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Changes with Annie Macmanus

Matt Haig on finally returning to Ibiza, hope and new perspectives

Changes with Annie Macmanus

Annie Macmanus

Society & Culture

4.61.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Aged 24 in Ibiza, Matt Haig’s life changed forever when he had a breakdown. Now 49 he has returned to the island, facing his past head on, returning with a whole new perspective, more optimism, and now, a new book called ‘The Life Impossible’. 


Matt has sold over 9 million copies of his books worldwide, and they have been translated into 58 languages. His bestselling book ‘Reasons to Stay Alive’ has touched millions of lives and was game changing for many people with depression and anxiety. Since then, his novel The Midnight Library has become a global phenomenon and spent over 50 weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller charts and over 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller charts. 


In this episode, as well as talking about the new book, Matt discusses returning to Ibiza, hope and sobriety. He also talks about surprising early forays in writing, how an adult diagnosis of ADHD helped him look at his younger self differently and how his experience of social media and mental health has impacted his children's relationship with it too. It feels like a whole new chapter in Matt’s life and we’re delighted to have him on to talk about it. 


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Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes

Please Note: The transcript is automatically generated in case you come across any typos or misquotes during your reading. Enjoy the episode.



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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello and welcome to Changes. My name is Annie McManus. On this

0:10.0

podcast we aim to bring you guests and stories of change that really get to the truth

0:14.8

of what it is to be human. With that comes in need for complete honesty and today's

0:20.4

guest became a best-selling author off the back of doing just that, being

0:24.0

both honest and vulnerable.

0:26.3

It is the incredible Matt Haig.

0:29.6

Matt has sold over 9 million copies of his books worldwide and they've been translated into 58 languages.

0:36.6

His best-selling book, Reasons to Stay Alive, has touched millions of lives and was game-changing

0:41.6

for many people with depression and anxiety. In that book he shared a very

0:45.4

detailed account of his breakdown whilst living in Abitha in his 20s and how he went from not being able to see how to go on living to learning to live again.

0:54.6

Since then, his novel The Midnight Library has become a global phenomenon and spent over 50

1:00.0

weeks on the Sunday Times Best Seller charts and over a hundred weeks on the New York Times

1:05.2

Best Seller Charts.

1:06.8

And now Matt is back with a new novel called The Life Impossible, which is out in August and

1:12.0

available to pre-order now. It is set back where everything changed for him.

1:16.2

Ebitha, the island of Ebitha, a place which also happens to be one of my favorite places on earth.

1:22.1

I can tell you that the book is

1:23.8

absolutely brilliant and in Matt's distinctive style the story brings a healthy

1:29.2

dose of hope and optimism as well. Please welcome to changes Matt Haig.

1:39.0

First of all happy birthday.

1:40.0

Oh, you've just turned 49.

1:42.0

How does that feel? Fine. day. You've just turned 49. 49.

...

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