The Quarantine Tapes: A week-day program from Onassis LA and dublab. Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, the series chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic.

Paul Holdengräber is joined by writer Rebecca Mead on episode 199 of The Quarantine Tapes. A longtime contributor to The New Yorker, Rebecca talks with Paul about writing and the changing experience of time under quarantine.

Rebecca and Paul dig into some of her recent writing. They talk about her article, The Therapeutic Power of Gardening, and how Rebecca was able to feel closer to her mother thanks to her new gardening practice. Then, Rebecca explains the unique practice of cold water swimming in the UK and discusses Oliver Sacks’ “Water Babies.” In a fascinating and focused discussion, Paul and Rebecca cover Winnicott, wild swimming, and Rebecca’s upcoming book, Home/Land.

BIO (For Simplecast / dublab.com)

Rebecca Mead was born in England and studied at Oxford and NYU. She joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 1997; among the many subjects she has profiled for the magazine are Lin-Manuel Miranda, Margaret Atwood, Nico Muhly, Slavoj Zizek, and Mary Beard. She has written hundreds of Talk of the Town stories and is a frequent contributor of essays and commentary to newyorker.com. She is the author of “My Life in Middlemarch” (2014), a New York Times bestseller; and “One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding” (2007). In 2018, Mead returned to England after three decades living in New York City. She is at work on a non-fiction book about that transition.

Photo Credit: James Prochnik

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