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The US writer George Saunders is celebrated both for his masterful prose and empathic storytelling. A MacArthur Fellow and National Book Award finalist, Saunders’s first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, was released in 2017 to wide acclaim. In this short video, the author deconstructs what makes for an effective story, and describes his personal strategies for writing, revealing the importance of conversing with your characters, the pitfalls of fixing your intentions in place, and why good storytelling is a bit like being in love.
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Architecture
Why a sculptor pivoted from gallery installations to big-box stores design
9 minutes
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Physics
Spectacular fractal patterns emerge when electricity meets a wooden surface
4 minutes
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Wellbeing
A tender poem doubles as a guide to sitting comfortably in one’s own company
3 minutes
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Values and beliefs
How a God-fearing Jewish woman found atheism – and bacon – in her later years
9 minutes
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War and peace
Before he leaves to go to war, Artem, 18, says goodbye to the man who raised him
12 minutes
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Art
A mindbending trip that summons the forgotten women of surrealism
17 minutes
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Animals and humans
What the ancient city of Kars looks like from the perspective of its stray dogs
9 minutes
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Family life
A son of China’s former one-child policy remembers the sibling he never had
8 minutes
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Making
Ceramic designs spin to life in a tactile meditation on the art of pottery
9 minutes