More Rosebud - Matt Haig
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Giles Brandreth and Harriet Jane. We're together with you again for another episode of More Rosebud. Cue the music. We're here, we're ready, and we're quite keen.
Welcome to More Rosebud. I'm Giles Brandreth. And with me, well, actually not actually with me today, but on the other side of London, because our More Rosebud and our Rosebud, they come to you from London, England. And I am in South West London. My name is Giles Brandreth. And in, is it North London that I find you?
Yes, North London.
North London, North and South London. I used to live north of the River Thames all my life. And when I had to move south of the River Thames, I felt so embarrassed. I felt ashamed. Have you always lived north of the river?
No, I used to live in Brixton, Herne Hill, various South London places. I love South London, actually. Yeah, I'm very open-minded about areas of London. I think I've lived in all four, east, west, south and north.
You are a very open-minded person. I am. Fantastic. And I'm becoming more open-minded.
How did Matt Haig's childhood shape his perspective on mental health?
In fact, I was on television yesterday morning and the subject came up. We were discussing people reading raunchy books on the tube.
Oh, that's a good subject.
It was a good subject because apparently a lot of people wouldn't do this, though they would admit to reading raunchy books.
Yes.
Is it because they don't want to get hot under the collar on the district line, which is fair enough, I think.
Yeah, because on the district line, you sometimes do only because the air conditioning is so poor on an old line like that. Whereas on the Elizabeth line, it's always cool. I, as you know, as a child, loved the London Underground and went round and round on the Circle line. Oh, yeah. It was also, I confessed on the program, where when in 1960, D.H. Lawrence's then notorious novel, Lady Chatterley's Lover, was first published. And I, regular listeners to our diaries, which we're not doing today, that's next week. will know, as a boy, I sent off for a copy when it was published. It had been banned from the 1920s up until about 1960. An unexpurgated version had not appeared in print, but Penguin Books published one, got away with it, and I wrote off.
And a copy was sent to my school, was seen by the headmaster, confiscated it, but I was given it back at the end of term. And I took the book back to London where I lived. And I didn't feel I could be seen to read it at home. Where am I going to go to read the book? And I was only a little boy, you know, I was 11 or 12. So I didn't feel like I could go and sit in the lion's corner house with a cup of tea and a penguin biscuit. I didn't feel like I could go to the museums. They were among my other haunts, you know, the Natural History Museum, the Victorian Albert Museum. I didn't feel like I could go there. Yeah. So I thought, I'll go on the underground. So I went round and round on the circle line, reading my copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover.
It's quite a strange choice because it's much more exhibitionist. to do it on the tube, because everyone can see what you're reading on the tube. In the Natural History Museum, you could have just sat in a corner, had the book on a desk, and no one would have, everyone would have thought, oh, that sweet little boy is reading something improving about birds or Darwin. But as it is, you sat on the circle line with the book in full view of all the other passengers.
It was a very recognisable book too because there was a lot of publicity about it. It was in the Penguin book Colours. It had on the cover the eagle, I think it's an eagle, that they'd had on the cover of all the D.H. Lawrence novels. So you couldn't, it was, you had to recognise it. But it didn't bother me because even though I was only 11 or 12 years old, I owned a briefcase which I've kept. It's in my memoirs boxes. A old-fashioned... middle-aged businessman's briefcase, which had a big top that I could open. And I positioned Lady Jetty's lover inside this briefcase. And the briefcase was on my lap. And I went round and round on the circle line, turning the pages.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:30
2
How did Matt Haig's childhood shape his perspective on mental health?
1:30–5:40
3
What experiences led Matt to struggle with depression and anxiety?
5:40–9:40
4
How did Matt's relationships influence his mental health journey?
9:40–16:04
5
What role did writing play in Matt's recovery from mental health issues?
16:04–20:42
6
What insights does Matt share about coping with depression?
20:42–25:38
7
How does Matt view the impact of his past on his present life?
25:38–32:22
8
What advice does Matt give about finding hope during tough times?
32:22–1:17:00