Piercing the Numbness: Getting Beyond the Intolerable Everyday

October 30, 2025
3:35pm
- 4:50pm
The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center

The writer Isaac Bashevis Singer once wrote that the greatest curse of the human spirit is its ability to get used to anything. As the public becomes desensitized to stories of violence, trauma, and injustice, investigative storytellers face the challenge of breaking through the static. How can investigative storytellers bring a fresh eye to urgent, trauma-filled stories that the public often struggles to look at directly? This panel will explore the creative, ethical, and emotional strategies to restore humanity and impact to stories overwhelmed by repetition, discomfort, or societal numbness.

Double Exposure offers a variety of festival passes that provide attendees with priority access to a range of events. We also offer a limited number of standalone tickets to individual events, providing a more flexible way to participate.

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