John Fetterman on his new memoir, his mental health, and disagreements with his party

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

When Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) won Pennsylvania’s Senate seat in 2022, Democrats saw him as a symbol of a new direction during the Trump era. Three years later, things are very different. His new memoir, Unfettered, discusses his mental health struggles, the stroke he suffered in 2022 and his relationship with the left. In today’s episode, Fetterman speaks with NPR’s Scott Detrow about the book and some of his disagreements with fellow Democrats.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Senator John Federman is on the pod today.
0:07.7	He's written a memoir titled Unfettered. It's about his come up in politics and the stroke he suffered as he was running for office.
0:15.0	He's an interesting figure in the world of democratic politics. He says he doesn't feel the need to push back against
0:21.6	every single thing President Trump says or does that there are certain hills he's not willing to die
0:27.2	on. But this interview takes an interesting turn when NPR Scott Detrow asks Federman,
0:32.5	what are his hills? Find out after the break. When John Fetterman won Pennsylvania's Senate seat in 2022,
0:41.2	Democrats across the country treated him as a hero and an example of a path forward for the party
0:45.8	in the populist Trump era. Three years later, things are very different. Fetterman feels estranged
0:52.0	from party activists and fellow Democrats in Congress.
0:54.9	He senses some anger from those further left than he is, anger that he says he doesn't fully understand.
1:01.0	He writes about it all in a new memoir called unfettered.
1:03.9	In the book, he also recounts the stroke he suffered in the middle of that campaign and the severe depression he fell into.
1:10.1	Fetterman came to NPR to talk about
1:11.7	the book and the political moment. At a note, this conversation does include mention of self-harm
1:16.5	and suicide. Last time I sat down with you and interviewed you, you had just returned to the Senate from
1:22.4	Walter Reed. It was a pretty emotional conversation. You were still processing your treatment and what
1:26.9	came next. I wanted to ask a little bit about that because there's parts of this book where it seems like you're saying that you've at times regretted being so open about your mental health struggles.
1:36.5	Is that accurate?
1:37.2	No, I don't regret it.
1:39.9	But it's like people have been willing to use it or to create an impression that's just not true.
1:51.6	And I've had a lot of people reach out to me over the years since people.
1:56.9	And I always, it's an honor to speak to people and help them speak to them to their experience
	...

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