The difference between joy and relief with Allison Sweet Grant

If you or a loved one has suffered from severe illness, you know that recovery isn’t always as joyful as it sounds. In this episode, Adam’s wife Allison Sweet Grant is back to talk about her new memoir “Lump,” a collection of poetry and prose about her experience with breast cancer. Allison and Adam reflect on their experience as a family dealing with a difficult diagnosis in the middle of the COVID pandemic, and Allison shares her complicated relationship with being called a “survivor.” They discuss how many patients downplay their pain to appease their providers, explain why many patients feel more relief than joy during recovery, and address how we can provide better support to our loved ones. They also talk about Allison’s synesthesia, revisit their beloved driving debate (is the lead or following car responsible for staying together on a multi-car trip?) and open several new ones (is Seinfeld better than Friends, and is true crime scarier than fiction?).

Featured guest

• Follow Allison Sweet Grant on Instagram, LinkedIn, and https://www.allisonsweetgrant.com/
• Buy Allison's books!

Connect with the team

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ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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