South And West

Episode

First
Broadcast

Comments

20170911

New Orleans' oppressive atmosphere stirs memories of childhood visits and an ex-lover - and stark comparisons between the South and Joan Didion's home in California.

From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks.

Joan Didion has always kept notebooks of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles - and here is one that traces a road trip she took in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976.

Read by Laurel Lefkow

Abridged by Eileen Horne

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan

New Orleans' oppressive atmosphere stirs memories of childhood visits and an ex-lover.

20170912

Joan Didion crosses the border into Mississippi, visiting a Reptile House and a Broadcasting Convention. It's a world stuck in the 1950s, seemingly oblivious to contemporary life.

From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks.

And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976.

Read by Laurel Lefkow

Abridged by Eileen Horne

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan

Joan Didion travels to Mississippi visiting a reptile house and a broadcasting convention.

20170913

The Interstate Highway carries Joan Didion to Meridian. An encounter with a local businessman whose optimism for the South is matched only by his racism, increases her unease.

From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks.

And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976.

Read by Laurel Lefkow

Abridged by Eileen Horne

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan

Joan Didion heads for Meridian for an encounter with a racist businessman.

20170914

Joan Didion moves into Alabama and feels a divide with the women of the south.

05 LAST

20170915

California Notes: Now in the West, Joan Didion is asked to write about Patty Hearst, but diverts to musing on her own sense of belonging in Hearst country, developed since childhood.

From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks.

And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976.

Read by Laurel Lefkow

Abridged by Eileen Horne

Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan

Joan Didion muses on her own sense of belonging to the country that produced Patty Hearst.

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Comments
01	20170911	New Orleans' oppressive atmosphere stirs memories of childhood visits and an ex-lover - and stark comparisons between the South and Joan Didion's home in California. From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles - and here is one that traces a road trip she took in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Read by Laurel Lefkow Abridged by Eileen Horne Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan New Orleans' oppressive atmosphere stirs memories of childhood visits and an ex-lover.
02	20170912	Joan Didion crosses the border into Mississippi, visiting a Reptile House and a Broadcasting Convention. It's a world stuck in the 1950s, seemingly oblivious to contemporary life. From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles - and here is one that traces a road trip she took in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Read by Laurel Lefkow Abridged by Eileen Horne Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan Joan Didion travels to Mississippi visiting a reptile house and a broadcasting convention.
03	20170913	The Interstate Highway carries Joan Didion to Meridian. An encounter with a local businessman whose optimism for the South is matched only by his racism, increases her unease. From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles - and here is one that traces a road trip she took in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Read by Laurel Lefkow Abridged by Eileen Horne Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan Joan Didion heads for Meridian for an encounter with a racist businessman.
04	20170914	Joan Didion moves into Alabama and feels a divide with the women of the south.
05 LAST	20170915	California Notes: Now in the West, Joan Didion is asked to write about Patty Hearst, but diverts to musing on her own sense of belonging in Hearst country, developed since childhood. From the best-selling author of the award-winning The Year of Magical Thinking - excerpts from her never-before-seen notebooks. Joan Didion has always kept notebooks of overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, drafts of essays and articles - and here is one that traces a road trip she took in June 1970, through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. And in her native west, the memoir piece California Notes that began as an assignment from Rolling Stone on the Patty Hearst trial of 1976. Read by Laurel Lefkow Abridged by Eileen Horne Directed by Eoin O'Callaghan Joan Didion muses on her own sense of belonging to the country that produced Patty Hearst.