Best of Design Matters: Lidia Yuknavitch
Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Best of Design Matters: Lidia Yuknavitch

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 14, 20261 hr 20 min

Lidia Yuknavitch is the bestselling author of The Chronology of Water, Reading the Waves, and The Big M, and a writer whose work blurs genre to explore themes of memory, embodiment, grief, and transformation. She joins to discuss her childhood, her early life as a competitive swimmer, the film adaptation of The Chronology of Water directed by Kristen Stewart, and how storytelling can reshape the narratives we carry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

.

I'm a good swimmer and I mean that both in actual water and in the waters of art and writing.

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 34%A2 33%B1 23%B2 10%C1 1%
  • 89% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 145 words a minute: a natural pace.
  • 309 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

This episode of Design Matters originally appeared in March of 2026. I'm a good swimmer and I mean that both in actual water and in the waters of art and writing. And that means I can help other people and that's a reason to stick around. From the TED Audio Collective, this is Design Matters with Debbie Milman.

0:25

On Design Matters Debbie talks with some of the most creative people in the world about what they do, how they got to be who they are, and what they're thinking about and working on. On this episode, a conversation with writer and artist Lydia Juknovich about trauma, writing,

0:42

sex, and the centrality of one's body. To speak the body is an act of saving one's own life, I think. Support comes from WISE, the smart way to manage the currencies you need around the world. Your life is global, your money should be too. Some providers promise no fees on overseas transfers.

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (80 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy