Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowery suffers from a rare liver condition that causes severe chronic itch. It led her to look into the stigma of itchiness, the itch-scratch cycle, and finding acceptance in her body. Also, we hear from screenwriter and author of one of the most anticipated novels of the season, Richard Price. His new novel, Lazarus Man, is about second chances. Price also wrote for the HBO shows The Wire, The Deuce and The Night Of. And Maureen Corrigan has two books to recommend if you're looking for inspiration, beauty, and humor.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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From WHYY in Philadelphia, I'm Terry Gross with Fresh Air Weekend. Today, itching. The kind that scratching only makes worse. The kind that can take over your brain.
Itching, it's just a little bit like disrespected. You look like a dog with fleas. It's like embarrassing to scratch yourself in public. It's inappropriate to scratch yourself in public. I think people just kind of don't take it very seriously.
Our guest Annie Lowry, a staff writer for The Atlantic, has written an article called Why People Itch and How to Stop It. She has severe chronic itch. Also, we hear from screenwriter and author of one of the most anticipated novels of the season, Richard Price. He wrote for HBO's The Wire and co-created HBO's The Night Of and The Outsider.
Several of his novels, including Clockers, were adapted into films. He has a new novel. And Maureen Corrigan recommends two books if you're looking for inspiration, beauty and humor. That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend. This is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Terry Gross. Stress and anxiety can lead to itch. So I would imagine a lot of Americans have done a lot of scratching over the past few months.
There's the kind of itch that you scratch and poof, no more itch. But sometimes, the more you scratch, the more you itch. And then there's the kind of itch that is so alive, explosive, persistent, and all-encompassing that nothing seems to help. And it hijacks your brain.
That's the kind of itch that my guest Annie Lowry writes about in her Atlantic Magazine article titled Why People Itch and How to Stop It. It's about what researchers are learning about itch and how that's opening the door to new treatments. Lowry suffers from itch so intense she's dug holes in her skin and scalp and once asked a surgeon to amputate her limbs.
Her issue is related to a rare and degenerative liver disease. Part of her article is about her own itch and the extremes it's led her to. Lowry is a staff writer at The Atlantic, focusing on the economy and politics. She's a former staff writer at The New York Times and New York Magazine. Annie Lowry, welcome to Fresh Air. Is today an itchy day for you?
It is. I have been itchy for about four days now. So we're talking during the daytime, so I'm not terribly itchy. But my feet are itchy, my scalp is itchy, and my hands are itchy. But it's a two out of ten. It's manageable.
So people are very dismissive of itch. And I want you to describe what your kind of itch feels like.
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