Hey, everybody. The Other People podcast is offered freely. All episodes of this show are available free of charge.

Your support makes a difference. If you would like to support this program, you can do so at patreon.com slash other ppl pod.

That's patreon.com slash other ppl pod. Thanks.

You are not alone you have found other people you and i have a friend in common every stupid thing that a writer could do i've done i think it's really beautiful jigs stated

what i struggle you know it was, you know. It was incredible.

You know, it's like your head exploded, seeing what was really there. And now here's your host, Brad Listy. Just one person at just one time. Hey, everybody, how's it going? This is the Other People podcast. It's good to be with you. You're here. You made it. How's it going? I'm Brad Listy. I'm in California. I'm in Los Angeles.

This is a podcast. you're here. You made it. How's it gone? I'm Brad Listy. I'm in California. I'm in Los Angeles.

This is a podcast. Chelsea Hodson is my guest today. She has a new essay collection out. It's called

Tonight I'm Someone Else. It's available from Henry Holt. And it is the official June pick of

The Nervous Breakdown Book Club. The Nervous Breakdown.com is my online culture magazine and literary community. It has its own monthly book club if you're interested in that. Great to talk to Chelsea. She's a lot of fun and her book is wonderful. I'm excited to shine a light on it. I'm excited to share that conversation with you.

Before we get there, I was trying to think of what to say. And you know, we kept coming back into my brain, Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade, all that sad stuff from last week that I think all of us

were hit pretty hard by. Those kinds of stories are really affecting. At least they are for me. I think they are for most

of us. And I was trying to think of something good to say. I was trying to get philosophical. I did a few

takes of this monologue that I've deleted, where I try, and it doesn't come out right, or I just

ramble on interminably. I want you to know that I deleted like a 17-minute version of this monologue.

It's just, I couldn't get to the point where it was funny. And this is a big struggle for me.

Not that it's ever going to be funny, but I just, I don't know what the value is.

I just, I don't like to be creative without humor.

And I don't know how to make, there's no joke there.

This is just fucking sad.

And this is a lot of, a lot of the reason why I've been struggling to write my book for half of my adult life.

This book that I've been working on forever is trying to deal with things like miscarriage and a child with disabilities and heartbreak and grief and existential crises of magnitude.

...