About
In 1998, a brain scientist named Alice Flaherty developed a rare form of madness. She felt so compelled to write that she scrawled sentences across the walls of her house and her own skin. Alice’s quest to understand her own bizarre behavior led her to William Styron, one of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century.
Creator
Radiotopia
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Reviews
Episodes(3)
The Great God of Depression BONUS – A Visit With Tony Shalhoub
Actor Tony Shalhoub is well known for his role as one of the few openly mentally ill characters in television – an obsessive compulsive detective on the long-running show Monk. In this bonus episode of The Great God of Depression, Shalhoub sits down with co-producer Karen Brown to read passages from
The Great God of Depression #5 – The Shining World
In the final episode, after years of struggling with depression, William Styron keeps his bargain with his readers, and his wife works hard to keep his spirits up until the very end. Alice Flaherty emerges from her own years of madness to a happier life, albeit a less literary one. The Great God of
The Great God of Depression #4 – The White Whale
William Styron could never finish the war novel that was meant to be his masterpiece. Did that failure lead to his final depression? Or did depression stop him from writing? He and his doctor Alice Flaherty pore over the question together, trying to ward off his suicidal fears and a baffling paralys