This week, host Rumaan Alam talks to author Heather Clark about her massive new biography Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath. Heather speaks about what separates her biography from the ones that came before it, and how an academic changes her writing style for a book aimed at a general audience. She also describes what it was like to track down and get permission to view materials she needed for the book. 

After the interview, Rumaan and co-host June Thomas talk more about the length of Heather’s book and the tremendous amount of research that went into it. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Heather describes what it felt like to finally finish Red Comet, and she previews her next book.

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Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

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