Jung in the World B-Sides | Living as Someone Else: The Hidden Cost of Online Personas with Hilde Lynn Helphenstein (Part 1)

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This episode is part of a new series, Jung in the World B-Sides, where we go off-road to explore the rugged psychological terrain of our current culture.

Part 2 is now up. Listen to Part 2

“Know thyself”—from Socrates to Shakespeare, this wisdom echoed across centuries. But the digital age is turning it inside out. As online influencers rise to fame, persona is overtaking the self. The obsession with self-representation has eclipsed the drive to be true to oneself.

What does it mean to live your life as someone else? In this two-part interview, host Patricia Martin talks with the infamous Jerry Gogosian—real name Hilde Helphenstein—about the hidden psychological costs of her seven-year experiment living as her persona and how she clawed her identity back.

Watch the video of this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqN8oLeQQaQ

Headshot of Connie Zweig

Hilde Lynn Helphenstein is a visual artist, digital storyteller, and the creative mind behind @jerrygogosian, a popular satirical Instagram meme account that critiques and comments on the global art world through viral images, videos and text pieces. It has since transformed into a community and platform.

 

Picture of Patricia Martin

Patricia Martin

Patricia Martin is the creator and host of Jung in the World, now in its sixth season, and the director of the Institute for Psyche and Culture. A cultural researcher, critic and author of four books, including Will the Future Like You? (Karnac, 2026), she writes and speaks on depth psychology's role in digital culture. She is a graduate of the Jungian Studies Program at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago, where she remains a professional affiliate. She holds an MFA in nonfiction from Bennington College and an MA from University College Dublin in Irish culture and literature. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Psyche Magazine, Harvard Business Review, and Riverteeth, among others."

Picture of Patricia Martin

Patricia Martin

Patricia Martin is the creator and host of Jung in the World, now in its sixth season, and the director of the Institute for Psyche and Culture. A cultural researcher, critic and author of four books, including Will the Future Like You? (Karnac, 2026), she writes and speaks on depth psychology's role in digital culture. She is a graduate of the Jungian Studies Program at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago, where she remains a professional affiliate. She holds an MFA in nonfiction from Bennington College and an MA from University College Dublin in Irish culture and literature. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Psyche Magazine, Harvard Business Review, and Riverteeth, among others."

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