While there are some excellent podcasts on blindness (here’s a great list), I’ve struggled to find stories about people who are in the process of losing their vision. The two podcast episodes below are some of the best programs I’ve found that address what it’s like to gradually lose your vision.
Strangers: Adrian’s Race (2 Parts)
Adrian is twenty-five with Stargardt disease, a form of macular degeneration that affects young people. In this two-part series, Adrian is interviewed about his experience as a teenager with a severe eye condition and his thoughts on maintaining independence as an adult in NYC. You can listen to the two-part series here.
Modern Love: Together Always, in Darkness and in Light
This is a reading of Nicole Kear’s NYT ModerLove essay. Kear has a disease called retinitis pigmentosa, which affects both her central and peripheral vision—she lost both in her twenties. In her essay, Nicole describes her experience as a partnering parent. Listen to the episode here.
The following lines from her essay really resonated with me:
“The thing about slowly losing something that feels indispensable is you’re constantly adjusting to the loss. As soon as you find a comfortable balance, something shifts and you have to recalibrate.” — Nicole Kear
Do you know of any other podcasts that document gradual vision loss? Please share, I’d love to find more.
