Ben Stone
Welcome Back!
On the podcast this week.
When Ben Stone awoke from brain surgery in 2024, he thought it was 2019. Then when he got home, his cat looked like a woman from the hospital and his mother looked like his cat. That was only the beginning.
On this week’s podcast
In 2024, Ben Stone underwent planned brain surgery called arteriovenous malformation (AVM) to remove a tangled, abnormal mass of arteries and veins. Following the surgery, faces became distorted. Ben had developed prosopometamorphopsia or PMO, a rare perception disorder, and palinopsia, a group of vision symptoms that cause you to keep seeing something even when it’s not there.
For a year following his surgery, Ben dealt with depression and often cried himself to sleep because he felt like a different person. He refers to that person as Ben 2.
Our conversation centers on Ben’s fear and the philosophical questions that came with feeling like a different person. Ben also reflects — often humorously — on how his visual distortions affect everything from grocery shopping to online dating.
Rendering of the way Ben sees some people as a result of his PMO. Courtesy Ben Stone and Dr. Brad Duchaine.
I first learned about PMO in 2023 from Dr. Brad Duchaine, a Professor and researcher at Dartmouth College. I subsequently wrote a story about Dr. Duchaine’s work for Scientific American: A Rare Visual Disorder Twists Faces Out of Shape.
A 2024 study co-authored by Dr. Brad Duchaine generated the first accurate visualizations of the 'demonic' facial distortions experienced by a patient with PMO. Illustration courtesy of Dr. Brad Duchaine.
Coming up on the podcast in October
As a child growing up in Germany, Lorenz Hemicker heard that his grandfather had done “distinguished service” in World War II.
Those two words would later set the journalist on a journey of profound discovery about the role his grandfather played in the massacre at Rumbula in Latvia.
Hemicker’s grandfather Ernst, father Peter and grandmother Lilo
In case you missed it, I was recently a guest on my friend John Niland’s podcast, Self-Worth in Times of Chaos, speaking about the changing media landscape, AI and how I’m navigating these turbulent times as a journalist.
Get caught up on previous episodes…
Leeann Bongiorno
She feared she would live the rest of her life in pain. Then one doctor said six words.
Sasha Karelsky
She Checked His Location…and Her Whole Life Changed
Zero Experience, Huge Deals: How Miguel Olave Just Went For It
Cory Young
What Would You Do If a Stranger Tried to Set You on Fire?
Abigail Washington
How Can You Think Outside the Box When You’re in the Box?
Was this email forwarded to you? Join us!
Special thanks to Kim Ledgerwood, Hannah Verdant, Laine Seaton and my kids for their support and hard work in making Bodacious Tenacity a reality.
Want to share your own story of persisting through fear?
Follow us and reach out on our socials!