Binge Radiotopia’s New Showcase Series: The Great God of Depression
Our fifth Showcase series explores the intersection of madness and creativity, through the lives of two experts in both.
In 1998, a brain scientist named Alice Flaherty developed a rare form of madness. She felt so compelled to write that she scrawled sentences across the walls of her house and her own skin. Alice’s quest to understand her own bizarre behavior led her to the acclaimed writer William Styron (Sophie’s Choice, Darkness Visible), who documented his own suicidal depression in a memoir that transformed modern psychiatry. Styron seemed like a remote genius, until one day, he showed up in Alice’s office, begging for help.
Could Alice save William Styron from a depressive relapse and the pathological writer's block that had silenced him? The Great God of Depression shares the story of these two brilliant, eccentric and empathetic people who articulate mental illness (they call it ‘madness’) in a way that daily news reporting often can’t.
The show is written, co-produced and narrated by Pagan Kennedy, contributing writer at The New York Times, and co-produced by Senior Reporter Karen Brown with support from New England Public Radio. Music and sound design by Ian Coss.
“I’ve worked as a writer all of my life, and sometimes as a teacher of writers, and so I’m fascinated with mental processes that lie behind great literature. What if you could look inside the brain of someone who is producing a masterpiece and figure out the secret mechanisms of genius? In effect, The Great God of Depression is an attempt to do just that. Our mission is to tell a suspenseful yarn that will keep listeners glued to their earbuds.”—Pagan Kennedy
“ This summer we have seen the fatal outcomes of depression in at least two public figures, shocking their friends, family, and fans. Those cases have sadly underscored the importance of the mental health revolution we talk about in this podcast. It traces the transformation of depression as a source of shame and secrecy to a condition that deserves to be met with compassion and scientific curiosity.” — Karen Brown
The series features interviews with Flaherty; Styron’s wife (Rose) and daughter (Alexandra); acclaimed writer Andrew Solomon; and Styron’s biographer Jim West. Excerpts from Styron’s seminal work are read by actor Jack Gilpin, and archival tape of Styron talking about his illness is featured throughout all five chapters. Sound designer Ian Coss creates a rich sonic texture that deftly hints at the physical experience of madness described by Flaherty and Styron.
“With The Great God of Depression, we’re able to further push the boundaries of what Showcase can offer as a podcast. Here we have an ever-timely and poignant true story weaving together two complex lives, poetically told by a brand new talent in the podcasting space, Pagan Kennedy. Ian Coss’s beautiful sound design further illustrates how well-suited for audio this story is, and we’re curious and excited to see how the audience responds when we make all the chapters available at once.” — Julie Shapiro, EP, Radiotopia
This is the final offering in Radiotopia’s slate of summer shows and all five episodes in the series are available today. Enjoy straight through as a mid-summer “podcast novella.”
Chapter One: The Night Kingdom
After a personal tragedy, newly-minted neurologist Alice Flaherty falls into a rabbit hole of mania, delusions and creative overload, and encounters the famous writer who revolutionized the conversation about mental illness.
Chapter Two: The Angel of Death
Writer William Styron and neurologist Alice Flaherty get blindsided by mental illness and, separately, decide to tell the world.
Chapter Three: The Stolen Brain
The unthinkable happens — a relapse. And William Styron finally finds a doctor he thinks can save him.
Chapter Four: The White Whale
William Styron faces up to his greatest literary failure, while he and his doctor team up to conquer a baffling paralysis that could be medical or could be metaphor.
Chapter Five: The Shining World
An end to a literary life turns into a triumph, of sorts, over depression. And another life retreats from madness, for better or worse.
