How the Duke Lacrosse scandal foreshadowed our current predicament, why a fraud at "Grey's Anatomy" makes Nancy want to cry, and the lies we told as children
It's a delight to listen to the two of you talk about pretty much any subject. I've been extending my morning walks this past week just to have more time with y'all and also to catch up on the backlist. Longtime listener to Nancy; it's great to be introduced to Sarah and that you two met up and decided to do these podcasts together. Thank you and super happy to support you going forward.
May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022Liked by Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
I experienced a (physical) trauma when it was a kid, but I recovered remarkably well. For several years, I found it positively hilarious to tell people I had just met about it - literally just throwing it into the middle of a conversation and watching them deal with their cognitive dissonance. But I was a kid; this is something that kids do. By the time I was in college I tried to minimize it the best I could - I’d mention it if it was pertinent to a larger conversation (although I did this much less often over time), but otherwise I really, really didn’t want to be defined by a random event that happened to me a decade previous. I’m way more interesting than that. I think people these days are so intent on finding some shorthand or label that sums up their entire experience so that they can belong to a group, instead of celebrating the nuance of human experience (and the diversity of identity that comes from that).
Hey Nancy and Sarah, I thought it was imPorTant that you know that the Comedian/ podcast host Adam Carolla routinely says “swasticker” too. Don’t know where it comes from 🤷🏼♀️
May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022Liked by Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
One of the things I appreciate most about this podcast is that I can’t predict easily what Nancy and Sarah’s take on any given story is going to be. By the time I’ve thought “ but what about...” they are already on it. Thanks for challenging us without preaching at us 😎
May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022Liked by Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
I was in a novel-writing online class when Seghal's essay on the trauma plot came out. I loved that essay, in fact, it introduced me to Reservation Dogs as an example of a plot involving trauma that didn't assign pure victim status to the protagonists. Some of my classmates were incredibly angry at Seghal for questioning the utility of trauma as a novel's main theme.
I agree with her! Trauma itself is undramatic. It's what the character does in response to the trauma that draws the reader along. Feelings and thoughts aren't enough!
By the way, I'm half way through Blackout and I haven't had such a delightful replay of my teens and twenties since The Idiot by Elif Batuman. And Sarah-Fucking-Hepola acts on her trauma, so even if it were a novel, it would be dramatic and tense. A+
Thanks as always for candid, thoughtful, vulnerable and creative discussions. Sitting in on your conversations has become another part of my week. Safe travels and good writing for you both!
I would love to hear you discuss this article (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/magazine/antipsychotic-medications-mental-health.html) and some of the response (I find Freddie deBoers substacl really compelling). I am very troubled by the over correction of mental health stigma to go from "its not real don't talk about it" to this "traumacentric" world you were talking about.
I'm with you on the ridiculous pendulum swings we're seeing about various health issues. You must be on psych medications for any mood, you must not be on pills even if you're enduring schizophrenia, you must be near-anorexic-thin, severe obesity has nothing to do with health. Working on a health issue doesn't mean you don't accept yourself on a spiritual level. I've worked through panic attacks, anxiety, poor self esteem, being overweight. Each of those problems improved when I was kinder to myself!
It was the Harper's cover story from Dec 2021. I'm waiting to get a copy from the library so I can read Lauren Oyler's essay on W. G. Sebald and *his* novels about post-Holocaust trauma.
It's a delight to listen to the two of you talk about pretty much any subject. I've been extending my morning walks this past week just to have more time with y'all and also to catch up on the backlist. Longtime listener to Nancy; it's great to be introduced to Sarah and that you two met up and decided to do these podcasts together. Thank you and super happy to support you going forward.
--Mark
I experienced a (physical) trauma when it was a kid, but I recovered remarkably well. For several years, I found it positively hilarious to tell people I had just met about it - literally just throwing it into the middle of a conversation and watching them deal with their cognitive dissonance. But I was a kid; this is something that kids do. By the time I was in college I tried to minimize it the best I could - I’d mention it if it was pertinent to a larger conversation (although I did this much less often over time), but otherwise I really, really didn’t want to be defined by a random event that happened to me a decade previous. I’m way more interesting than that. I think people these days are so intent on finding some shorthand or label that sums up their entire experience so that they can belong to a group, instead of celebrating the nuance of human experience (and the diversity of identity that comes from that).
Hey Nancy and Sarah, I thought it was imPorTant that you know that the Comedian/ podcast host Adam Carolla routinely says “swasticker” too. Don’t know where it comes from 🤷🏼♀️
!!! Also love that you accurately spelled the Rommelmann-ism "imPorTant" -- SH
One of the things I appreciate most about this podcast is that I can’t predict easily what Nancy and Sarah’s take on any given story is going to be. By the time I’ve thought “ but what about...” they are already on it. Thanks for challenging us without preaching at us 😎
Welcome to Fairfax County Sarah, where the courthouse parking garage is dreadful.
Parking anywhere in Northern VA is dreadful.🙂
What the hell is a Swatsticker? OMG! You guys make me laugh out loud a least once an episode.
I was in a novel-writing online class when Seghal's essay on the trauma plot came out. I loved that essay, in fact, it introduced me to Reservation Dogs as an example of a plot involving trauma that didn't assign pure victim status to the protagonists. Some of my classmates were incredibly angry at Seghal for questioning the utility of trauma as a novel's main theme.
I agree with her! Trauma itself is undramatic. It's what the character does in response to the trauma that draws the reader along. Feelings and thoughts aren't enough!
By the way, I'm half way through Blackout and I haven't had such a delightful replay of my teens and twenties since The Idiot by Elif Batuman. And Sarah-Fucking-Hepola acts on her trauma, so even if it were a novel, it would be dramatic and tense. A+
I mostly appreciate the continuing use of the nickname Sarah Fucking Hepola -- SFH
I love everything about this moment
Comment! Though i guess moment works too
This commoment. *neologism
Oh, and more Rommelmann Rants please. They're the best (emphasis on the -t).
Yes, Nancy, it's im-POR-tant. -- SH
Thanks as always for candid, thoughtful, vulnerable and creative discussions. Sitting in on your conversations has become another part of my week. Safe travels and good writing for you both!
I love this - hello from Tulsa!
I would love to hear you discuss this article (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/magazine/antipsychotic-medications-mental-health.html) and some of the response (I find Freddie deBoers substacl really compelling). I am very troubled by the over correction of mental health stigma to go from "its not real don't talk about it" to this "traumacentric" world you were talking about.
Baked goods worthy? :D
Freddie deBoer fascinates me. A really interesting mind and a beautiful writing style. -- SH
I'm with you on the ridiculous pendulum swings we're seeing about various health issues. You must be on psych medications for any mood, you must not be on pills even if you're enduring schizophrenia, you must be near-anorexic-thin, severe obesity has nothing to do with health. Working on a health issue doesn't mean you don't accept yourself on a spiritual level. I've worked through panic attacks, anxiety, poor self esteem, being overweight. Each of those problems improved when I was kinder to myself!
Thanks for this! See also this by Will Self: https://harpers.org/archive/2021/12/a-posthumous-shock-trauma-studies-modernity-how-everything-became-trauma/
It was the Harper's cover story from Dec 2021. I'm waiting to get a copy from the library so I can read Lauren Oyler's essay on W. G. Sebald and *his* novels about post-Holocaust trauma.