SongWriter turns stories into songs The Echo of Theodicy: Kaveh Akbar + Jamila Woods
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Jan 13, 2026 Join poet Kaveh Akbar, known for his engaging work 'Martyr', as he shares an evocative new poem centered on empathy and theodicy. He dives into the depth of suffering and how art can expand our moral imagination. Alongside him, singer-songwriter Jamila Woods discusses her songwriting process, revealing how her powerful new song 'Ordinary as Air' was inspired by Kaveh's poem. Dr. Eman Abdelhadi adds her insights on community and empathy, discussing the complexities of these themes in the context of migration and social justice.
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Concurrent Consciousness And New Organs
- Kaveh Akbar frames contemporary consciousness as simultaneous enjoyment and awareness of global atrocities, creating moral and sensory tension.
- He argues art expands imagination to build empathy and new “organs” for feeling beyond current sensory limits.
Empathy Shaped By Structural Constraints
- Eman Abdelhadi links empathy research to Muslim American responses to the Gaza genocide and structural constraint under capitalism.
- She highlights how grief is intensified when one's tax dollars and political systems enable distant harm.
Alienation Feeds Moral Numbness
- Abdelhadi describes alienation as living under systems that force complicity, like chasing cheese in a mousetrap.
- She connects this alienation to numbness when witnessing large-scale suffering one indirectly funds.
