Alexa, a Short Story

Michael Lauria is a qualified therapist, author and philosophical mythologist. He has been in private practice since 2006 and has spent more than 25,000 hours in the chair, most of them with men and couples, along with two years sitting with the dying in hospice and a year on a suicide hotline. He has written 48 books. Under his own name he is the author of Obsolete, Twenty Years in the Chair (4 November 2026, foreword by Dr John Demartini) and The Three Sacrifices (17 November 2026), with another book due in December. He is also the mind behind The Architect, a body of work of thirty-three books, and The Architect Speaks, a podcast of more than 500 episodes. We talk about what a philosophical mythologist is, being a therapist, his upcoming book "Monsters of the Collective Unconscious," betrayal, emotions, attention spans, vampires and how we act like them, werewolves, suppression of anger and fear, zombies, how some have lost the ability to think for themselves, relationships, keeping score in relationships, narcissism and narcissistic tendencies, personality disorders and how we all might have a bit of them, how we might make ourselves available to narcissistic abuse in relationships, making our hearts like stone and losing the ability to fall in love, the perils of avoiding the chance of heartbreak, friendships and how some end, choosing work over attachment to relationships, the value of solitude, Hospice and dying, "The Five Regrets of the Dying," finding and honoring ourselves, finding patterns in what we avoid, an AI Michael created called The Atlas, myths in modern pop psychology, having to prove we are human, the shame of AI, using AI for good, and more.

Eva Levina is an expert in narcissistic abuse recovery, a speaker in that field, and the author of the memoir series Death Is No Reason to Stop Living, a true story of surviving years of covert emotional abuse, recognizing manipulation that was hidden in plain sight, and rebuilding a life from the ground up. Like many survivors, Eva didn't realize she was in an abusive relationship for years. There were no black eyes, and no obvious signs. Instead, the abuse came through criticism disguised as concern, control disguised as love, isolation disguised as protection, and gaslighting that slowly eroded her confidence and sense of reality. After leaving the relationship via brutal discard, Eva began the long process of understanding what had happened. Writing became part of that healing journey. Her memoirs were written not only to tell her own story, but to help others recognize the warning signs before they lose themselves. In this interview, we talk about meeting her future abuser and falling in love, sex, playing the victim, red flags, waking up in the ICU alone, emotional abuse, criticism, gaslighting, childhood trauma and personality disorders, creating a false realtiy in the mind of an abuser, recovery, therapy, family, denial, depression, codependancy, how to know when to get out of a bad relationship, emotional resiliance, becoming an options trader, bad first dates, her books, things families and friends should not do or say to a victim of emotional abuse, and more. Links are on the podcast website 

Shu Yang developed a website calle electionssimplified.com in order to explain ballots and let voters know who the candidates are, what their records are, what they voted on, etc. It also explains ballot measures in simple language. The website doesn't promote any candidate, political party, or agenda, and it is free. In this interview, Shu explains the website and what inspired him to create it. We also talk about his home country, China, and how that influenced his desire to promote and improve our voting system by providing the ballot information on the website, his team, funding of the website, ambitions, trying to make the world a better place, ideas to improve our election system, and more. support the show through Patreon https://electionssimplified.com/

In his research into spiritual intelligence, pioneering researcher and TEDx speaker Dr. Amram created the first academically recognized spiritual intelligence theory along with an associated model for Spiritually Intelligent Leadership. His research has garnered over a thousand citations to date, and he has been featured on USA TODAY, Forbes, Inc. He also writes a regular column with Psychology Today. Dr. Amram serves as a psychologist, working with individuals, couples, and groups. His proficiencies encompass couples therapy, address mental health concerns, and facilitate spiritual growth.  We talk about growing up in Israel, becoming an entrepreneur, transpersonal psychology, learning to use our given talents, the meaning of the word "eccentric," connecting to our divine spark or life-force energy, finding your superpower, spiritual intelligence, the intersection between spirituality and psychology, leadership, defining spiritual intelligence, being right vs doing the right thing, inner-directiveness, developing spiritual intelligence, gratitude, attention infidelity, meditation and prayer, lonliness, inspiration, planned obsolescence, business and service, his book "Spritually Intelligent Leadership, how to inspire by being inspired," and more. Links are on the podcast website https://www.paultrammell.com/dream-chasers-and-eccentrics  

R.D. Ravenwood is the author of The Magical Life: A Guide to Building a World That Restores You. He is a retired CIO and entrepreneur and brings a systems thinker's perspective to a deeply human question: Why can we walk ten miles through a theme park and feel completely alive, yet feel exhausted by an ordinary day at home or work? His answer is that we are not always lacking motivation or discipline. Sometimes, the world around us is simply taking more than it gives. Drawing inspiration from theme parks, immersive environments, fantasy worlds, hospitality, sensory design, ritual, and personal identity, The Magical Life explores how we can intentionally create homes, routines, and everyday experiences that restore us rather than drain us. We talk about growing up in Oregon, dealing with corporate burnout, finding answers at Disneyland, how theme parks engineer thriving sigals into the park that energize us as we walk through, making a restorative environment, why cellphones and apps are addictive, the overregulation of our lives, death and risk, fear, sailing, geocacheing, cultivating flow states, designing the life you want, figuring out what makes you happy, living simply, poetry, Star Wars, play and creativity, fast food, peak consumerism, the evil empire of private prisons, and more.

Austin Galante is an independent filmmaker, director, actor, and cinematographer. He's directed four feature films including the cult hit "Sanguine Teeth on a Driftless Road," an offbeat vampire road-trip comedy which picked up numerous festival awards including Best Comedy and Best Director. He's also an actor with roles across film and television. He has 34 film festival wins under his belt. Austin made his feature debut with "Suite Killing Machines," a super low-budget arthouse crime comedy that announced him as a director with a genuinely singular vision.  In 2025, Austin shot back-to-back features — his third and fourth films, "What Have We Won" and "What Have We Won: Deuces," both starring Robert LaSardo — with releases coming in 2026. As an actor, he's also delivered a standout turn as the antagonist in "All About a Check 3," and he's already locked starring roles in three more features shooting in 2026 and '27. In addition to his film career, Austin is a musician and spent years touring and producing music featuring artists like Cee-Lo Green, Snoop Dogg and KRS-One. We talk about getting into the film business, being a gigging musician, stories from the road, creativity, writing, making movies, juggling life and creative work, writing a screenplay, discipline and writing technique, daily routine while working on a creative project, cultivating creativity, poetry, living in Iowa, his films, vampires, editing films, acting, a superpower, artificial intelligence, and more. Links are on the podcast website

Robot Gardener is a science-fiction short story, read by Paul Trammell, the author.  I publish a new short story on paultrammell.substack.com on the first of every month, as well as occasional poetry, essays, and book reviews. Visit the link and subscribe for free to receive them in your mailbox.

Dr. Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, which she chaired from 1988-2003 and from which she officially retired in September 2017.  She is also Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley, and has been awarded honorary degrees from Transylvania University in Kentucky (2012) and from the City University of New York's Macaulay Honors College (2016). In 2023, she was awarded The Edinburgh Medal (for science and society). She is the author of "What to Eat Now, the indespensible guide to good food, how to find it, and whay it matters," and "Sugar Coated, unboxing the hidden forces shaping America's favorite breakfast food," and many other books. We talk about her education, reading, breakfast, cereal, her book "Sugar Coated," milk, the business of food, the obesidy epidemic, Reagan deregulation and its effect on the food industry, lobbying, food policy in government, the cyclospora outbreak, the American Dairy Association, osteoporosis, what to avoid, cannabis edibles, dogs that eat marijuana, artificial flavors and colors, Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs, ultra-processed food, reading the ingredient list, fish, and more. Links are on the podcast website Support the show through Patreon

Maya Rupert is a political strategist, social-justice leader, writer, and podcast host. In 2020, she was the campaign manager for Julián Castro's presidential campaign. She is currently the Executive Vice President of Blue State. Her latest book is "The Real Ones: How to Disrupt the Hidden Ways Racism Makes Us Less Authentic." We talk about what a campaign manager does, January 6th and why Trump was not held accountable, how Trump has brought shame on the Republican party, sane-washing the absurd things Trump says, the rise of the modern right-wing movement, identity politics, what Democrats need to do, whether or not Trump is racist, the benefit of Tump's exposure of existing racism in America, using public education to defeat racism, the need for strong independent news media, the value of diversity, why learning about slavery and the civil rights movement is important, critical race theory, defining propaganda, her book and authenticity, and more. Links are on the podcast website Support the show through Patreon 

Alexa is a sci-fi / thriller short story by Paul Trammell, narrated by the author. The idea was inspired by a comment made by Tina Erwin in an earlier episode. I was asking her why spirits frequented Ouija boards and tarot cards. The short answer was "tradition," but she went on to say that it's entirely possible that technology could offer them a new and more effective portal. Why not an Alexa, I thought, and the story was born.