Last fall, Zadie Smith published her prescient historical novel The Fraud. We return to our conversation with the beloved author this week, on the heels of our latest sit-down with writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner.

At the top, Smith details her most recent book (7:48 ), her instinctive writing process (13:37 ), and the role of projection in her work (20:08 ). Then, Zadie reflects on her upbringing in North West London (23:48 ), the art that influenced her growing up (26:42 ), and the media circus that followed the publication of her debut novel, White Teeth (31:28 ).

On the back-half, we discuss her desire to frequently reinvent herself as an artist as a writer (41:53 ), why she prioritized pleasure after her book On Beauty (45:24 ), her evolving relationship to humanism (48:06 ), the nuanced politics of her work (54:13 ), a striking passage from Intimations (1:01:56 ), and what she sees in this next generation of novelists (1:04:55 ).

This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at sf@talkeasypod.com.

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