The Analog Hour

Michelle Henery

5.0 (3)
Society & Culture

In a world of endless content, The Analog Hour offers focused, meaningful conversations about media literacy, human connection, and finding our way back to each other.

4d ago

Truth Has Become Cheaper: Two Scientists on Why That Should Worry Us All

When we talk about society's declining trust in institutions, one of the biggest is our diminishing trust in science. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Linnea Weiss and Dr. Andrés Hidalgo, married scientists who both work in labs at Yale. They've been doing research since the 1990s and they've watched a shift, or as Linnea put it, "truth has become cheaper." This is a conversation about what it feels like to dedicate your life to discovery in a world with increasing skepticism and scrutiny — and why, despite everything, they wouldn't do anything else. Your analog assignment: The next time you read a headline about a scientific breakthrough (or failure) pause before you continue your scroll. Think about the person behind it, their years in the lab, the many, MANY experiments that didn't work before the one that did. If you know a scientist, ask them about their work... and listen.
Sep 25

Digital Dementia: When AI Becomes the Only Voice in the Room

Dean Cooper is an IT executive who uses conversational AI in both his professional and personal life every day. As someone who is neurodivergent, he calls it a lifeline. In this conversation, Dean introduces the concept digital dementia: the idea that we're outsourcing so much of our thinking to AI that we're forgetting how to do the things we once knew. He asks whether we're using AI as a bridge to bring us closer to others, or if we are burning it down because the other side feels too hard. Moreover, he draws parallels between his own fight with addiction and how many of us are using AI without realizing our dependency on it. About the guest: Dean Cooper is a technology executive, author, and founder of Street Therapy and Disability Assistive AI. He advocates for neurodiversity, disability accessibility, and addiction recovery. DisabilityAssistiveAi.com | StreetTherapy.co.uk | icarus.works Your analog assignment: Are you someone who uses AI more than you care to admit? Challenge yourself to reach out, and build, or in some cases repair, that bridge.
Sep 18

The Toothpaste Test: Why Real Connection Starts With the Small Stuff

In this week's episode, we talk to Lorii Abela, a luxury private matchmaker. Her clients have excelled in almost every aspect of their lives (careers, companies, wealth) and they hire her to help with the one thing that still eludes them: love. She shares what she's seen change over 14 years of matchmaking: how dating has shifted from real conversation to texting and swiping, how the illusion of endless options is making connection harder rather than easier, and what she discovers underneath the surface when someone says they just can't find the right person. About the guest: Lorii Abela specializes in helping high-achieving individuals navigate the gap between professional success and personal fulfilment. Find out more: loriiabela.com Your analog assignment: Seek out a real conversation with a friend this week and if they offer to introduce you to someone, say yes. You never know what's right in front of your nose.
Sep 11

The Problem With Work: We Designed the Loneliness In

This week, our conversation goes somewhere we haven't been yet: the office. It can be a lonely place for many of us. One that we tend to blame on difficult bosses, disengaged co-workers, and a general lack of interpersonal skills, but what if it was in fact, a design problem? Alexandra Suchman, a self-described professional play-facilitator, has an idea of how to repair what's broken. She brings games into workplaces — and not the trust falls many of us are familiar with, her games offer something far more interesting. In this episode, we discuss: How technology has rewired our communication skills; and what "crickets in the meeting" really meansPlay as a serious tool for rebuilding trust, communication, and belongingWhy one friend at work can change everythingPlus a game anyone can play to reveal a team's weak points (and how to rebuild lost trust)About the guest: Alexandra Suchman is an entrepreneur and facilitator specializing in organizational development, creative problem-solving, and team dynamics. She is the founder of Barometer XP, where she uses play-based experiential learning to help teams rebuild trust, communication, and collaborative skills. Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Try it yourself: Avocado Al Dente — a free game from Alex's team to practice creative thinking and communicating feedback: avocado.barometerxp.com Your analog assignment: Have a conversation with a colleague that has nothing to do with work. Ask them about their life outside of the office, what they did before and how they got there. You might be surprised by what you learn... and you might just become that one friend they needed.
Sep 4

The Death of Our Social Fabric, One Google at a Time

Welcome to Season 2 of The Analog Hour. This week, we sit down with Julia Freeland Fisher to discuss AI and loneliness. She has spent over a decade at the Clayton Christensen Institute studying how relationships shape opportunity. Yet, lately her research has explored what happens when AI starts filling the role that humans used to. In this conversation, Julia draws a distinction between engagement and connection; explains why the outer ring of our networks (what she calls the "weak ties") may be more at risk from AI than our closest relationships; and reveals a devastating finding about why young people are turning to AI for companionship. About the guest: Julia Freeland Fisher is the Director of Education Research at the Clayton Christensen Institute and author of Who You Know: Unlocking Innovations That Expand Students' Networks (Wiley, 2018). She writes Connection Error, a weekly Substack on how AI companions and productivity tools are reshaping our relationships. Your analog assignment: Think of the person you've been wanting to reach out to — the one you haven't called because you don't want to bother them. Call them. You're not a burden. You never were.
Jun 19

The Lost Art of Serendipity

Do you know your neighbors? Kanika Mehra is the Gen Z. creator behind Airplane Mode - an Aspen Institute project bringing young people back to third spaces and offline connection. She came up with the idea after thinking about why gathering has become so hard, particularly for her generation. Her answer might surprise you: she believes that the paradigm for gathering has simply disappeared. In this conversation, we talk about serendipity - the unexpected, magical connections that only happen when you're open to the world around you - and what we're losing as technology decides, in advance, who we are and what we'll find. This Week's Analog Assignment: Leave the house with nothing but (as my mother used to say) your two long arms. Take a walk. Let the world in. See what or who finds you. Connect with Kanika: Follow Kanika's work at the Aspen Institute's Center for Rising Generations and keep an eye out for Missed Connections - coming soon. Subscribe to The Analog Hour wherever you listen. analoginadigitalworld.net | @analoginadigitalworld (IG)
Jun 5

Vitamin Friendship: Why Social Health Is the Missing Piece

Here's something nobody tells you about making friends as an adult: it's not that you've forgotten how. It's that nobody told you where to go. Maggie Arai spent years answering that question. As founder of happier - a Toronto community that hosted 60+ events and grew to 10,000+ members in 18 months, and Founders Who Give a F*ck, a membership community for ambitious women founders - she's learned firsthand about what people actually need when they walk into a room full of strangers. In this conversation, we talk about the difference between a network and a community, why consistency matters most when forming relationships, and a phrase that should be trending: social health. This Week's Analog Assignment: Let one small interaction be enough this week. Chat with a neighbor. Skip the self-checkout and say hello to the human cashier. You don't need it to become a friendship. You just need it to happen. Connect with Maggie: Founders Who Give a F*ck: fwgaf.com Subscribe wherever you listen. analoginadigitalworld.net | @analoginadigitalworld (IG)
May 22

The Courage Crisis: Why Making Friends as an Adult Is So Hard

Was it always this hard to make friends? In school, connection felt effortless. Then we graduated - and suddenly it wasn't as straightforward as it used to be. Adele Bloch says our increasing sense of isolation can't simply be labeled as a loneliness crisis. Instead she calls it: a courage crisis. Adele is a community builder, coach, and founder of Dining with Strangers and The Board Walks SF - a weekly Saturday morning walk series she hosted for over 100 consecutive weeks in San Francisco, bringing strangers together for deep, meaningful conversation. After years of hosting 300+ events and coaching people through social and relationship blocks, Adele has developed a practical, warm framework for rebuilding connection as an adult - starting with one simple question: what type of connection are you actually missing? In this conversation: "Ambient social connection" - what it is and why we've lost itWhy we're in a courage crisis, not just a loneliness crisisThe phone as social crutch - and how to get through "five seconds of courage"The four friendship buckets: do stuff friends, comfort friends, deep talk friends, ambient connectionConnection as a muscle: it's not something you have or don't haveThis Week's Analog Assignment: Think about Adele's four friendship buckets. Which one are you missing most? This week, take one step toward filling it. Go to one event. Text someone you've been meaning to see. Say hello to your barista/neighbor/the person you lock eyes with on the subway and actually mean it. Just one rep. Connect with Adele: Website: adelebloch.comInstagram: @adeleblochjourneyTwitter/X: @adele_blochThe Board Walks: theboardwalks.com

Trailer

The Analog Hour - Trailer

Welcome to The Analog Hour - where we explore our increasingly divided society, the erosion of trust in institutions from government to media, and the isolation we feel from each other... and how we find our way back to connection. Hosted by Michelle, a "professional talker" and former journalist who reported across continents for almost 20 years. If you're yearning for clarity, conversation, and community - you're not alone. Subscribe now. Episode 1 drops in early January 2026.

5

out of 5

3 Ratings

In a world of endless content, The Analog Hour offers focused, meaningful conversations about media literacy, human connection, and finding our way back to each other.

Creator

Michelle Henery
Years Active

2026
Episodes

22
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© Michelle Henery 2025
Show Website

The Analog Hour