The End of Solitude
The End of Solitude
My conversation with author, cultural critic and essayist William Deresiewicz
Appears in this episode
In 2008, at the age of 44, my guest on today’s program left Yale University, where he taught English, and became a full-time writer. In the years since leaving academia, he’s amassed an impressive body of work — much of it challenging the status quo.
I knew I had to talk to him when I read his recent essay in UnHerd, “Escaping American tribalism,” about his defection from the progressive left.
William Deresiewicz is an essayist and cultural critic, and the author of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. His latest book is out this month. It’s called The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society, and it is a collection of standout pieces from the past few decades. In it, he writes: “To be an individual, the years have taught me, takes a constant effort. These essays are an offering to those who wish to be one, too.”
I’m thrilled to have William Deresiewicz as my guest — today, on Lean Out. Paid subscribers, stay tuned for a transcript tomorrow.
The End of Solitude
Thank you for this conversation Tara. I thought Deresiewicz's thoughts on the disadvantages of an elite education and its relationship to the failure of the leadership class were fascinating. I hope that you might explore this subject further. I wonder for instance if there is a critical mass (of parents) who recognize the need to recalibrate or whether the system itself must crumble and in that case where do you see or do you see the emergence of alternatives that would value critical enquiry, agility, etc.
This was an excellent interview and the kind of content I hope for as a listener: someone that I haven’t yet heard of and am so intrigued from the interview that I am looking forward to reading the author’s written work. Thank you for another worthwhile podcast episode!