Straight White Teeth Co-Interviews Dr. Paul Gilbert on Podsongs

Earlier this year while I was visiting Istanbul, I co-interviewed Dr. Paul Gilbert on the Podsongs podcast. The concept of the podcast is really interesting. Musicians are invited to interview influential people they’re interested in, and they later write a song that’s inspired by the conversation. Dr. Gilbert is a world renowned psychologist and the founder of Compassion Focused Therapy. The interview was timely for me personally, as I was going through what’s commonly called a dark night of the soul season of my life following a painful separation. Dr. Gilbert has a really fascinating view of compassion that I found really helpful during a time when I desperately needed to find ways to access compassion for myself and others. I ended up writing a song called “Nothing’s By Design” about the interview on the topic of embracing compassion and releasing old pain. The song will be released on October 20th, but you can watch the interview here on YouTube.

Big thanks to Jack Stafford for inviting me to be a part of this, and for the stellar cast of musicians who helped perform, produce, and master the track, including Maurizio Sarnicola, Massimino Voza, and Luigi Falcione.