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Actress Gabourey Sidibe Explains How She Meets People Through Podcasts

Actress Gabourey Sidibe — you've seen her in Precious, American Horror Story and Empire — admits she's a bit of a shut-in. "I really wish I wasn't, but I am," she says with a laugh. And while she's "puttering around" the house she listens to all sorts of stories via podcast. "In a strange way, listening to podcasts helps me meet people," she tells NPR's Ari Shapiro.

Sidibe says she particularly likes the NPR podcast Invisibilia, which is all about the unseen forces that shape human behavior. The "Entanglement" episode describes a woman who has mirror-touch synesthesia, a condition that causes her to physically experience the sensations felt by others.

Sidibe was captivated by this story. "After listening, I became obsessed with learning more about synesthesia and I'm convinced that I have a mild form of it myself," she says.

For more great podcast recommendations, visit earbud.fm.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Corrected: December 21, 2015 at 7:00 PM HST
In the audio of this story, as in a previous Web version, we incorrectly identify the condition discussed in the Invisibilia episode as "synesthesia." It is actually called "mirror-touch synesthesia."
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