How We Live Now with Katherine May

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 LINKSOnlineTwitterInstagramWhat White People Can Do Next KATHERINE LINKSShop all books from The Wintering SessionsPatreonNewsletterHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine's writing classNote: 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 aboutInner strength and family support that allowed her to reinvent herselfHer best-selling novel, The KhanSAIMA LINKSOnlineTwitterThe KhanThe Best, Most Awful JobKATHERINE LINKSShop all books from The Wintering SessionsPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine's writing classNote: 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 connectionThe joy of tending a gardenThe childlike act of noticingROSS LINKSOnlinePoetry FoundationRoss on 'On Being'KATHERINE LINKSShop all books from The Wintering SessionsPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine's writing classNote: 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 fashionHow changing in habits can mean opting out of the systemHow to take care of your stuff so it lastsAJA LINKSOnlineInstagramConsumed bookKATHERINE LINKSShop all books from The Wintering SessionsPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine's writing classNote: 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 LINKSOnlineTwitterLetters To My Weird Sisters: On Autism and FeminismKATHERINE LINKSShop all books from The Wintering SessionsPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine's writing classNote: 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 LINKSOnlineThis Here FleshBlack LiturgiesAll other Cole links HEREKATHERINE LINKSShop all books from The Wintering SessionsPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine's writing classNote: 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 LINKSOnlineBooksSome Body To LoveJournalismThe Daily (podcast mentioned)KATHERINE LINKSPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine'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 LINKSTwitterOnlineNew YorkerPoetry FoundationThe Invisible Kingdom (book)KATHERINE LINKSPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine'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 LINKSInstagramTwitterOnlinePodcastSara's Insta RetreatKATHERINE LINKSPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine'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 Gemma Cairney, presenter, curator of greatness and author of ‘Open: A Toolkit...’ and more.There's a strong chance you're familiar with Gemma through her prolific radio and broadcast career, but if not - as you've surely come to notice over the Wintering podcast - you're about to meet another new best friend. Gemma's been grinding and hustling since the early days of her media work which kicked off at the BBC, and Katherine checks in with her at a point in her life where so many of the experiences along the way are truly forming some epic life chapters which have to be heard. What you'll hear in this episode is a spirit of turning lemons not only into lemonade, but an amazing lemon salad dressing as well as some incredible lemon jewellery too. From a whirlwind which synchronised around the time of the early days of the pandemic, this is a glorious and uplifting chat where we find Gemma at a reflective, wise and refreshed place. You'll enjoy it as a fan of Gemma or as a newly acquainted listener - and in either case, have a look at what she's been up to in case you've missed anything (including a ton of sea swimming of course). Wintering Sessions listeners, please enjoy!GEMMA LINKSInstagramTwitterNightwaves RadioPatreonThe Sound OdysseyOpen: A ToolkitKATHERINE LINKSPatreonHomepageTwitterInstagramThe Wintering SessionsKatherine's writing class Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.