Dear Sugar: How Do I Stop Lying?

The Sugars will be back next week with a new episode for Mother's Day. Meantime, we revisit an episode about lying with guest Leslie Jamison.

Originally posted June 29, 2015:

The Sugars take on a letter from a young woman who is a habitual liar — telling her friends about imagined experiences of rape and loss. The lying always seems to happen at a moment of emotional connectedness, when the letter writer wishes to share her feelings of sadness and depression, but struggles to find the right language to do so.

The Sugars are joined by Leslie Jamison, whose essay collection, The Empathy Exams, explores the narratives we build for our pain.

Show notes

[0:16] “I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl,” Nina Simone, 1967.

[6:10] "The Empathy Exams," Leslie Jamison, 2014.

[9:12] "The Depressed Person," David Foster Wallace, Harper's Magazine, January 1998.

[10:26] "A Million Little Pieces," James Frey, Wikipedia page.

[26:52] "Lies," J.J. Cale, "Really," 1972.

New episodes of Dear Sugar Radio are released weekly.