1

I didn't want to fuck her life up so my state and a mental hospital for a couple days.

1:28.8

Unsurprisingly, this experience is where a lot of Jack's beliefs about women start and end.

1:35.0

It's a primary plot point in the story he tells about himself.

1:38.8

When you're just sitting in a room by yourself and you're thinking about this girl who you loved

1:43.2

for a long time and then she tried to kill you, it's just brutal. It's just horrible.

1:47.7

It feels like I died on that day and everything since has been this weird purgatory nightmare.

1:58.9

This tape you're hearing of Jack Peterson, I didn't record it. The journalist Hannah

...

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