Siri HustvedtEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

Novelist Siri Hustvedt knows a lot about grief. Two years ago, her husband, the writer Paul Auster, died. They had an extraordinary life together as parents, romantic partners, and authors who shared their work. Hustvedt was devastated by Paul's death. In her book Ghost Stories , she explores what happens when someone who has been your partner for more than 40 years disappears and how she remains haunted by his absence. Hustvedt also talks publicly for the first time about a family tragedy: the death of Paul's son and their young granddaughter. In her Brooklyn brownstone overlooking her garden, I talk to Siri Hustvedt about love, memory, healing and the things that make her laugh. "Now What?" is produced with the help of Steve Zimmer, Lucy Little and Jackie Schwartz. Audio production is by Nick Ciavatta.

What does it mean to mourn a shared life? In this episode, essayist and novelist Siri Hustvedt speaks to book critic Mythili Rao about Ghost Stories. Her most personal work yet, it is a searing and intimate meditation on grief, memory and enduring love, written in the aftermath of the death of her husband, writer, poet and filmmaker Paul Auster. Weaving together journal entries, letters, emails and fragments of Auster’s final writing, Hustvedt reflects on four decades of love, intellectual companionship and family life in New York. Together they discuss grief not as a single event but as an altered experience of time, memory and presence. Hustvedt discusses the role of writing in mourning, the value of nurturing an inner life in an age of constant distraction, and the intersection of personal grief and political dread in contemporary America. Siri Hustvedt is a novelist, essayist and poet. Her books include What I Loved , The Blazing World and Memories of the Future . Her latest book is Ghost Stories . Mythili Rao is a journalist, book critic and podcaster. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.” Today, we are honored to welcome a writer whose work has long explored the intimate landscapes of the mind, memory and the heart. Siri Hustvedt ’s writing moves between the personal and the philosophical, the literary and the deeply human. Her work bridges collections of essays, non-fiction, poetry, and seven novels, including the international bestsellers What I Loved and The Summer Without Men . Recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and the Gabarron Prize for Thought, her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories , is a reflection on forty-three years shared with her late husband, the writer and filmmaker Paul Auster . In its pages, we encounter not only love and loss, but the quiet persistence of presence, memory, and language itself. (0:00) Grief as Unrequited Love Siri explores the emotional reality of living without Paul Auster, noting that grief occurs because love does not stop when a person dies. (4:00) Facing Death with Courage The importance of not hiding from mortality and how discussing end-of-life wishes offered a necessary perspective. (12:37) Reading from Ghost Stories Siri reads the opening passage of her memoir, detailing how the loss of her husband deranged her sense of time and bodily rhythms. (18:41) The Phantom Limb: ” The beloved is taken away and it feels as if you're amputated or gutted.” (21:50) Grandfather, Father and Son: Generational Traumas Behind Paul Auster's Writing (24:11) How Powerful Emotions and a Person's Life Can Play a Role in Illness (30:09) Feeding the Earth "Paul very pointedly told me that he wanted to be buried in the Jewish mode. And the phrase he used was, “I want my body to feed the earth.” (44:23) Physical Love in Marriage On the importance of physical intimacy in long-term marriages, a reality often left out of grief memoirs. (54:00) The Philosophy of the Between <p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style=

“Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.” Today, we are honored to welcome a writer whose work has long explored the intimate landscapes of the mind, memory and the heart. Siri Hustvedt ’s writing moves between the personal and the philosophical, the literary and the deeply human. Her work bridges collections of essays, non-fiction, poetry, and seven novels, including the international bestsellers What I Loved and The Summer Without Men . Recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and the Gabarron Prize for Thought, her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories , is a reflection on forty-three years shared with her late husband, the writer and filmmaker Paul Auster . In its pages, we encounter not only love and loss, but the quiet persistence of presence, memory, and language itself. (0:00) Grief as Unrequited Love Siri explores the emotional reality of living without Paul Auster, noting that grief occurs because love does not stop when a person dies. (4:00) Facing Death with Courage The importance of not hiding from mortality and how discussing end-of-life wishes offered a necessary perspective. (12:37) Reading from Ghost Stories Siri reads the opening passage of her memoir, detailing how the loss of her husband deranged her sense of time and bodily rhythms. (18:41) The Phantom Limb: ” The beloved is taken away and it feels as if you're amputated or gutted.” (21:50) Grandfather, Father and Son: Generational Traumas Behind Paul Auster's Writing (24:11) How Powerful Emotions and a Person's Life Can Play a Role in Illness (30:09) Feeding the Earth "Paul very pointedly told me that he wanted to be buried in the Jewish mode. And the phrase he used was, “I want my body to feed the earth.” (44:23) Physical Love in Marriage On the importance of physical intimacy in long-term marriages, a reality often left out of grief memoirs. (54:00) The Philosophy of the Between <p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style=

“Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.” Today, we are honored to welcome a writer whose work has long explored the intimate landscapes of the mind, memory and the heart. Siri Hustvedt ’s writing moves between the personal and the philosophical, the literary and the deeply human. Her work bridges collections of essays, non-fiction, poetry, and seven novels, including the international bestsellers What I Loved and The Summer Without Men . Recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and the Gabarron Prize for Thought, her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories , is a reflection on forty-three years shared with her late husband, the writer and filmmaker Paul Auster . In its pages, we encounter not only love and loss, but the quiet persistence of presence, memory, and language itself. (0:00) Grief as Unrequited Love Siri explores the emotional reality of living without Paul Auster, noting that grief occurs because love does not stop when a person dies. (4:00) Facing Death with Courage The importance of not hiding from mortality and how discussing end-of-life wishes offered a necessary perspective. (12:37) Reading from Ghost Stories Siri reads the opening passage of her memoir, detailing how the loss of her husband deranged her sense of time and bodily rhythms. (18:41) The Phantom Limb: ” The beloved is taken away and it feels as if you're amputated or gutted.” (21:50) Grandfather, Father and Son: Generational Traumas Behind Paul Auster's Writing (24:11) How Powerful Emotions and a Person's Life Can Play a Role in Illness (30:09) Feeding the Earth "Paul very pointedly told me that he wanted to be buried in the Jewish mode. And the phrase he used was, “I want my body to feed the earth.” (44:23) Physical Love in Marriage On the importance of physical intimacy in long-term marriages, a reality often left out of grief memoirs. (54:00) The Philosophy of the Between <p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style=

“Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.” Today, we are honored to welcome a writer whose work has long explored the intimate landscapes of the mind, memory and the heart. Siri Hustvedt ’s writing moves between the personal and the philosophical, the literary and the deeply human. Her work bridges collections of essays, non-fiction, poetry, and seven novels, including the international bestsellers What I Loved and The Summer Without Men . Recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and the Gabarron Prize for Thought, her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories , is a reflection on forty-three years shared with her late husband, the writer and filmmaker Paul Auster . In its pages, we encounter not only love and loss, but the quiet persistence of presence, memory, and language itself. (0:00) Grief as Unrequited Love Siri explores the emotional reality of living without Paul Auster, noting that grief occurs because love does not stop when a person dies. (4:00) Facing Death with Courage The importance of not hiding from mortality and how discussing end-of-life wishes offered a necessary perspective. (12:37) Reading from Ghost Stories Siri reads the opening passage of her memoir, detailing how the loss of her husband deranged her sense of time and bodily rhythms. (18:41) The Phantom Limb: ” The beloved is taken away and it feels as if you're amputated or gutted.” (21:50) Grandfather, Father and Son: Generational Traumas Behind Paul Auster's Writing (24:11) How Powerful Emotions and a Person's Life Can Play a Role in Illness (30:09) Feeding the Earth "Paul very pointedly told me that he wanted to be buried in the Jewish mode. And the phrase he used was, “I want my body to feed the earth.” (44:23) Physical Love in Marriage On the importance of physical intimacy in long-term marriages, a reality often left out of grief memoirs. (54:00) The Philosophy of the Between <p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style=

“Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.” Today, we are honored to welcome a writer whose work has long explored the intimate landscapes of the mind, memory and the heart. Siri Hustvedt ’s writing moves between the personal and the philosophical, the literary and the deeply human. Her work bridges collections of essays, non-fiction, poetry, and seven novels, including the international bestsellers What I Loved and The Summer Without Men . Recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and the Gabarron Prize for Thought, her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories , is a reflection on forty-three years shared with her late husband, the writer and filmmaker Paul Auster . In its pages, we encounter not only love and loss, but the quiet persistence of presence, memory, and language itself. (0:00) Grief as Unrequited Love Siri explores the emotional reality of living without Paul Auster, noting that grief occurs because love does not stop when a person dies. (4:00) Facing Death with Courage The importance of not hiding from mortality and how discussing end-of-life wishes offered a necessary perspective. (12:37) Reading from Ghost Stories Siri reads the opening passage of her memoir, detailing how the loss of her husband deranged her sense of time and bodily rhythms. (18:41) The Phantom Limb: ” The beloved is taken away and it feels as if you're amputated or gutted.” (21:50) Grandfather, Father and Son: Generational Traumas Behind Paul Auster's Writing (24:11) How Powerful Emotions and a Person's Life Can Play a Role in Illness (30:09) Feeding the Earth "Paul very pointedly told me that he wanted to be buried in the Jewish mode. And the phrase he used was, “I want my body to feed the earth.” (44:23) Physical Love in Marriage On the importance of physical intimacy in long-term marriages, a reality often left out of grief memoirs. (54:00) The Philosophy of the Between <p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style=

“Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.” Today, we are honored to welcome a writer whose work has long explored the intimate landscapes of the mind, memory and the heart. Siri Hustvedt ’s writing moves between the personal and the philosophical, the literary and the deeply human. Her work bridges collections of essays, non-fiction, poetry, and seven novels, including the international bestsellers What I Loved and The Summer Without Men . Recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and the Gabarron Prize for Thought, her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories , is a reflection on forty-three years shared with her late husband, the writer and filmmaker Paul Auster . In its pages, we encounter not only love and loss, but the quiet persistence of presence, memory, and language itself. (0:00) Grief as Unrequited Love Siri explores the emotional reality of living without Paul Auster, noting that grief occurs because love does not stop when a person dies. (4:00) Facing Death with Courage The importance of not hiding from mortality and how discussing end-of-life wishes offered a necessary perspective. (12:37) Reading from Ghost Stories Siri reads the opening passage of her memoir, detailing how the loss of her husband deranged her sense of time and bodily rhythms. (18:41) The Phantom Limb: ” The beloved is taken away and it feels as if you're amputated or gutted.” (21:50) Grandfather, Father and Son: Generational Traumas Behind Paul Auster's Writing (24:11) How Powerful Emotions and a Person's Life Can Play a Role in Illness (30:09) Feeding the Earth "Paul very pointedly told me that he wanted to be buried in the Jewish mode. And the phrase he used was, “I want my body to feed the earth.” (44:23) Physical Love in Marriage On the importance of physical intimacy in long-term marriages, a reality often left out of grief memoirs. (54:00) The Philosophy of the Between <p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style=

“Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.” Today, we are honored to welcome a writer whose work has long explored the intimate landscapes of the mind, memory and the heart. Siri Hustvedt ’s writing moves between the personal and the philosophical, the literary and the deeply human. Her work bridges collections of essays, non-fiction, poetry, and seven novels, including the international bestsellers What I Loved and The Summer Without Men . Recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature and the Gabarron Prize for Thought, her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories , is a reflection on forty-three years shared with her late husband, the writer and filmmaker Paul Auster. In its pages, we encounter not only love and loss, but the quiet persistence of presence, memory, and language itself. (0:00) Grief as Unrequited Love Siri explores the emotional reality of living without Paul Auster, noting that grief occurs because love does not stop when a person dies. (4:00) Facing Death with Courage The importance of not hiding from mortality and how discussing end-of-life wishes offered a necessary perspective. (12:37) Reading from Ghost Stories Siri reads the opening passage of her memoir, detailing how the loss of her husband deranged her sense of time and bodily rhythms. (18:41) The Phantom Limb: ” The beloved is taken away and it feels as if you're amputated or gutted.” (21:50) Grandfather, Father and Son: Generational Traumas Behind Paul Auster's Writing (24:11) How Powerful Emotions and a Person's Life Can Play a Role in Illness (30:09) Feeding the Earth "Paul very pointedly told me that he wanted to be buried in the Jewish mode. And the phrase he used was, “I want my body to feed the earth.” (44:23) Physical Love in Marriage On the importance of physical intimacy in long-term marriages, a reality often left out of grief memoirs. (54:00) The Philosophy of the Between How relational existence is foundational to life. (1:00:16) The Hubris of Controlling Nature (1:12:00) The Dark History of Statistics (1:32:12) The Art of Learning vs. AI and Automated Outcomes “I think we have to ask ourselves, what is education? What do we want from it? How do we want people to learn? Episode Website www.creativepr ocess.info/pod Instagram: @creativeprocesspodcast

The most widely read woman female writer in Turkey and acclaimed worldwide for her work's ''vision, bravery and compassion'' (The New York Times Book Review), Elif Shafak is the author of 12 bestselling novels, including The Bastard of Istanbul, The Architect's Apprentice, Three Daughters of Eve, and 10 Minutes 28 Seconds in This Strange World, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She is also the author of the memoir Black Milk and has written articles for periodicals around the world. A fellow and a vice president of the Royal Society of Literature, Shafak has taught at numerous universities in Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S. The Island of Missing Trees explores love, trauma, and ecological renewal through the bittersweet love story of two Cypriot teens on opposing sides of war. A ''21st-century Virginia Woolf'' (Literary Review UK), Siri Hustvedt is the author of the internationally bestselling novels The Blazing World, What I Loved, and The Summer Without Men, among others. She is also the author of A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women, a three-part essay collection that employs feminism, psychology, neuroscience, and a host of other frameworks that connect pursuits to bridge the gaps between the sciences and humanities, a topic upon which she has also published numerous academic essays and papers. Her many honors include the International Gabarron Prize for Thought and Humanities and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. In Mothers, Fathers, and Others, Hustvedt examines familial love and hate, feminism, and the power of art in a series of interdisciplinary essays. (recorded 12/7/2021)