Suleika Jaouad’s Survival Mechanisms (Replay)

Suleika Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer at 22. She made her illness the subject of a New York Times column and a memoir, Between Two Kingdoms. She and Steve talk about what it means to live with a potentially fatal illness, how to talk to people who've gone through a tragedy, and ways to encourage medical donations.

• SOURCES:• Suleika Jaouad (suleikajaouad.com), author.

• RESOURCES:• The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life (amazon.com/Book-Alchemy-Creative-Practice-Insp…), by Suleika Jaouad (2025).
• The Alchemy Journal (amazon.com/Alchemy-Journal-Suleika-Jaouad/dp/B…), by Suleika Jaouad (2025).
• “The Art of Survival (theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/06/sulei…),” by Jennifer Senior (The Atlantic, 2024).
• American Symphony (netflix.com/title/81728930), film by Matthew Heineman (2023).
• Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted (amzn.to/3QZt2jF), by Suleika Jaouad (2021).
• “Max Ritvo, Poet Who Chronicled His Cancer Fight, Dies at 25 (nytimes.com/2016/08/27/books/max-ritvo-poet-wh…),” by John Schwartz (The New York Times, 2016).
• “Life, Interrupted (archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/aut…),” column by Suleika Jaouad (The New York Times, 2012-2015).
• The Fault in Our Stars (amzn.to/44X9m5N), by John Green (2012).
• Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America (amzn.to/3UXLLgR), by Barbara Ehrenreich (2009).
• The Isolation Journals (theisolationjournals.substack.com), newsletter by Suleika Jaouad.

• EXTRAS:• “John Green’s Reluctant Rocket Ship Ride (freakonomics.com/podcast/john-greens-reluctant…),” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
• “Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence? (freakonomics.com/podcast/does-death-have-to-be…)” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).

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