“[If] this were to become the age of four A’s, meaning if apathy were to be added into the equation, I think it would be a much more dangerous world to live in.”
-Elif Shafak, writer
I happened upon BBC Newshour yesterday driving home from work. Caught an interview with Elif Shafak, an award-winning Turkish writer. I knew I had to find the interview once I got home because of what Shafak said about literature in times of crisis.1
In our daily lives, we are all occupying a tiny little corner of the universe and we’re so used to looking at the world through our own filter, our own lenses. But when we read a story for a few hours, for a few days, we journey into the psyche of another person, shift the perspective and look at the world through completely different eyes. I think that’s a very humbling exercise for the ego, for the self, and we need to make that journey as often as we can. In times of crisis, particularly our need for literature, for art, for creativity is all the more urgent. It helps us to connect, to slow down.
If I may quickly add this, I think we’re living in the age of three [A’s:] anger, anxiety, and AI. There’s a lot of existential angst right now. The only difference is some people hide their emotions more than others. That’s the only difference. And that in itself is difficult enough.
But if this were to become the age of four A’s, meaning if apathy were to be added into the equation, I think it would be a much more dangerous world to live in.
So why do I love literature so much?
Because I think it is the antidote to apathy.
Show: Newshour, BBC World Service. Episode: “Ukraine again accuses the US of failing to share intelligence” (published 14 Oct 2026). https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/w1730bn83clmfyx Transcribed with Deepgram (nova-3), unedited. Presenter: Rebecca Kesby. ↩︎