Charles Spencer: Confronting the Past
Everything Happens with Kate Bowler
Everything Happens Studios
4.8 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 October 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We need more room to be honest about what it costs when people or institutions fail us. Today's conversation is with Lord Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer. You might also know him as Princess Diana's brother. His latest book, A Very Private School, is a courageous and beautifully written memoir about his time in an abusive English boarding school that was shrouded in secrets, abuse, and cruelty. While his circumstances may be unlike something you’ve experienced, Charles speaks so candidly and tenderly about his painful childhood and what it has cost him and others too.
In this conversation, Kate and Charles discuss:
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the challenge and catharsis of writing about personal trauma
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the casual cruelty Charles and his peers endured
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what happens when our innocence is stolen from us at a young age
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what healing looks like 50 years later
If you liked this conversation, might also like:
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Rachel Denhollender on getting justice you deserve
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Tara Westover on how our parents’ best might still not be enough
Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.
Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:25.0 | This show is sponsored by Better Help. |
| 0:28.8 | October is a time when masks and costumes are fun, but don't we all feel like sometimes we're wearing a bit of a mask too often? |
| 0:36.9 | Therapy has a way of inviting us into a place where we can show up authentically in more parts of our lives. I am a huge fan of therapy. |
| 0:46.7 | Visit better help.com slash everything happens today to get 10% off your first month. |
| 0:52.4 | That's better H-E-L-P.com slash everything happens. |
| 0:57.0 | Who deserves our compassion? Like who has earned our empathy? |
| 1:03.0 | Those are odd questions, maybe. |
| 1:07.0 | But we all encounter moments or circumstances or people |
| 1:11.0 | and toss up our hands and say that is for someone else to care about. |
| 1:16.0 | Whether it's an issue that's bigger than our individual self can solve, |
| 1:22.0 | sorry, Greenpeaceers, I will keep recycling. I promise. Or maybe it's someone |
| 1:28.3 | that you know who just has a lot of problems that just keep happening. |
| 1:36.4 | And bless you, I have been on that end of the equation before. |
| 1:41.8 | Or maybe it's a circumstance that just seems totally out of touch with any reality that you can conceive of, which makes empathy hard. |
| 1:50.0 | I'm Kate Boulder, and this is everything happens. |
| 1:55.8 | What are the bounds of our empathy? |
| 1:58.2 | Who deserves my compassion or care? |
| 2:01.6 | I just want to hold that question up at any kind of itchiness that it might bring |
... |
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