Sincerely, X

by June Cohen

Some stories are too sensitive, painful or potentially damaging to share publicly - unless they can be shared anonymously. TED and Audible present, Sincerely, X, featuring speakers whose ideas deserve to be heard but whose identities must remain hidden. From lifesaving rituals to the unexpected gift of a prison sentence to the consequence of physician burnout; you won’t know the storyteller’s name, but their story may change you forever.

As an Audio Show - free for members - when you add Sincerely, X to your library, you'll get all 10 episodes, each with a runtime of about 25 minutes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook

350 pages, Audible Audio

First published October 27, 2017

Reviews

[Sarah Lumos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this isn't a book, but it's free for Audible members and I loved listening to it. I watch a lot of TED Talks and it was nice to see taboo topics being addressed in such an unfiltered manner. The speakers are kept anonymous, which allows them to be authentic and speak their truth. Here were some of my favourite talks:

There was a doctor who was coping with extreme burn out. She gave her patient the wrong advice and he ended up dying.

There was a successful worker in Silicon Valley who developed mental illness and commented on the backwards nature of our mental health system. He spent thousands of dollars on mental health treatment but made no progress. It baffled him - he had a super computer in his pocket yet felt like he was back in the time of the lychees when he sought mental health treatment.

And the final talk that stood out to me featured a woman who talked about how to recognize gifted children who are living in poverty.

I wish there was a part 2 of this podcast. I loved listening to it and thought it was so well done. More of this please!

[Becs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ten people speak about their personal struggles and experiences with widely known issues. Each speaker is anonymous, although in some cases the stories are reasonably high profile, and each of them speaks really honestly about the core issues surrounding some of the mistakes they’ve made or some of the challenges they’ve faced because of life’s roll of the dice.

Some of the stories were really powerful; I was deeply invested in an episode featuring a doctor with burnout who made tired decisions and gave advice to a patient which subsequently led to their death. It’s great to hear from a person in such an influential position, of great responsibility, who it would be easy to forget isn’t infallible. Stories like this one were simply human and worked far better than some of the more detached episodes in this podcast.

The other stories touch on triggering topics for some listeners, such as domestic violence and sexual abuse with harrowing firsthand encounters. Others look at more socioeconomic issues, such as power in high profile businesses for women or gifted children in impoverished areas struggling to find opportunities they’re completely deserving of.

The trouble I had was with the connection with some of the speakers being somewhat lessened by the superficial chat afterwards - the first hand personal experiences were fantastic, but I would have really appreciated each of their stories then being used to encourage a dialogue to broaden understanding of what this means for other people; some of the socioeconomic issues warranted further exploration and felt superficial in nature.

I’ve rated this podcast based upon how much I felt I took away from it, because that’s ostensibly why I would choose to listen to something progressive like this - to learn something about a topic I should invest more time in - but it felt a little too superficial for me to consider it influential or insightful in the majority of cases.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really inspiring stories

[Kent Kirker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the ten episodes about seven of them featured female speakers, which I didn’t mind. I especially enjoyed the profundity of the last episode’s featured speaker. Education in any area is important, but especially in urban areas where it is even more difficult to get students engaged with their own education when they are faced with the multiple struggles and peer pressure outside of the school. I would love to hear more from this women, an educator, who faced her own struggles, abuses, and lashes of anger and misbehavior growing up.

[Obada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great concept, rock-solid content and engaging production! I especially liked the episodes which brought up stories on mental well being, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I am a big fan of the mental health conversation, I believe that past traumas as well as poor mental care are affecting our daily lives more than we are realising. Spreading awareness and learning coping mechanisms are a big responsibility of ours. A good starting point is the resources shared at the end of each episodes, very useful if interested in the topic.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sincerely, X is a series of ted talks from anonymous speaks who for various reasons decide not to share their stories on a big stage.
I found so many of these stories thought provoking and moving!
My only issue is a wish they were longer!
So for anyone who loves a good ted talk, this mini series is 100% worth paying for. Except it’s free! So even better!!!!

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise I enjoyed this Would recommend

[Roxanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varied bunch of episodes in this series but also varies in quality. Some were genuinely intriguing and interesting ideas but some were just someone's opinion on a topic.

[Željko Filipin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting thoughts about depression, jail, gender equality, powerty...

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of interesting stories. Some, more interesting than others.

[Petra Valjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me especcially inspiring were episodes "Dr. Burnout" and "Equality Executive". Strong ideas, strong message!

[Hilary Cockshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Aadya Dubey]

Ted Talk. Anonymous.
I don't know.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little titbits about subjects as wide ranging as abuse etc