Adam Gopnik: Solitude And The City, Edward Hopper & The Joy Of Being Alone In A Crowd

This week's guest is Adam Gopnik, a long-standing staff writer at the New Yorker, and the award-winning author of a frankly intimidating number of books, most recently The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery, which explores the process of learning a new skill. And then there was his recent Hollywood debut – those who’ve seen Oscar-winning film Tar might have also spotted Adam playing himself, as an interviewer, alongside Cate Blanchett in the film’s opening scene. Today, we’re talking about solitude – and how it’s played out in Adam’s writing career and life more broadly. As a true New Yorker, Adam tells me how his version of alone time manages to integrate a great deal of companionship too, from his love of working amid the hustle & bustle of others in his office days to the more collaborative strands of his career, including writing for musical theatre. Alone time, for Adam, is best spent pacing around a crowded city listening to what he still still refers to as a walkman – alone in a crowd. He also shares with me how his childhood, growing up as one of six in a crowded noisy house, has shaped his love of being around others in modern life. Finally, we discuss the beauty of solitude as depicted by the art of Edward Hopper – which Adam and I share a love for.We discuss:How Adam’s upbringing primed him to feel most comfortable around the noise of others [4:34]His love of walking alone around a city [7:08]Adam’s lifelong struggle with insomnia – and how he treats it [10:38]Writing routines, and approaching writing like a ‘physical challenge’ [16:30]Edward Hopper’s depiction of solitude [26:04]The art of ‘social solitude’ in New York [31:34]References from our conversation:Adam Gopnik's 'walkman' playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oe0WuKABmBtL576sGgW64?si=c45849d6d4a94cefThe Edward Hopper exhibition at The Whitney, New York‘What sin to me unknown dipp’d in ink’, from Alexander Pope’s Epistle to Dr ArbuthnotThe Monologue Art Museum You can purchase all of Adam Gopnik’s books, including The Real Work, at adamgopnik.com/books.Subscribe to my weekly email newsletter at francescaspecter.substack.com to follow her personal writing plus podcast bonus content. You can also order my book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, based on this podcast, from Amazon,  Waterstones and Bookshop.org. Thank you so much to WestLab for sponsoring this season Visit westlabsalts.co.uk/products/dead-sea-salt and quote the code ALONEMENT15 for 15% off when you spend £10 or more, excludes subscriptions, T&Cs apply. Code expires 31st August 2023. With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.