Ann Patchett
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What makes 2026 the best year for fiction according to Ann Patchett?
2026 is the best year I have seen for fiction since I opened the bookstore 15 years ago.
From the TED Audio Collective, this is Design Matters with Debbie Melman. On Design Matters, Debbie talks with some of the most creative people in the world about what they do, how they got to be who they are, and what they're thinking about and working on. On this episode, we're featuring a conversation Debbie had with Ann Patchett at the TED conference in celebration of Ann Patchett receiving the 2026 TED Women Trailblazer Award presented by Pivotal.
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Where does AI actually live? It might be somewhere in your city, and it's stressing your grid, driving up your utility bill, and draining your water. I'm Sherelle Dorsey, and this month on TED Tech, we're going inside the hidden infrastructure behind the AI revolution, data centers. This is a story about AI, but it's also a story about power. Who has it, who pays for it, and who faces the consequences? Listen to this special series only on TED Tech. expectations.
Ann Patchett is a novelist and a bookstore owner. Her nine novels include Bel Canto and The Dutch House, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her tenth novel, Whistler, was just published by HarperCollins.
I was struck by the fact that when you interviewed Tom Hanks in front of a live audience, right before you took the stage, you whispered to him that you didn't have any questions planned and you were just going to wing it. He then immediately shared this with the audience and everyone laughed. I gasped out loud when I read that because I'm probably most known for how long it takes me to to create and craft my questions in advance of every interview. So as I take out my notes, I hope you won't think less of me for doing that.
Can I tell you why I do that? Yes. Alan Alda. I interview so many people at Parnassus, and I interviewed Alan for a book he wrote that was called... If I knew what you were saying, why do I have this look on my face? It's a really hard title. But Alan was the person who taught me that you have to do all the preparation, research, write the questions, throw it out. walk on stage and be fully present. And he completely changed my life when I read that book and when I interviewed him. And so that's what I said to Tom. And then Tom mocked me when we went out on stage, which was funny.
Well, I'm going to aspire to be the kind of person that can just throw caution to the wind. And maybe when I interview you next, I can graduate to that level. Or when I interview you. That's when we'll do it. So my first question, is it true that you read in bed at night with a flashlight?
It's not a flashlight and it has everything to do with when I go to sleep or when Carl goes to sleep. But we at the bookstore, we sell something that is like a 15th generation itty bitty book light and it's got a rubberized neck and it plugs into your computer. And it's so great because I am 62 and my eyes aren't what they used to be. And I need a really bright light. Sometimes in the middle of the day, I use it just because I like a really bright light on the page.
I was talking to a friend of mine who's here tonight, Tanya Selvarantham, and she... I love her and her coat. Yes. Yes. She forwarded me an article that you had written about two years or so ago that I reread and remembered quite vividly about how adamant you've been about not owning a cell phone. Right. And... In an essay in the New York Times titled The Decision I Made 30 Years Ago That I Still Regret, you stated this.
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