Talk Tracks Ep 6: The Mind's Back Door: Azheimer's and Telepathy

Summary

The Telepathy Tapes: Episode 6 Summary – "The Mind's Back Door: Alzheimer's and Telepathy"

In the gripping sixth episode of The Telepathy Tapes titled "The Mind's Back Door: Alzheimer's and Telepathy," host Ky Dickens delves into the extraordinary phenomenon of telepathic communication between caregivers and individuals battling Alzheimer's and dementia. This episode not only explores the mystical aspects of telepathy but also underscores the emotional and psychological challenges faced by caregivers.

Introduction to Telepathic Connections in Alzheimer's

Ky Dickens sets the stage by highlighting the increasing number of reports from caregivers experiencing telepathic connections with their loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia. This intriguing trend piqued the interest of the show's coordinator, Katherine Ellis, leading to a deeper investigation into the phenomenon.

Ky Dickens [02:36]: "People are saying that they're experiencing thought sharing or telepathy with someone who has dementia or late-stage Alzheimer's."

Dan Gerke’s Journey: From Diagnosis to Telepathic Communication

At the heart of this episode is the compelling story of Dan Gerke and his wife, Denise, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the young age of 56. The diagnosis process was arduous, taking about a year and a half to confirm. Denise's initial reaction to the diagnosis was surprisingly composed, reflecting her determined nature.

Dan Gerke [04:20]: "I was shocked that somebody 56 year old, fixed 56 years old could have Alzheimer's... She just sat there."

As Denise's condition progressed, she lost her ability to speak, a common symptom in advanced Alzheimer's cases. However, what unfolded next was beyond Dan's expectations—telepathic communication. This newfound connection began as subtle thoughts but soon became a profound means of interaction.

Dan Gerke [12:13]: "I'm like, okay, thank you. I get up the next morning, I'm excited. I have a new method to get her in."

The Emergence of Higher Self Communication

Dan theorizes that the telepathic interactions were facilitated by Denise's "higher self" or soul, which remained connected even as her physical and verbal abilities waned. This higher consciousness allowed for meaningful communication that transcended the limitations imposed by Alzheimer's.

Dan Gerke [13:34]: "I've come to believe that who I'm communicating with is Denise's higher self. Her soul... all seeing, all knowing, all loving."

Expanding the Phenomenon: Telepathy Beyond Denise

The episode takes a fascinating turn as Dan shares his experiences communicating telepathically with other Alzheimer's patients. He recounts encounters where individuals in memory care facilities seemed to recognize his ability to connect telepathically, leading to unexpected and heartfelt interactions.

Dan Gerke [17:27]: "Some people see that I can hear them and talk to them, whereas no one else hears us."

Katherine Ellis’s Insights and Research

Katherine Ellis provides a scientific perspective, discussing the prevalence of Alzheimer's in the United States and the potential implications of telepathic communication in understanding higher consciousness. She raises critical questions about why only certain individuals, like Dan, experience these connections, suggesting that openness and readiness might play crucial roles.

Katherine Ellis [16:24]: "This phenomenon really does seem like a bit of a key, maybe, to the question of whether telepathic communication is available to anyone."

Advice for Caregivers: Building Connections and Seeking Support

Dan emphasizes the importance of meditation and openness in fostering telepathic connections. He advocates for caregivers to engage in practices that quiet the mind, such as taking a few minutes each day to meditate, thereby creating space for these profound interactions.

Dan Gerke [23:43]: "It starts with a minute or two. Build that up to 3 to 5... quieting your mind, opening your mind and your heart to what is out there in the universe."

Furthermore, Dan underscores the emotional toll caregiving can take, urging caregivers to seek support groups and community resources to sustain their well-being.

Dan Gerke [25:50]: "Don't isolate yourself and accept help... you are going to get worn out, you're going to get frustrated beyond measure."

A Profound Encounter: Reconnecting with Loved Ones

One of the most moving moments in the episode is Dan’s account of reconnecting with his late father through Denise's telepathic messages. This encounter provided profound closure and highlighted the deep emotional benefits of such connections.

Dan Gerke [20:21]: "I see the image of the two of them. Denise is in the car with my dad... I was putting Denise to bed. She opens her eyes and she says to me, I am so looking forward to getting to know your dad."

Conclusion: Embracing the Extraordinary

Ky Dickens wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of community and support for caregivers dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia. She encourages listeners to reach out to organizations like the Alzheimer's Association for resources and support.

Ky Dickens [29:05]: "Support groups can be life-changing... Visit the Alzheimer's Associationz.org to find local and virtual support groups as well as resources for caregivers."

Katherine Ellis adds a final note, emphasizing the ongoing exploration of telepathic connections and their potential to reshape our understanding of communication and consciousness.

Katherine Ellis [29:43]: "Stay kind, stay curious, and that being a true skeptic requires an open mind."

Key Takeaways

• Telepathic Communication: The episode explores the fascinating possibility of telepathic connections between caregivers and Alzheimer's patients, facilitated by a higher consciousness or "soul."

• Caregiver Support: Emphasizes the critical need for emotional and mental support for caregivers, advocating for meditation and participation in support groups.

• Scientific and Emotional Insights: Blends scientific inquiry with deeply personal stories, offering a holistic view of the challenges and extraordinary experiences associated with Alzheimer's caregiving.

This episode of The Telepathy Tapes masterfully intertwines personal narratives with broader scientific questions, inviting listeners to reconsider the boundaries of human communication and the profound connections that bind us.

Transcript

[Kai Dickens]

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[Kai Dickens]

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[Dan Gerke]

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[Katherine Ellis]

Blinds.com rules and restrictions may apply. Hi everyone, I'm Kai Dickens and I'm thrilled to welcome you to the Talk Tracks. In this series, we dive deeper into the revelations, challenges and unexpected truths from the telepathy tapes. The goal is to explore all the threads that weave together our understanding of reality, science, spirituality, and yes, even unexplained things like psi abilities. If you haven't yet listened to season one of the telepathy tapes, I encourage you to start there. It lays the foundation for everything we'll be exploring in this journey. We'll feature conversations with groundbreaking researchers, thinkers, non speakers and experiencers who illuminate the extraordinary connections that may defy explanation today, but won't for long. So I'm really excited about today's episode because it dives even deeper into our exploration of telepathy, specifically in people with Alzheimer's and dementia. In the last episode of the Talk Tracks, we told the story of a woman in the late stages of cancer whose consciousness seemed to be traveling to her childhood home when she drift into a sleep state. And then something caught the eye of our telepathy tapes coordinator, Katherine Ellis, as she was going through some of our incoming emails. So, Catherine, you started working for me in December and you have your eyes on our incoming emails and messages and you kind of flagged something. What did you see?

[Kai Dickens]

Well, what really caught my attention is that we're getting a surprising number of emails about Alzheimer's and dementia. People are saying that they're experiencing thought sharing or telepathy with someone who has dementia or late stage Alzheimer's.

[Katherine Ellis]

Okay. And just for clarity, we're talking about caregivers, family members, nurses.

[Kai Dickens]

Right.

[Katherine Ellis]

And they were all describing the same similar experience, which felt like genuine moments of telepathic connection with someone who had Alzheimer's or dementia. So you said that to me, and I have to confess that I thought it was implausible. I had come to believe that, yes, telepathy was legitimate and verifiable amongst non speakers with autism, but how could it manifest elsewhere in such large numbers? But you said something that really hit me in my heart because it validated what parents of non speakers had previously been saying. They were terrified to talk about it openly because they didn't think they'd be taken seriously.

[Kai Dickens]

Exactly. Some of the people who wrote in even said they were afraid they were going crazy, but that they were absolutely certain that something real was happening, that their loved one was somehow communicating with them beyond words. And one name kept popping up as someone who had been through it and really put language to the experience. Dan Gerke.

[Katherine Ellis]

Okay, so tell me about Dan.

[Kai Dickens]

Dan wrote a book called Unforgettable Unbelievable about his wife, Denise, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at just 56 years old. As her disease progressed and she lost the ability to speak, Dan says he began communicating with her telepathically. And now he's become a kind of sounding board for others who are going through similar things and don't know where to turn.

[Katherine Ellis]

So Katherine asked if it would be okay to do an interview with Dan herself to check this all out, and ended up being so fascinating and so important that we're featuring this interview today so others out there going through the same thing won't feel so alone. So here we go.

[Kai Dickens]

Okay. I'd love to hear a little bit about the moment that you and your wife Denise found out she had Alzheimer's disease.

[Dan Gerke]

So Denise was diagnosed when she was just 56 years old. When that was in 2012. And it was a challenge to get the diagnosis. It took about a year and a half before we got an affirmative diagnosis of what was going on. I was shocked that somebody 56 year old, fixed 56 years old could have Alzheimer's. I had no idea she could have that or anyone could have that at that young of an age. Denise's reaction was somewhat muted. I was a little surprised. She didn't show any emotion. She just sat there. We talked a little bit about the disease and kind of next steps, which for him, for the doctor, wasn't much. He just Wanted us to come back in a few months and do a follow up checkup. So on the way out of his office, there is a rack of flyers and brochures and Denise comes storming out of the office and she is grabbing every flyer and every brochure about Alzheimer's, this treatment, that treatment, this therapy, that therapy. And we had a stack of papers and that was really no different than how she handled life in general. It was this just take charge attitude. And we're going to find out more, we're going to do something about this. And I know her attitude and thought was I'm just going to keep living my life as much and as well as I can. That was the day, that was the day of the diagnosis.

[Katherine Ellis]

So then as Denise's disease progressed, she gradually lost her ability to speak. But what happened next was something Dan never expected. So Catherine, tell us what happened in the silence that followed.

[Kai Dickens]

As Denise's disease progressed, she gradually lost her ability to speak. But what happened next was something Dan never expected. A new kind of communication began to emerge, one that didn't rely on words at all. Dan reports that once Denise became non verbal, he began to read her mind and communicate with her telepathically. At first he was shocked.

[Dan Gerke]

So we were about two and a half years into the diagnosis and into the disease process. She was still at home and I was her full time caregiver and at the same time I was still working full time and leaving the house in the morning and coming back worrying about her and. But yet that's the way it had to be. So I had had a particularly hard day getting her up and around and getting her places. One of the biggest issues we were having at the time was her toileting and that was everything from getting her in the bathroom and I just could not get her to sit down and that transferred out to getting her in the car and all kinds of different things. I was just exhausted. I had had a, a particularly really hard day at work, very stressed out from the day. And we get home and you know, the questions from the Alzheimer's patients just tend to go in circles. It's that same question coming up every minute or two minutes.

[Katherine Ellis]

This behavior is incredibly common in Alzheimer's patients and is linked to the breakdown of short term memory. The hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for forming new memories, is one of the first regions affected by the disease. This can be incredibly disorienting and emotionally draining for caregivers.

[Dan Gerke]

You just have to take a deep breath and give the same answer over and over again. So she decided, you know, it's about time for bed. So she goes back to bed. And I said, I'll be back in a little while. I just had to decompress. I had to just be away from her, be away from the Alzheimer's for a little bit.

[Katherine Ellis]

So after a bit of decompressing, Dan goes to bed.

[Dan Gerke]

I was exhausted. I was laying there next to her and I remember hearing myself, I said to myself, you know, if I could only talk to you and you could communicate back, that would help this situation. In somewhat of a frustration I said that. And in my mind I heard her voice, the intonation of her voice say, well, talk to me.

[Katherine Ellis]

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[Dan Gerke]

Wow.

[Kai Dickens]

Okay, so what was your reaction?

[Dan Gerke]

I was somewhat taken back, yet I said, all in my head. I said, okay, all right, how do I get you on the toilet so that it's easier for both of us? She starts explaining. And again, I'm hearing her voice and I'm looking down next to me, right? She's, she's fast asleep, not moving a muscle, not saying anything. It's all what I hear in my head. She explains, well, okay, so you gotta position me, grab my hips and turn me this way. And at the same time, I now know she was showing me pictures, right? Images in my mind of what to do. Turn me this way, push me down, do this, do that, right?

[Kai Dickens]

That is so cool.

[Dan Gerke]

I'm like, okay, thank you. I get up the next morning, I'm, I'm excited. I like, okay, I have a new method to get her in. So we go into the, into the bathroom, and within 30 seconds, I've got her sitting down and I am like raising my hands, whooping it up. It's like the NFL player scoring the touchdown. So the next night comes around that, that same night, then I, I, I go back and I thought, okay, okay, let's see if this works again. I thought, denise, I need help getting you in the car. How do we do that so it's easier for both of us? Same thing. She tells me what to do telepathically in my mind, shows me the images of how to maneuver her to get in the car. And guess what? Same thing. The next day, in the car in 20 seconds. And I'm, you know, I'm doing the victory dance around the car as I go toward the, toward my door. So that's how it started.

[Kai Dickens]

So how do you reconcile with that? What do you think is going on in the brain that, you know, if she can't speak and if she's unable to remember things and communicate with you. Like, why is she still able to communicate with you telepathically in a coherent way?

[Dan Gerke]

I've come to believe that who. Who I am communicating with is Denise's higher self. Her soul said another way. Right. That is who I'm communicating with. And that higher self and soul is all seeing, all knowing, all loving. And so I also think that with Denise and with other Alzheimer's patients that they become withdrawn in the physical world and actually become more connected with their higher selves and whatever it is on the other side, just because they lose all the sensations and the physicality of being in the bodies that we're in, and their minds go and stay in this place. And the higher self kind of kicks in and says, yeah, we're here. And that was the communication. The person, so to speak, I was communicating with.

[Katherine Ellis]

Yeah.

[Kai Dickens]

I've heard from some other people in emails a similar theory that they feel like their loved one is slowly almost slipping into the next realm or the other side, and that their physical body is still just kind of here, but that. That's not really a true representation of them anymore.

[Dan Gerke]

Yeah, very much so. And I heard plenty of stories and experienced this somewhat with Denise. It was probably a year and a half or so before she passed away. I walked into her room, and she is just staring off into the corner of the room. And I had this immediate. Because I had this connection with her. Immediate sensation that, oh, she's talking to her parents. I would feel her mom or her dad come and be with her from time to time. And she was. She was most connected to her dad in this physical lifetime. So that connection was not surprising to me. And I thought that was something that was going on. Just a sense I had.

[Katherine Ellis]

Okay, so, Katherine, at this point in the story, what were you thinking?

[Kai Dickens]

Well, I really couldn't stop thinking about why Dan was able to communicate with Denise telepathically. I mean, there are so many people with Alzheimer's out there, right?

[Katherine Ellis]

Because it's like, why does this one guy get to telepathically communicate with his spouse with Alzheimer's when there's so many people who probably can't? So Katherine did some fact checking. And Catherine, how many Americans are living with Alzheimer's?

[Kai Dickens]

In 2023, an estimated 6.7 million Americans were living with the disease. And the number is expected to more than double by 2060.

[Katherine Ellis]

So huge numbers of people are impacted by Alzheimer's. And how was that reflected in our inbox? Like, did we get 5 to 10 emails from people saying they experienced nonverbal, verbal, telepathic communication with their loved ones with dementia or Alzheimer's. Or was it, like, way more than that?

[Kai Dickens]

If I had to guess, it would probably be a little bit more than 20.

[Katherine Ellis]

Okay, so this phenomenon really does seem like a bit of a key, maybe, to the question of whether telepathic communication is available to anyone.

[Kai Dickens]

Right? Like, are we getting a glimpse of higher consciousness with this population? Is there some part of ourselves that remains even if. If memory and language fade away, or are we all just ignoring something that's always been open and available to us?

[Katherine Ellis]

So, Kathryn, let's go back to your interview with Dan.

[Kai Dickens]

Dan, why do you think you were able to do this with Denise?

[Dan Gerke]

I think part of the reason the communication with Denise continued was because I was open to it. And I remember saying to her, tell me more. I'm open to hearing more. I think also because of that thought mentality and what I was putting out to the universe, other Alzheimer's people started coming to me. It was as if I had literally opened the door, and these people saw that I could hear them and talk to them.

[Kai Dickens]

Wait, what? You gained the ability to telepathically communicate with other people with Alzheimer's.

[Dan Gerke]

So see if I can describe this. So the Alzheimer's person loses their ability to talk quite regularly. Okay, so a lot of the people that were in Denise's memory care facility could not speak.

[Kai Dickens]

Dan describes how individuals in Denise's memory care facility seemed to know that Dan was able to telepathically engage with them. People he had never met started coming up to him, somehow recognizing he was able to receive what they were thinking.

[Dan Gerke]

Their higher selves would recognize that, hey, this guy Dan, he. He can hear you. The physical Alzheimer's person would stand there next to me and look at me, and. And I knew immediately, oh, oh, this guy wants to communicate with me. And so I would start that conversation. It was so cool. But it was again, this door opening. And to this day, I see people I know. They're Alzheimer's people out there in the universe that want to talk to me. And they're coming because they recognize, hey, hey, this guy is listening. He can. He can hear us, whereas no one else hears us.

[Kai Dickens]

You know, that's so amazing. Wow. So this is wild. So nowadays you'll just randomly be somewhere and hear someone with Alzheimer's coming in. How does that work? Do you ever think, like, who the heck is this?

[Dan Gerke]

Shortly after I started communicating with Denise, I wanted to talk to other people. A lot of Times there is somebody, you know, I could be in a, in a restaurant, I could be out driving in the car and I just hear people starting to talk to me and a lot of times what I'll say, okay, tell your loved one, tell your loved one that you want to connect with me. And so sometimes I get a call, sometimes I don't. Yet I encourage that person's higher self to somehow, let's foster that connection. I still am very active in the senior world. I, I'm go into memory care communities and again, the people in the community come walking up to me and they know I can talk to them. So a lot of times I'll go to the memory care director, give them my card and say, hey, I know this is sounding a little weird, yet Mary over there wants to communicate telepathically with me. Can you pass this along to her caregiver or her loved one, whoever that is, daughter, whoever. And sometimes it resonates with that caregivers, sometimes it doesn't.

[Katherine Ellis]

So just breaking in here, Catherine. What's so wild about this to me is it reminds me of the teachers who said that they were able to start hearing multiple non speaking students telepathically.

[Kai Dickens]

I know it really seems like once the floodgate is open, it's totally accessible. Was there a moment of telepathy you experienced with Denise that you found to be like extraordinarily profound?

[Dan Gerke]

Oh, yes. So this was so cool. We were about, oh, two, three months after I started communicating telepathically with her. My dad started coming in. So almost 20 years after he passed away. Never, never had any communication with him before. He starts popping in and, and saying, you know, telling me what's going on, how beautiful it is. He loves sports cars. And I would see these images of him being in a sports car driving down the road and it was just so, so heartwarming to see my dad again after all these years and Denise and him start showing up together. My dad passed away 10 years before I even met Denise. They never knew each other. Okay. Denise also was an adventurous person, loved fast things, including, guess what, fast sports cars. So I see the image of the two of them. Denise is in the car with my dad as a passenger. He is flying down the highway, her blonde hair is flying in the wind, and they've just got the biggest smiles on their faces and just loving it. And I'm just like smiling, beaming to see both of them having fun. And especially for Denise, because she wasn't having fun in life at that point. She was three or four years into the diagnosis. It was not a fun time with her. So to see her have fun was. Was so heartwarming. So one night, I'm putting Denise to bed. She's got her eyes closed, and I'm tucking her in. She always loved to be tucked in. She opens her eyes and she says to me, I am so looking forward to getting to know your dad. And I'm, I was speechless. I'm like, I did not need validation that I was speaking to Denise or speaking and seeing my dad. But here it was right in my face.

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[Kai Dickens]

Well, I love that story so much. Dan, I want to ask you, what is your advice for someone who's looking to tap into the side of themselves that would be open to this kind of communication?

[Dan Gerke]

I think so much of it starts with meditation, just taking a little bit of time every day. Minute, two minutes and just sit in a quiet place. A lot of people think, oh, meditate. You gotta sit there for an hour to two hours and you know, say om a hundred thousand times. No, no, no. It starts with a minute or two. Build that up to 3 to 5, build it to 10, 15 if you want to. But yet it's more about quieting your mind, opening your mind and your heart to what is out there in the universe and what messages you get back. The universe, I believe, wants to help us and it gives us these messages either through tele, telepathy, through meditation, through intuition. And they want to help. And that's where these messages come from. Yeah.

[Kai Dickens]

Do you ever experience other people coming into your head who are not Alzheimer's? It's like people who are non verbal in other ways.

[Dan Gerke]

I have come across a lot of people that have passed along. Some are, some are Alzheimer's people that have passed away and they want, they, they want to come back and you know, ple. Please tell my wife I'm okay. And a lot of times I hear, please tell her she was unbelievable in her caregiving and thank her from me. Because it's a doubt that a lot of caregivers have. We, we doubt sometimes what we're doing. Is this the right thing? And there's so many decisions you gotta make during a day you begin doubting yourself. So it's, it's really heartwarming to hear that from the person saying, God, you did a great job. Thank you.

[Kai Dickens]

That's, that's important. I'm glad we're bringing up the role of the caregiver because I think it's. Unless you've sort of experienced this, it's a little bit overlooked on how emotionally, mentally, physically draining it can be. Um, what would be a big piece of advice that you have for someone who maybe has a recent diagnosis and you know, you're maybe tasked as being the caregiver.

[Dan Gerke]

One of the first things I heard after our diagnosis was, this is a disease about the caregiver. And my first reaction was, no, it's not. It's a disease about Denise. It, she's got the disease. It's about her feelings, her emotions, her well being and all that. And six months later I did a 180. After experiencing just a little bit of the disease, I realized, oh my gosh, this is a disease about the caregiver and how important it is for the caregiver to take care of themselves. And what I mean by that is that for caregivers not to go stick their head in the sand, so to speak, don't isolate yourself. Get out there and join a support group. That was one of the first things we did, actually. From one of the flyers that Denise grabbed after the diagnosis, I found out about this class which also had a support group. And it is so heartwarming and validating to hear other caregivers talk about their journey because a lot of caregivers go to themselves thinking, oh, I got this, I can do this. I'm big and brave. And I said, until death do us part. And it's like, no, this is not like any other disease. You are going to get worn out, you're going to get frustrated beyond measure. There's a lot of statistics out there that the caregiver passes away before the person with the disease because of the stress and strain of being the caregiver. So don't, don't isolate yourself and accept help.

[Kai Dickens]

I really love that approach. I think so many of us have become isolated and afraid to ask for help. But more often than not, people will surprise you by showing up. It seems like despite the incredible hardship of Denise's illness, you came out of it with some truly beautiful insights about life and connection.

[Dan Gerke]

Oh, Catherine, this disease changed my outlook and consideration of life. I was very much, you know, you live life one day at a time. Through that whole disease, I learned live one moment at a time and to be in this present moment, because all the Alzheimer's person has is this exact moment. They don't have anything else. And that's what I tell people these today is that live life fully because you don't know what your diagnosis is tomorrow and what life has to deal for you later on today. So live life fully, have fun, laugh, be with friends as much as you can, family and friends, and go see the world.

[Kai Dickens]

Well, thank you so much Dan. This has been incredible.

[Katherine Ellis]

And Katherine, I want to thank you for following these leads coming into our inbox. There is so much incoming and I want people to know that between myself and Katherine and Jill, we are reading what you're sending us and we'll continue to unpack and feature more of your experiences and questions and stories because we're really starting to find that we can't dismiss or ignore anything. Katherine, any closing thoughts from you?

[Kai Dickens]

I wanted to end the episode by mentioning that if you're caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's or dementia, please remember you don't have to go through it alone. Support groups can be life changing. They offer a space to share, connect and feel understood by people who truly get it. Whether you're looking for emotional support, practical advice, or simply a reminder that you're not alone, help is out there. You can Visit the Alzheimer's Associationalz.org to find local and virtual support groups as well as resources for caregivers. The National Institute on Aging also has excellent information and [e-mail] I'll be sure to link both in the show notes.

[Katherine Ellis]

That's it for this episode of the Talk Tracks, but new episodes will now be released every other Sunday, so stay tuned as we work to unravel all the threads, even the veiled ones that knit together our reality. Please remember to stay kind, stay curious, and that being a true skeptic requires an open mind. Thank you to my amazing collaborators. Original music was created by Elizabeth pw, original logo and cover art by Ben Condor design the audio mix and finishing by Ben Campafrita our amazing podcast coordinator, Jill, my amazing assistant, Katherine Ellis, and I'm Kai Dickens, your writer, creator and host. Thank you again for joining us.