When Giulia Lukach had her first manic episode, it seemed to come out of nowhere. She was in her late twenties, and had been married to her husband, Mark, for three years. “For him it was just so new because I’ve always been the happy girl,” Giulia told Anna in an interview in 2015. Her psychosis was dark and intense.“ The only thing she could talk about was the devil and that she needed to protect the world because the devil was inside her,” Mark said in their 2015 interview.
In 2023, Mark and Giulia sat down with Anna again. In the intervening years, they had a second child, and after years without Giulia having a manic episode, they thought they were in the clear. “We had this quasi-pseudo-science theory that maybe by sharing our story with the world, that was becoming this like protective barrier,” Mark told Anna. In this episode, you’ll hear parts of the couple’s original 2015 conversation, and how their outlook has changed since, both in how they treat each other, and how they deal with the unknown. “I have been to war with myself and with my mind many times,” Giulia said, “knowing that my episodes can come at any moment – that's like high anxiety for me – and so I literally live in the moment now. I only live in today.”
Also, side note: Will you be in New York City on Saturday, December 9th at 12:30pm? Come to a Death, Sex, & Money live event at Caveat, a cabaret on the Lower East Side, to celebrate the show’s run at WNYC. We’re calling it Four Interviews and a Funeral. Join Anna, the team, special guests, and dance along to live music. Tickets are available here.
"There’s Never a Perfect Time to Say, 'I’m Blind'"
Anna Sale Introduces Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery
Siblinghood
Hard: Softening Expectations
Hard: Little Pill, Big Pharma
Hard: Erectile Disappointment
Why Lynn Nottage Cashed Out Her 401(k)
Affairs, Throuples, and Big Monogamy: Your Relationship Questions Answered
Inheriting Divorce
Where is Lisa Fischer's Backup?
This Elvis Impersonator Does It For Love… And Money
André De Shields On Living With His Shadow
Downsizing After Divorce
A New Year's Pep Talk From Robin Arzón
Why I Steal
A Season to Savor
The Weight Of Love
Why Alan Cumming Doesn't Do Drama
Becoming A Parent Of Six, At 25
“What I Live With”: The Aftermath of Fatal Accidents
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Today, Explained
The Daily
Stuff You Should Know
On Being with Krista Tippett
TED Radio Hour