Do you see yourself ever moving back to Turkey? And if you did, would you ever be able to reconcile yourself with the people that have driven this political movement that's turned you away? Well, that is the biggest question that I even don't ask myself yet, because I left Turkey when I was 44, and I started writing in another language. So such big questions, such emotional, deeply emotional questions, weakens me, and it takes away my strength, which I need very much to survive. But yeah, we are so many things, but we also have to choose to be our choices as well. Otherwise, why would we live anyway? What would we think?"
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.
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Katherine's new book, Enchantment, is released in March 2023. Pre-order now: US/CAN and UK
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