Halfway through her interview with writer Ayelet Waldman, Terry Gross thanks her for "sharing," a clumsy impulse that comes across as unplanned. It made me cringe a little, the casualness of it, maybe because I don't think it's really Terry Gross' social warmth that gives her credibility, it's her consistent open-minded curiosity and a deft give-and-take interviewing style. Ayelet Waldman is a confessed over-sharer, so maybe it was the gravity of the personal details which compelled Terry to express thanks in a more personal way. The way Waldman talks about herself here is expressive and direct, and made wonder how she might shape and filter these personal stories in ways to provoke us or to resolve her own fears.
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PHOTO: GARRY KNIGHT
