Slow Stories

Rachel Schwartzmann
Slow Stories

Hear from leading writers, artists, and innovators who share slow stories—and big ideas—about living, working, and creating in our digital age. Hosted by Rachel Schwartzmann.

  1. DEC 9

    Ayşegül Savaş — "We're always in the midst of it."

    What makes a day? Is it the routine of brewing morning coffee or walking through the neighborhood? Is it more meaningful if it's spent in the company of others? And if we do find ourselves alone, what are we able to see in our solitude? Ayşegül Savaş's affinity for the details brings these questions to the forefront. She has a talent for transforming mundane moments into compelling prose that lingers long after a story ends. Her latest books—The Anthropologists, a slim novel following a young couple's search for an apartment, and The Wilderness, her debut work of nonfiction chronicling her first 40 days after giving birth—are no exception. They are elegant studies of time and place—of growing up and growing older, kinship and family, home and language, and life's small pains and pleasures. And while Ayşegül considers many of her books to be "quiet stories," it's in the silence that readers hear the heartbeat of her sentences—each a compelling reminder of what makes life worth living. In this interview, Ayşegül shared more about the connection between mothering and writing, thoughts on creative lineage and family, and what it means to be in the present moment—in art and life. This episode also opens with a story by Cara Blue Adams. — Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/aysegul-savas  Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/ Purchase The Anthropologists: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-anthropologists-aysegul-savas/20328495?ean=9781639733064  Purchase The Wilderness: https://www.transitbooks.org/books/thewilderness  Purchase You Never Get It Back: https://bookshop.org/p/books/you-never-get-it-back-cara-blue-adams/16910017?ean=9781609388133  Purchase Slowing: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759  Follow Ayşegül: https://www.instagram.com/__aysegulsavas__/  Follow Cara: https://www.instagram.com/carablueadams/  Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann

    59 min

  2. NOV 26

    Lauren Elkin — "To me, it's all interesting."

    What does it mean to be faithful? This question is central to Lauren Elkin's debut novel, Scaffolding, which follows the trials and tribulations of two couples across time and space, occupying the same Paris apartment in 2019 and 1972. It is an incisive study of transformation—physical, emotional, geographical, familial. It is a question and questioning of desire: how we give it, show it, (try to) contain it, and ultimately let it shape us. Lauren is known for nonfiction works like Flâneuse and Art Monsters, and the shape of this conversation moved in several directions, from reflecting on her previous books to global events. Lauren also shared more about her relationship with cities, her arrival at Scaffolding's central themes, and thoughts on the connection between grief, power, and time. This episode also opens with a story from Hannah Bonner. — Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/lauren-elkin/  Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/ Purchase Scaffolding: https://bookshop.org/p/books/scaffolding-lauren-elkin/21068842?ean=9780374615291  Purchase Another Woman: https://bookshop.org/p/books/another-woman-hannah-bonner/21488442?ean=9781958094549  Follow Lauren: @lauren_elkin_ Follow Hannah: @hannah__bonner Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann Order SLOWING: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759

    1h 9m

  3. SEP 30

    Rachel Schwartzmann — "Was it a beginning, or had the story been writing itself all along?"

    A note from Slow Stories' own Rachel Schwartzmann regarding her new book, SLOWING!— Order SLOWING: https://lnk.to/Slowing/  Subscribe to Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/  Read Rachel's essay in Literary Hub: https://lithub.com/against-perfectionism-and-productivity-on-embracing-flaws-as-a-writer/ Follow Rachel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelschwartzmann/ RSVP to SLOWING's New York launch event at P&T Knitwear on 10/21: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rachel-schwartzmann-presents-slowing-feat-brandon-stosuy-tickets-962252993607

    5 min

  4. AUG 19

    Amy Lin — "Grief is a problem of narrative."

    What does it mean to grieve? What does it look and feel like? Why is it still so hard for us to understand? These are just a few questions Amy Lin tackles in her astounding memoir Here After. In a series of crystalline vignettes, Amy recounts the unexpected death of her husband Kurtis, her subsequent medical crisis—and the winding journey to live after inconceivable loss. In many ways, Here After is a story of falling—in love, apart, out of time. It's a story that alerts us to our hearts and heartbreaks. It's a story that asks the big, unanswerable questions, but perhaps most poignantly, it asks readers to be here—to bear witness. As Amy writes in the book: "I do not say: Everyone is so afraid of grief, and this fear is dangerous to the grieving. I do not tell him the painful lesson I am learning: Enduring the thing itself—he is not coming back—is unbearable but denying it is worse, is an even greater, even more insidious, threat to living, if that is what you want to do." In this interview, Amy shared more about the value of seriousness in life, her thoughts on slow storytelling and creativity, and what time means to her now. This episode also opens with a story from Julie Chavez. — Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/amy-lin/  Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/ Purchase Here After: https://bookshop.org/p/books/here-after-a-memoir-amy-lin/20214421?ean=9781958506325/  Purchase Everyone But Myself: https://bookshop.org/p/books/everyone-but-myself-a-memoir-julie-chavez/19726158?ean=9781958506059/  Follow Amy: @literaryamy Follow Julie: @juliewriteswords Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann Pre-order SLOWING: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759

    1h 12m

  5. JUL 25

    Claudia Dey and Heidi Sopinka — "We're very conscious of that aliveness in our relationship."

    Shared vision is at the heart of every great partnership—but a good sense of humor helps, too. Claudia Dey and Heidi Sopinka understand this sentiment. The two creatives met as undergrads at McGill University—and later at a bush camp, cooking for tree planters—and have lived multiple lives since then. In 2012, they co-founded the conscious fashion brand HORSES, which values beauty, utility, wildness, and endurance. They've also translated their artistic prowess into writing and have crafted incisive, spellbinding novels like (Heidi's) Utopia and (Claudia's) Daughter. In this interview, the duo shared more about balancing their creative pursuits, living and working in Toronto, their relationship with time and pace—and their relationship with each other. This episode also opens with a story from Jacqueline Suskin. — Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/claudia-dey-and-heidi-sopinka/  Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/ Purchase Claudia's books: https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=claudia+dey/  Purchase Heidi's books: https://bookshop.org/contributors/heidi-sopinka/  Shop HORSES: https://www.horsesatelier.com/  Purchase Jacqueline's books: https://bookshop.org/contributors/jacqueline-suskin/  Follow Claudia: @claudiadeytona Follow Heidi: @heidisopinka Follow Jacqueline: @jsuskin Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann Pre-order SLOWING: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759

    52 min

  6. JUN 27

    Victoria Chang — "It takes a lot of energy to be slow."

    "Point of view has a terrible memory. I've looked at photos scrolling up and over, zooming in and out, and realize it is not love I want, just the ability to zoom back out. A woman loses herself when she can no longer zoom out." This is one of the many resonant passages readers will encounter in Victoria Chang's latest poetry collection, With My Back to the World. Across three parts, Victoria engages with the work of renowned artist Agnes Martin, who ultimately provides a portal for the writer to consider identity, existence, death, grief, depression, and time. While these themes may be universal, Victoria's voice is singular. Page after page, her passion for language becomes all the more apparent. As she writes in "Gratitude, 2001": "What am I outside of language? Is this the solitude Agnes spoke of—standing in an auditorium without a microphone or an audience, at a podium reading wind. And where the skin that has been wound tightly around me my whole life, is also the thing that I've been writing on. To think, everyone will write one final word." In this interview, Victoria shared more about her relationship with process and pace, the nuances of writing and publishing in this day and age, and what she's learned as an artist, educator, and mother. This episode also opens with a story from Amy Lin. — Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/victoria-chang  Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/  Purchase With My Back to the World: https://bookshop.org/p/books/with-my-back-to-the-world-poems-victoria-chang/19994823  Learn more about Victoria's work: https://victoriachangpoet.com/  Follow Victoria: @fattery12 Follow Amy: @literaryamy Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann Pre-order SLOWING: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759

    49 min

  7. APR 29

    Brandon Stosuy and Rose Lazar — "Crying is a cool thing."

    When was the last time you cried? This question is at the heart of Brandon Stosuy and Rose Lazar's illustrated anthology, Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears. With contributions from a wide range of voices, including Phoebe Bridgers, Zeba Blay, Sloane Crosley, and many more, Sad Happens is a gentle offering that reminds us to get to the heart of our own stories—and our own humanity.  Off the page, Brandon and Rose have lent this thoughtful sensibility to various endeavors. Brandon is the co-founder of The Creative Independent, "a growing re­source of emo­tional and prac­ti­cal guid­ance for cre­ative peo­ple." Rose is a visual artist and the founder of Cosmic Peace Studio. Together, they are friends, collaborators, and creatives who genuinely understand what it means to tell slow stories.  In this interview, Brandon and Rose shared more about Sad Happens, their collaboration and friendship, the places they've left behind, the processes they embrace in their respective work, and why slowness is a recurring thread in all they do. This episode also opens with a story from Lexi Kent-Monning. — Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/brandon-stosuy-and-rose-lazar  Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/  Purchase Sad Happens: https://bookshop.org/p/books/sad-happens-brandon-stosuy/19726689?ean=9781668003459  Learn more about The Creative Independent: https://thecreativeindependent.com/  Learn more about Cosmic Peace Studio: https://cosmicpeacestudio.com/  Follow The Creative Independent: @thecreativeindependent Follow Brandon: @bstosuy Follow Rose: @cosmicpeacestudio Follow Lexi: @lexicola Follow Rachel: @rachelschwartzmann Pre-order SLOWING: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759

    53 min

  8. MAR 24

    Mason Spector — "I find a lot of value in the sadness."

    Authenticity has never been more critical in a world that celebrates fleeting trends. In an industry like fashion, and for entrepreneur Mason Spector, discerning design is just a small part of creating long-term impact and connection. As the co-founder of the Los Angeles-based clothing brand Madhappy, Spector and his team are committed to "using apparel, events, and experimental retail spaces to explore a personal expression as a means to an improved state of mind." Words like "optimism" and "community" are often associated with the brand—and for Mason, in particular, that's no happy accident. His personal experiences have culminated in building an intentional business that confronts one of the most pressing issues of our time: mental health.  In this interview, Mason shared more about his dynamic upbringing, his relationship with pace, and what he's learned about the mental health journey. This episode also opens with a story from writer and podcast host Sam Cohen.—Episode Transcript: https://slowstoriespodcast.com/mason-spector Follow Slow Stories on Substack: https://slowstories.substack.com/ Learn more about Madhappy: https://madhappy.com/ Follow Madhappy: https://instagram.com/madhappy/   Follow Mason: https://instagram.com/masonspec/Follow Sam: https://instagram.com/samcohenwriting/Follow Rachel: https://instagram.com/rachelschwartzmann/ Pre-order SLOWING: https://bookshop.org/p/books/slowing-discover-wonder-beauty-and-creativity-through-slow-living-rachel-schwartzmann/21201888?ean=9781797223759

    55 min
See All (63)

4.9
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

Hear from leading writers, artists, and innovators who share slow stories—and big ideas—about living, working, and creating in our digital age. Hosted by Rachel Schwartzmann.

Information

  • Creator
    Rachel Schwartzmann
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2019 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Slow Stories

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