For the 100th episode of Life Stories, the podcast where I’ve been talking to memoir writers about their lives and the art of writing memoir, I wanted to do something special. So, in the spring of 2017, I sat down with Kat Kinsman, the author of Hi, Anxiety: Life with a Bad Case of Nerves, and Andrea Petersen, the author of On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety, for a wide-ranging discussion about their personal experiences with anxiety disorder, about maintaining their mental health while dealing with the pressures of their careers in the media industry—like, what does and doesn’t work for them, and why it might or might not work for someone else suffering from anxiety—and about the battle that was then raging to protect our government health care programs. (A battle that we’ll undoubtedly have to fight again before too long.)
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly six years since I uploaded my first Life Stories interview, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have talked to so many fascinating people about their experiences, and about how they’ve striven to communicate their experiences to others. There’s several more interviews already in the pipeline, and while the schedule has been somewhat erratic at times, I’m hoping to establish a steady rhythm in 2018. I hope you’ll continue to join me for those conversations!
Listen to Life Stories #100: Kat Kinsman & Andrea Petersen (MP3 file); or download this file by right-clicking (Mac users, option-click). Or subscribe to Life Stories in iTunes, where you can catch up with earlier episodes and be alerted whenever a new one is released. (If you’re already an iTunes subscriber, please consider rating and reviewing the podcast!)
photos: Marc Goldberg Photography, Jeremy Freeman/CNN
Life Stories #47: Shahan Mufti
Life Stories #46: Victoria Loustalot
Life Stories #45: Dani Shapiro
Life Stories #44: Jesmyn Ward
Life Stories #43: Phyllis Chesler
Life Stories #42: Gary Burton
Life Stories #41: David Schickler
Life Stories #40: Jessica Dorfman Jones
Life Stories #39: MK Asante
Life Stories #38: Marco Roth
Life Stories #37: Periel Aschenbrand
Life Stories #36: Alysia Abbott
Life Stories #35: Andrew McCarthy
Life Stories #34: Josh Hanagarne
Life Stories #33: Alexandra Aldrich
Life Stories #32: Dale Maharidge
Life Stories #31: Dave Bry
Life Stories #30: Beverly Donofrio
Life Stories #29: Mary Johnson
Life Stories #28: Domenica Ruta
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