The riddles within: Crosswords, anorexia, and feminist history

The riddles within: Crosswords, anorexia, and feminist history

Author: Charts & Leisure December 18, 2024 Duration: 40:17

In this episode of Unravelling, Kurt White sits down with Anna Shechtman, author and renowned crossword creator, at the Brattleboro Literary Festival to discuss her book, The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle.

At age 15, Anna began crafting crossword puzzles while navigating the complexities of disordered eating—two practices tied by perfectionism, control, and language. Kurt and Anna explore the paradoxes of anorexia: the illusion of control amidst chaos, the pursuit of gratification without pleasure, and society’s celebration of self-discipline at the cost of self-destruction.

Anna reflects on how crossword construction became a “perfect substitution,” mirroring her fraught relationship with identity and body, offering a fragile sense of stability. Together, they examine the cultural and political forces shaping eating disorders, the competing ideals placed on women, and the tensions between feminist resistance and internalized misogyny.

Anna reminds us that recovery is hard work—but not as hard as living within an active disorder—and that healing begins with connection, both to others and to ourselves.

Links:
Anna's website: Anna Shechtman
The Riddles of the Sphinx: The Riddles of the Sphinx – HarperCollins
Brattleboro Literary Festival: https://brattleborolitfest.org/about/



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There’s a thread that connects our inner lives to the culture we live in, and Unravelling pulls on it to see what emerges. This isn’t a lecture series, but a conversation guided by therapist Kurt White and journalist Mary Wilson, who bring their distinct perspectives to every discussion. They explore how mental health is woven into everything from our daily fitness routines and societal pressures to the art we consume and the relationships we keep. In each episode, you’ll hear from experts who study the mind alongside individuals sharing their personal, lived experiences, creating a dialogue that feels both intellectually rigorous and deeply human. The aim is to move beyond simple definitions, examining how anxiety, resilience, joy, and struggle shape our collective reality. Produced by Charts & Leisure, this podcast provides a space for nuance, challenging the idea that our psychological worlds exist in a vacuum. It’s for anyone who has ever felt the tension between their private thoughts and the public world, offering not easy answers but a more textured understanding. By listening, you become part of a broader exploration into how compassion, for ourselves and our society, can actually be built from a place of genuine curiosity.
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