We're in between seasons of How We Live Now and Katherine is in the midst of talking about her new book Enchantment in radio and podcast interviews. We wanted to share one of these conversations with you in the How We Live Now podcast feed. In this episode of The Shift with Sam Baker, Sam and Katherine talk about Katherine’s midlife autism diagnosis, why she believes we’re living through the burnout decade and how to wrest back control of our lives from our work.  Buy Katherine's new book Enchantment: US & Canada, UK Sign up to receive Katherine's newsletter Follow Katherine on Instagram Find all the episodes of the The Shift with Sam Baker here: https://podfollow.com/the-shift-on-life-after-40-with-sam-baker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Turkish journalist Ece Temelkuran understands the problems of rightwing populism better than most: she lives as an exile, after her criticism of the Erdogan regime threatened her liberty. But despite the very personal toll that our current politics has taken, Ece remains optimistic. The seeds of a new society, she says, lie in communities, and the ways they find to come together. In this episode, Katherine and Ece discuss courage, truth and learning to befriend our fear. We also touch on the power of Twitter in the days before Elon Musk took over - so maybe a little of our optimism was misplaced! But Ece has a unique ability to put our current political conflicts into a global context, and her faith in grassroots action is redemptive.  Join the conversation! We’re also inviting your thoughts on each episode from now on - follow this link to join the conversation. Answers, challenges, ideas and further questions are all welcome - there will be a further episode in a couple of months focusing on your voices. Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK Links from the episode: Ece's website Ece's books Follow Ece on Instagram and Twitter Join Katherine's Patreon to receive episodes early and ad-free Sign up to receive Katherine's newsletter Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website. Follow Katherine on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma Gannon is a true digital native, a storyteller who finds creative inspiration in online communities, and who has sought a more thoughtful way to be in the digital spaces that so dominate our lives.  In this episode, Katherine and Emma discuss what it means to be a digital citizen - the pleasures and the agonies of coming together in the ether, and the ways it can both warp and welcome connection. Emma’s is a nuanced take, emphasising our own agency within social media spaces, and inviting us to be thoughtful and disciplined, rather than reactive and addicted. Join the conversation! We’re also inviting your thoughts on each episode from now on - follow this link to join the conversation. Answers, challenges, ideas and further questions are all welcome - there will be a further episode in a couple of months focusing on your voices. Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK Links from the episode: Emma's website Emma's books Follow Emma on Instagram and Twitter Join Katherine's Patreon to receive episodes early and ad-free Sign up to receive Katherine's newsletter Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website. Follow Katherine on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay Griffiths’ writing has long explored the link between land, culture and our potential for connection, but her father’s death during lockdown made this more vital than ever. Denied the comfort or closure of a funeral, Jay had to find other ways to connect, mourn and memorialise, and in this gentle, wide-ranging conversation she and Katherine talk about imaginary journeys, ritual and delving into a sense of place.  Behind all of Jay’s work is an ecological urgency, and a sense of grief for the life that we seem to be losing. Here, it’s expressed through the idea of homelessness, both literal and metaphorical. But she also introduces us to the character of Nemesis, offering us a model for justice that might just see us through the next decades.  Join the conversation! We’re also inviting your thoughts on each episode from now on - follow this link to join the conversation. Answers, challenges, ideas and further questions are all welcome - there will be a further episode in a couple of months focusing on your voices. Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK Links from the episode: Jay's website Jay's books Join Katherine's Patreon to receive episodes early and ad-free Sign up to receive Katherine's newsletter Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website. Follow Katherine on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many of us are enduring a painful new awareness of the conflicts that underpin our social relationships. For Buddhist teacher Lama Rod Owens, this is the beginning of a revolutionary path to our liberation - a necessary upheaval that will rebalance us forever. In this profound, perspective-shifting conversation, we are urged to stop looking for short-cuts and panaceas for our suffering, and instead to engage with the deep, transformative work of change.  Join the conversation! We’re also inviting your thoughts on each episode from now on - follow this link to join the conversation. Answers, challenges, ideas and further questions are all welcome - there will be a further episode in a couple of months focusing on your voices. Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK Pre-order Katherine's new book, Enchantment, released March 2023: UK and US & Canada Links from the episode: Lama Rod's website Lama Rod's books Follow Lama Rod on Instagram and Twitter Join Katherine's Patreon to receive episodes early and ad-free Sign up to receive Katherine's newsletter Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website. Follow Katherine on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being a Sikh in America gives Simran Jeet Singh a very particular insight into the divisions that run between us: on one hand, his visible differences have made him a target for racism; on the other, his religion emphasises the connectedness of all humans, and urges him towards compassion, forgiveness and love. In this thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation, Katherine and Simran explore building empathy, seeing the divine in everyone, and how being forced to confront white supremacy has helped Simran to develop a language to challenge those who would attack him. The Sikh value of Chardi Kala is hard to miss here: the sense of everlasting optimism that propels him forward. Join the conversation! We’re also inviting your thoughts on each episode from now on - follow this link to join the conversation. Answers, challenges, ideas and further questions are all welcome - there will be a further episode in a couple of months focusing on your voices. Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK Links from the episode: Simran's website Simran's book, The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life Follow Simran on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube Join Katherine's Patreon to receive episodes early and ad-free Sign up to receive Katherine's newsletter Find shownotes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website. Follow Katherine on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to getting together, Priya Parker turns our assumptions on their heads: gatherings, she says, benefit from firm rules and careful management, which allow us to relax more, communicate better, and come away feeling positive. It’s all about clarity of purpose. A lack of structure leads to chaotic and draining events, and may even put us in conflict.  In this episode, Katherine asks Priya how we can learn to be in the same room again - whether it’s with colleagues, family or even complete strangers. For those of us who have found it tough to return to social spaces after the pandemic, this is a reassuring conversation, reminding us of the pleasures of meeting, and offering a blueprint for more enriching, less fraught, future gatherings. Join the conversation! We’re also inviting your thoughts on each episode from now on - follow this link to join the conversation. Answers, challenges, ideas and further questions are all welcome - there will be a further episode in a couple of months focusing on your voices. Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK Links from the episode: Priya's website Priya's book, The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters Follow Priya on Instagram and Twitter Join Katherine's Patreon to receive episodes early and ad-free Sign up to receive Katherine's newsletter Find show notes and transcripts for every episode by visiting Katherine's website. Follow Katherine on Instagram Image credit: Photographer, Adam Ferguson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susan Cain’s groundbreaking book, Quiet, taught a generation of readers to perceive and value their introvert qualities. Her latest book, Bittersweet is a song to the complex space between happiness and sadness. In this episode, Katherine talks to Susan about how she came to move so comfortably in the understated parts of life, and why the minor key is so beautiful.  While we’ve been away, The Wintering Sessions have been undergoing a metamorphosis. Katherine talks us through the process of becoming How We Live Now, and offers us a peek at the season to come.  Links from the episode: Susan's Links: Susan’s latest book, Bittersweet Online Twitter Instagram Katherine's Links: Patreon Newsletter Homepage Instagram Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. Author Raynor Winn talks to Katherine May about the losing her home when her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and finding new life from having nothing. Raynor Winn has captured a multitude of hearts with her book, The Salt Path, which recounts the time she lost her home just as her husband received a terminal diagnosis. With nothing to lose, they set off to walk the South West Coast Path carrying nothing but a tent. Here Raynor reflects on that transformative time that redefined the meaning of home - and gives a welcome update on Moth’s health. We also hear about her book, The Wild Silence. I adored talking to Raynor about our shared love of the South West Coast Path, as I always do :) RAYNOR LINKS Raynor’s new book, Landlines Online Twitter Instagram KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Newsletter Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While we take a rest over the summer, we’re sharing some remastered episodes from Season One, chosen by listeners. This week, I talk to Leah Hazard, NHS midwife extraordinaire and author of Hard Pushed, part memoir of Leah’s life on the labour ward, and part exploration of the current state of the profession. Leah is as funny, wise and warm in person as she is in print, and she talks about the life-changing decision to leave her TV career and train to be a midwife, and the moment when the stress became too much during one very busy night on the ward. References from this episode: Leah’s Twitter Leah’s Instagram Leah’s book Hard Pushed Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. While we take a rest over the summer, we’re sharing some remastered episodes from Season One, chosen by listeners. In this episode, I speak to journalist and broadcaster Remona Aly about her life-changing decision to call off an engagement, and how it echoed through the years to teach her about forgiveness, faith and empathy. This is such a special one for me - I went to school with Remona, and I think you can hear our joy at reconnecting after a couple of decades, and feeling so at home in the process. We cover all of human life here: buckle in. We talked about: Finding the sacred in everyday life How grief changes you The need for community Breaking off an engagement and family shame REMONA LINKS Online Twitter Instagram KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Newsletter Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. Producer Note: You'll notice a slight change in Katherine's audio in the second half of the podcast. This is just due to a necessary 'source switch', where we had to change where her recording was coming from. Your ears will adjust very quickly but apologies for the ever so slight dip. Thank you! This week Katherine talks to Emma Dabiri, author of Don’t Touch My Hair and What White People Can Do Next.  What begins as a conversation about Emma’s new-found commitment to appreciating all the seasons - not just summer - becomes something else entirely. Emma is one of our most agile thinkers and fearless speakers, and soon she is talking about everything from race and class to how we should think about the world right now. A thread of belonging runs through it all - how we seek and find it, how complicated our identities have become, and why it matters.  EMMA LINKS Online Twitter Instagram What White People Can Do Next KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Newsletter Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. 'I am my childhood’s wildest dream,’ says Saima Mir. This episode is about the process of getting there, not just the determination and hard work, but also the intangibles: the beliefs, ambitions and understandings that you don’t even know how to articulate, but which hold you up on a decades-long journey to becoming.  In this conversation, the journalist and bestselling novelist talks about shame, failure, the experience of being gossiped about - but also the inner strength and family support that allowed her to reinvent herself after leaving her first two husbands. Saima came late to journalism, but forged a successful career on TV and in print before writing her genre-changing (or will it be genre-defining?) novel, The Khan. Here, she surveys that pathway to this place, and how it built her iconic character, Jia Khan.  We talked about: Shame, failure, the experience of being gossiped about Inner strength and family support that allowed her to reinvent herself Her best-selling novel, The Khan SAIMA LINKS Online Twitter The Khan The Best, Most Awful Job KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. This week, Katherine talks to Ross Gay about finding delight in dark times. Ross’s practice of writing down a daily delight - a small surprise or pleasure that might otherwise go unnoticed - is the foundation of The Book of Delights, his bestselling essay collection. Here, he talks about the way that delight can sit alongside our fear, anger, frustration and grief, not to block them out, but to find a way to survive them. Along the way, we touch on fleeting moments of human connection, the joy of tending a garden, and childlike art of noticing. In a first for The Wintering Session, Ross closes with a beautiful reading that meditates on the softness of living in a male body. We talked about: Fleeting moments of human connection The joy of tending a garden The childlike act of noticing ROSS LINKS Online Poetry Foundation Ross on 'On Being' KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. This week, Katherine asks Aja Barber how we can change the way we buy clothes. Many of us have an uneasy feeling about the clothes we buy and wear. Although we know that there are ethical issues with their production, few of us understand how to change our behaviour, and make better choices. As a stylist and fashion consultant, Aja makes it her business to understand the whole supply chain, from raw materials to disposal. There are some dark stories to absorb, but there’s also plenty of hope: Aja shows that the change starts with us, and with the joy we find in the garments we love. We also talk about Aja’s path to the work she does now, and her beautiful practice of getting dressed on Instagram. She can teach us so much about about learning to love our own bodies, and to cherish our old clothes. We talked about:  How we engage with fashion How changing in habits can mean opting out of the system How to take care of your stuff so it lasts AJA LINKS Online Instagram Consumed book KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. This week Katherine chats to writer Joanne Limburg about the ways that we can find connection in the experience of outsidership. While writing her astonishing new book, Letters To My Weird Sisters, Joanne sought out women from the past who were marked out as ‘weird’, from Virginia Woolf, who was unable to choose the ‘right’ ballgown, to Katharina Kepler, who was put on trial for witchcraft. Drawing on her Jewish heritage, Joanne urges us all to assert the humanity of those who seem unfathomably different to us - the physically and intellectually disabled people who were considered to be ‘life unworthy of life’ in the Holocaust.  There is so much hope in Joanne’s project to own and cherish her own ‘weirdness’, and to find a kind of sisterhood there, stretching across time. Many listeners will find their community here, too.  JOANNE LINKS Online Twitter Letters To My Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. This week Katherine chats to writer and poet Cole Arthur Riley, author of This Here Flesh and creator of Black Liturgies.   Unable to speak up as a child, Cole talks about how she learned to find her voice amid a family of gifted talkers and storytellers. Cole describes her father and grandmother as inspirational figures who nevertheless were marked by the generational trauma experienced by so many African Americans. But from this emerges Cole’s own, unique spiritual account of the world, overseen by a God who lives in our hurting, imperfect bodies, and who sees us as we are. Cole is one of the most lyrical, perceptive and moving writers of her generation, at once cerebral and earthly, and always rooted in the body. We talk about Cole’s hair turning grey as a child, her wise grandmother and inspirational father, and the moments when she came to realise that both of them needed her care. COLE LINKS Online This Here Flesh Black Liturgies All other Cole links HERE KATHERINE LINKS Shop all books from The Wintering Sessions Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Note: this contains affiliate links which means Katherine will receive a small commission for any purchases made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. This week Katherine chats to journalist and writer Alexandra Heminsley, author of Some Body to Love. After infertility treatment, a challenging pregnancy and a sexual assault, Alex found her relationship drifting apart for reasons she couldn’t fully understand. But when her partner finally disclosed that they wanted to transition to being a woman, Alex had to come to terms with something she never expected: being part of a LBTQIA+ family. In this conversation, she explores her compassionate response to her former partner’s needs, how it has changed her viewpoint on life, and how life can be remade in the face of the unexpected. ALEXANDRA LINKS Online Books Some Body To Love Journalism The Daily (podcast mentioned) KATHERINE LINKS Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. This week Katherine chats to poet and author Meghan O’ Rourke. In a fascinating conversation with Katherine, Meghan talks about the struggles she’s endured (and endures) with chronic illness. As she mentions in the episode, there is an invisible quality to many forms of illness which makes it very hard to navigate and manoeuvre through, and we hear all about the difficulties faced when consulting with doctors, dealing with it in our heads, and living with it in the company of loved ones - but again, as you will have come to know from past episodes - silver linings and positivity floods throughout, and it’s a journey that will fill you with light and goodness. MEGHAN LINKS Twitter Online New Yorker Poetry Foundation The Invisible Kingdom (book) KATHERINE LINKS Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Wintering Sessions with Katherine May. This week Katherine chats to Sara Tasker, writer, social media expert and coach. While you might expect a full on party-popper celebration of social media from someone like Sara - an expert within the realm, this is a very honest chat which takes many entirely relatable routes and tangents which surely many of us can relate to. Sara and Katherine also connect on matters of the neurotypical and neurodivergent, involving Sara's own ADHD and hyperfocus and how that sews its thread into the fabric of her life and career. Really it's a just a perfect non-stop whirilwind of a conversation which flows freely, breezily and easily, with uplifting and positive navigation points for all while being straight up and down to earth. With so many jump-off points and natural detours, it's hard to summarise so just leap in with confidence, and enjoy. It's a goody...! SARA LINKS Instagram Twitter Online Podcast Sara's Insta Retreat KATHERINE LINKS Patreon Homepage Twitter Instagram The Wintering Sessions Katherine's writing class Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.