Ash seemingly talks to herself because the individual involved with this recording was a poor sport and wanted to scrap the recording the next day.. which is fitting with the themes revealed by the conversation.

I'm going to ensure with future conversations that this type of situation is made clear- I'm always happy to cut any timestamp and protect identity if requested (see the last 10 episodes) but I was met with very uncooperative resistance.

I removed the other side of the conversation completely, so only keeping my questions- since respecting the people coming on the journey with me is very important.

Peace&Love