Elizabeth Gilbert no longer believes she’s a bad person

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 • 991 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Elizabeth Gilbert's 2006 memoir “Eat, Pray, Love” was about her journey of self-discovery in the aftermath of a painful divorce. It was a massive hit, but it wasn’t nearly the whole story. In her new book “All the Way to the River,” Gilbert examines her self-destructive patterns as she contends with addiction and grief. She and Rachel talk about learning to show herself and others mercy.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Jaws has been called The Perfect Movie, the first blockbuster, the film that changed why we go to the movies, but what does it still have to say 50 years later?
0:08.8	We're bringing fresh eyes to the film, lifeless eyes, black eyes like a doll's eyes on pop culture happy hour.
0:15.0	Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:17.9	Hey, it's Rachel. It can feel impossible to find your next favorite podcast. And hey, we are so
0:23.7	glad that you're here listening to Wildcard. But when you want to switch it up, check out NPR's
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0:34.8	by the people that live for this stuff.
0:37.9	You can subscribe for free using the link in today's show notes or at npr.org slash podclub.
0:44.5	How do you think your life should be judged?
0:48.2	I'd rather it wasn't.
0:52.4	Mercifully.
0:53.8	Mercifully. Mercifully.
0:55.3	Mercifully.
0:56.3	Yes.
0:57.0	Yes, please.
0:58.9	And that is also, I hope, how I not judge, but regard other.
1:05.5	I'm Rachel Martin, and this is Wildcard, the show where cards control the conversation.
1:11.4	Each week, my guest answers questions about their life, questions pulled from a deck of cards.
1:16.8	They're allowed to skip one question and to flip one back on me.
1:20.4	My guest this week is Elizabeth Gilbert.
1:22.8	That is a thing I used to believe about myself, that I was bad and wrong.
1:26.3	And I don't believe that anymore. And even when I do things that fall short of my own very high expectations for
	...

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