Freedom, and what it means to have a body

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox's Anna North talks with author Olivia Laing about her book Everybody: A Book About Freedom. Through the surprisingly connected lives of artists, activists, psychoanalysts, and sexologists, they discuss the different ways our bodies are persecuted, imprisoned, and policed — and the ways our physical selves can be liberated.

Host: Anna North (@annanorthtweets), Senior Reporter, Vox

Guest: Olivia Laing, Author

References:

• Everybody: A Book About Freedom (Picador, 2021)
• The Lonely City (Picador, 2017)
• “Wilhelm Reich: the man who invented free love” by Christopher Turner (The Guardian, July 8, 2011)
• Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor (1978)
• “Overlooked No More: Ana Mendieta, a Cuban Artist Who Pushed Boundaries” by Monica Castillo (New York Times, Sept. 19, 2018)
• Agnes Martin, 1912–2004 (MoMA)
• Philip Guston, 1913–1980 (MoMA)
• “Cloudbusting” by Kate Bush (1985), music video dir. by Julian Doyle

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This episode was made by:

• Producer: Erikk Geannikis
• Editor: Amy Drozdowska
• Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
• VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson

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