Solving the puzzle: Crosswords, anorexia, and me
Anna Shechtman is one of the youngest crossword creators ever to have a puzzle published in the New York Times – she tells Emily Webb why writing these puzzles is a political act.
Anna Shechtman began writing crossword puzzles as a teenager - but developed an eating disorder around the same time. She became one of the youngest crossword creators to publish a puzzle in the New York Times newspaper and now writes crosswords for the New Yorker magazine, but during her recovery she sometimes feared that her illness and her love of creating crosswords were inextricably linked.
She tells Emily Webb about the art of cruciverbalism, 'crossworld', and why the creation of crossword clues is a political act.
In South Africa, Nathi Mankayi has been winning millions of fans, and many awards, with his heartfelt songs. He writes them from experience and he has had quite an experience. Poverty, crime and an eight-year prison sentence. But in just a few years he's gone from inmate to one of South Africa's top selling recording artists. Outlook's Mpho Lakaje spoke to him. This interview was first broadcast in 2019.
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Presenter: Emily Webb
(Photo: Anna Shechtman. Courtesy of Emily Shechtman)
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- Tue 25 Jan 202212:06GMTBBC World Service
- Tue 25 Jan 202218:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Tue 25 Jan 202223:06GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 26 Jan 202203:06GMTBBC World Service
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