LIVE ONLINE LECTURE · BY DONATION
The Intimacy Question:
How Technology Is Changing What It Means to Be Close
A live lecture and Q&A with Lisa Blair, PhD
DATE
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
TIME
FORMAT
1:00 - 3:00 pm PT
4:00 - 6:00 pm ET
9:00 - 11:00 pm GMT
8:00 - 10:00 am AET (Thursday, March 5th)
Live Online · Zoom
ADMISSION
By donation — all proceeds to Candy
Important: To attend this lecture, you must register and donate on this page. Donating directly to the GoFundMe is deeply appreciated — but it does not register you for the event. Please use the registration links below to secure your place.
ABOUT THE LECTURE
Are we more connected — or more alone?
We often assume that more communication means more connection. But the experience of intimacy—the felt sense of being known, met, and held in relationship—may be changing in ways we do not yet fully understand.
— 51% of people say their partner is distracted by their phone when they are together.
— Sharing about your relationship publicly online lowers intimacy and satisfaction for both partners.
— People are forming genuine emotional bonds with AI companions — and when those systems are changed or taken away, users report real grief. Real heartbreak. Over a chatbot.
— AI sex and love robots already exist and operate. How will it affect humans to bond with an entity that is not alive and does not experience care?
These are not isolated trends. They point to something deeper: a shift in how intimacy itself is being formed, experienced, and understood. As our relational lives become increasingly mediated by screens, algorithms, and artificial systems, we are entering new terrain—where the boundaries between human and technological connection are no longer clear.
This is not ultimately a lecture about technology. It is an inquiry into what it means to be close to another human being—and how that meaning may be changing in fundamental ways.
Drawing on research across sociology, psychology, and digital culture—as well as her own transdisciplinary work on intimacy in times of accelerating change—Lisa Blair offers a rigorous and deeply human inquiry into the evolving nature of connection.
This lecture invites us to consider not only how technology is shaping our relationships, but how it may be reshaping our expectations of intimacy itself: what we turn toward, what we avoid, and what it now means to feel close, seen, and known in a world where connection is increasingly mediated.
The lecture will be approximately 30 min. followed by a long Q&A.
THE PRESENTER
Ph.D., Transformative Studies
California Institute of Integral Studies
M.A., Process Work
Process Work Institute
B.A., Sociology–Anthropology
Middlebury College
Certified Process Work Diplomate
Co-host, In Two Deep Podcast
Lisa Blair, Ph.D.
Lisa Blair is a scholar, writer, and educator whose work examines intimacy and love within contemporary social contexts. Her doctoral research reconceptualized intimacy through a transdisciplinary lens, examining how global complexity, AI, and digital culture have reshaped romantic partnerships over the past two decades.
Her work has been published in World Futures, the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and the award-winning International Handbook of Love (Second Edition). She teaches and consults internationally on emotional intimacy and conflict resolution for couples.
Lisa and David Bedrick co-host In Two Deep, a podcast about emotional intimacy, conflict, and connection from a depth psychological perspective.
Published in World Futures, Journal of Consciousness Studies, International Handbook of Love (2nd Ed.)
WHERE YOUR DONATION GOES
Every dollar goes to Candy.
Candy is a single mother raising two boys — Dario, age 7, and Shaun, age 15 — in Little London, Jamaica. This past fall, Hurricane Melissa made a direct hit on their town. Their home was completely destroyed. Every belonging, gone. They were left with only the clothes and shoes they were wearing. On Christmas, all she could give her sons was a few crackers and some packets of sauce.
We have known Candy for ten years. She is the only server at Murphy's, a small restaurant on West End Road in Negril. She is a strong, proud woman who has raised her boys alone since losing their father eight years ago. When we visited Jamaica in January, she opened up to us about her situation for the first time — she hadn't felt safe telling anyone before. Hearing her story broke our hearts open.
For three months, they had been sleeping on chairs in a friend's spare room, but they had to leave, so we provided the funds for their temporary shelter in a room rental, food to eat, another set of clothes, school uniforms so the boys could return to school, and medical funds to treat Candy's recent illness. They currently have no other support except for Candy's small weekly pay.
Shaun, age 15, Candy, and Dario, age 7
Their home after the hurricane.
We are hoping to raise at least $6000 USD. Every dollar goes directly to Candy.
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$2000 will allow Candy and her sons to have a simple place to call home: a small, wooden structure with four walls and a roof.
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$1000 more will provide them with two mattresses, sheets, and pillows so they can sleep, and a simple stove for Candy to cook them basic food.
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$2000 more will give them a proper stove and hook-ups for electricity and water.
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$1000 more will give them enough food to stock their pantry and kitchen, kitchen equipment and supplies, clothing and shoes, and some basic items for their home.
$1,132
DONATIONS RAISED SO FAR
THANK YOU!
Dario, age 7
Shaun, age 15
You may also donate directly to Candy at any time through the GoFundMe fundraiser — but please note: a direct GoFundMe donation does not register you for the lecture. To attend, you must register on this page.
REGISTER
Choose the donation that reflects your situation.
This event is supported entirely by donation. Please give at the level that honestly reflects your financial circumstances and resonates with your inner truth — every amount is welcome, and every dollar goes to Candy.
I'm struggling to meet my basic needs, but want to show up.
I can meet my basic needs, but have little extra to spare.
I can meet my basic needs and consistently have money left over.
I'm financially comfortable and want to give generously.
I have abundance to share and want to give at that level.
A recording will be made available to all registered attendees after the event.