This week on How To Fail, we’re joined by the brilliant writer Olivia Laing. Her three critically-acclaimed works of non-fiction, To The River, The Trip to Echo Spring and The Lonely City, have explored themes of alcoholism, loneliness and suicide (and yet somehow manage to be deeply uplifting to read). Her recent debut novel, Crudo, has everyone from Jilly Cooper to Viv Albertine in veritable ecstasies.
Olivia talks to us about losing her way in her 20s, how the torture of romantic break-ups has ultimately led to some of her greatest creative work and about what it’s like to be made redundant from a job you love. Along the way, we discuss gender fluidity, whether women are conditioned to self-deprecate, getting married at 40, why being raised by lesbians made Olivia less susceptible to patriarchal assumptions about What Men Want. We also debate whether Brighton has more dogs on strings than the average British city (spoiler alert: Elizabeth thinks that yes, it definitely does).
How To Fail is hosted by Elizabeth Day and produced by Chris Sharp
How To Fail is sponsored by Moorish
Crudo by Olivia Laing is out now, published by Picador
Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
Olivia Laing @olivialanguage
Moorish @moorishhumous
Picador @picadorbooks
SPECIAL EPISODE! How to Fail: Mo Gawdat on how to cope with anxiety in a time of Coronavirus
S7, BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Deliciously Ella
S7, Ep8 How to Fail: Frankie Bridge
S7, Ep7 How to Fail: Adam Pearson
S7, Ep6 How to Fail: Marian Keyes
S7, Ep5 How to Fail: Eniola Aluko
S7, Ep4 How to Fail: Tom Kerridge
S7, Ep3 How to Fail: Mabel
S7, Ep2 How to Fail: Malcolm Gladwell
S7, Ep1 How to Fail: Andrew Scott
S6, Ep 8 How to Fail: Jane Garvey
S6, BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Lemn Sissay
S6, Ep7 How to Fail: Fearne Cotton
S6, Ep6 How to Fail: George Alagiah
S6, Ep5 How to Fail: Shirlie Kemp
S6, Ep4 How to Fail: Lisa Taddeo
S6, Ep3 How to Fail: Cush Jumbo
S6, Ep2 How to Fail: Alain De Botton
S6, Ep1 How to Fail: Camilla Thurlow
S5 BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Philippa Perry and Sadie Jones
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