John interviews Susannah Cahalan, author of the bestselling memoir “Brain on Fire.” In 2009, Susannah’s reporting career at the New York Post was derailed by a frightening set of symptoms. She grew paranoid, lost touch with reality, and alienated those around her with aggressive, seemingly inexplicable behavior. This culminated in multiple seizures, a hospital stay, and a diagnosis of anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis — Susannah’s body was essentially attacking her own brain.
While recovering, she reported on her own case, piecing together the details of a monthlong episode she only partially remembered, and turned it into the subject of her first book. John and Susannah talk about their common experience with different forms of autoimmune encephalitis; her second book, “The Great Pretender,” an investigation into a landmark study in psychiatry; and her next project, a history about women and psychedelics.
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