As part of the April issue, the European Respiratory Journal presents the latest in its series of podcasts. Chief editor Martin Kolb interviews Andreas von Leupoldt (University of Leuven, Belgium) and Thomas Similowski (Sorbonne Universités and Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière Charles Foix, Paris, France) about how observing dyspnoea in others elicits dyspnoea, negative affect and brain responses.