102: We Empower! with Prof. Dr. Anabel Ternès von Hattburg & guests Dr. Ebru Yildiz and Carina Schuster102: We Empower! with Prof. Dr. Anabel Ternès von Hattburg & guests Dr. Ebru Yildiz and Carina Schuster
UK Health Radio Podcast
Transplant specialist Dr. Ebru Yildiz and tech journalist Carina Schuster share experiences from organ donation medicine and AI-driven media, reflecting on emotion, trust and ethics. Their conversation links healthcare, technology and self-care, asking how people can stay human and resilient amid rapid change.
52:26•30 May 2026
Organs, AI and Authenticity: Keeping Humanity at the Heart of Change
Episode Overview
- Organ donation is only possible after confirmed brain death in ICU settings, which helps counter myths and fears about being harmed for organs.
- Transplant work is deeply emotional for patients, families and clinicians, and trying to remove emotion from care turns professionals into “a kind of machine.”
- Cultural hybridity, such as combining German rationality with Turkish emotional warmth, can strengthen human-centred medicine.
- AI can be useful in editing, research and automation, but over-reliance risks weakening critical thinking and spreading biased or unverified information.
- Protecting mental and physical health in a tech-heavy world means managing social media use, eating and sleeping well, and continually educating yourself.
“If you need to put your emotions away, then you are a kind of machine.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety, health, and modern life when medicine and technology move so fast? This episode of *We Empower* on UK Health Radio pulls together two very different but equally intense worlds: organ transplantation and artificial intelligence, all framed around resilience, ethics, and human connection. Host Prof. Dr. Anabel Ternès von Hattburg brings in transplant leader Dr.
Ebru Yildiz, who speaks candidly about the emotional cost of waiting for an organ and the families caught in that limbo.
She describes organ donation as “the present of life” and admits her work is “100%” emotional, stressing that if doctors switched off their feelings “then you are a kind of machine.” Ebru also addresses fears around organ donation head‑on, explaining why “we couldn’t murder them because there had to be brain death,” and how transparent explanations can ease public anxiety.
Her own story as a cultural bridge between Germany and Turkey shows how rational thinking and emotional warmth can coexist in medicine. She credits her children, former patients, and cross‑border medical work as her anchors, offering a quiet reminder that caring for others starts with caring for yourself. The second half shifts into digital culture with award‑winning tech journalist Carina Schuster.
She asks what happens “to truth, to trust, and human identity when AI begins to shape how we communicate, create, and connect.” Carina talks about job disruption, biased information, and the risk of depending on AI for thinking, urging people to “do your own research” and keep reading, learning, and questioning. Throughout, you’ll hear recurring themes of self‑care, authentic storytelling, and the importance of using both science and technology in ways that protect mental health and human dignity.
If you’re interested in recovery, resilience, and how to stay human in a high‑tech, high‑pressure world, this conversation gives plenty to chew on. What message do *you* want to share with the world?
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