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Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novelist Jennifer Egan On: Panic, Awe, Fetishizing Authenticity, and Our Possible AI Futures

Jul 24, 2023

Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist known for "A Visit from the Goon Squad," discusses her unique writing process and the discipline that shapes it. She candidly shares about panic attacks and how writing helps navigate anxiety. The conversation dives into society's obsession with authenticity, the implications of AI in literature, and the disparity between social media personas and true self-expressions. Egan's wit and insights create a thought-provoking dialogue on curiosity, success, and the evolving landscape of storytelling.

01:16:02

Creator website

Episode guests

Jennifer Egan

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Finding Direction and Authenticity in Life

01:47

The Freak Out of Chat GPT

02:11

Intro

2min

Exploring Consciousness and Technology's Future

3min

Writing Through Panic: A Journey of Self-Discovery

22min

The Therapeutic Power of Writing and Reading During Panic

2min

Navigating Parenthood and Adult Relationships

2min

Exploring Authenticity in a Tech-Saturated World

19min

Navigating Insubstantiality in the Age of Social Media

3min

The Dance of Doubt and Creativity

19min

The Joy of Curiosity

6min

10.

Literary Connections and Celebrity Conflicts

5min

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Jennifer Egan is not only a novelist, she's also written short stories and award-winning magazine journalism. She's one of those writers who can both spin a fascinating yarn and load it up with insights into everything from human nature to the future of technology, all while pulling off bewitching turns of phrase; what the writer Jonathan Franzen has called “micro felicities.”

Egan is as funny, fascinating, and open IRL as she is on the page although it’s not clear she feels that way given she talks about how much smarter she feels in writing than in speaking!

In this episode we talk about:

Egan’s writing process
The power of writing by hand
The shocking, relentless, ruthless discipline that she imposes on herself to never do the same thing twice as she’s writing
Curiosity, awe, and panic attacks
How she handles feedback
Her feelings of insubstantiality
Our cultures fetishization of authenticity
The impact of success on her work
AI and our possible technological futures

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/jennifer-egan