Sam Fragoso & Margaret Atwood , Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Author Margaret Atwood’s Burning Questions

06 Mar 2022 • 52 min • EN
52 min
00:00
52:12
No file found

Today we are joined by legendary writer Margaret Atwood! We begin with her new collection of essays, Burning Questions (4:18), which wrestle with catastrophe (4:59), growing up in the wilderness (7:05) under egalitarian parents (10:00), and how she circumvented the traditional roles for women of the 1950s (12:20). She also shares some personal stories: her first book signing event (15:40), the day she met her late husband Graeme Gibson (17:20), and the innumerable ways in which he'd shape her life (20:11). On the back-half we discuss the historical antecedents behind The Handmaid’s Tale (24:11), its renewed relevance amid threats to Roe v. Wade (25:43), the debate around ‘the writer as political agent’ (29:53), patriarchal gatekeeping inside the publishing industry (32:42), the limits of art-making (34:20), and why she continues to write at age 82 (39:17).  To close, Margaret reads from both her elegiac poem Dearly (40:05) and her essay “Polonia” (45:27). To submit a comment, question, or reflection for our upcoming mailbag episode, write us at mail@talkeasypod.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From "Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso"

Listen on your iPhone

Download our iOS app and listen to interviews anywhere. Enjoy all of the listener functions in one slick package. Why not give it a try?

App Store Logo
application screenshot

Popular categories