The Disrupted team is welcoming the new year by choosing a couple of the episodes we loved from 2024. We have so many favorites that we couldn't reair all of them, but these are some of the ones that we wanted to listen back to. This week, host Khalilah-Brown Dean chose our interview with author Amy Tan.

Amy is best known for popular novels like The Joy Luck Club and its 1993 film adaptation. The book and movie explore several mother-daughter relationships — some of which were shaped by Amy’s own experiences.

Her latest book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, hits close to home in a different way. In it, she brings the birds in her backyard to life with humor and tragedy through observations and drawings from her nature journals. But the book isn’t just a recounting of wildlife. Amy vividly imagines the birds’ inner thoughts and comes away with piercing observations about nature, humanity and the relationship between them.

This hour, Amy talks to us about that book and offers her insights on a wide range of topics including how birds have led her to reflect on mortality, her changing experience of racism and overcoming her fear of sharks.

Guest: 

• Amy Tan: bestselling author of numerous books including The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Her latest book is The Backyard Bird Chronicles. It collects entries and drawings from her nature journals.

This episode originally aired on September 27, 2024.

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