Today, two of my lifelong dreams were realized. First, I was interviewed on NPR about my new book. Second, in that interview, they had to beep out a swear word. It wasn’t even my fault! Cynthia Canty, the host of my very favorite Michigan Radio show, Stateside, handed me my book, mid-interview, with a highlighted section for me to read. It had the word “shit” in it. So I read it. And it made me so happy.
The Fall of Roam
Surely I’m not the only one contemplating the fall of Rome today. But in an effort to avoid the hyperbolic fray of the government shutdown, I purposefully shifted my thinking from large-scale crises to small. Though I doubt the Washington drama will result in the end of civilization as we know it (fingers crossed! Survivorship skills aren’t top on on my household’s list of talents.), the end of a personal era is definitely upon me. And it’s making me a little itchy.
On Women & Strength: Saving our tea for the really hot water
I answered a question incorrectly. Actually, it’s happened twice now. I’ve been interviewed on two different radio stations about my book, Swedish Lessons, and in both instances I was asked the same question: “Why didn’t you just leave?”
It’s a question I anticipated, as the full answer is the theme of the entire book. In the moment, during these interviews, however, I tiptoed around the weight of the question, instead listing some of the practical and logistical reasons that why, when things started really going off the rails during my time living in Sweden, I stuck it out, even as the situation got worse and worse. Those things are true, but they shouldn’t have been my answer.
Natalie Burg 