Personal crisis and hospital experiences

Most people remember exactly where they were the week of March 11, 2020. Life suddenly stopped. The world went quiet. And for a brief moment, everything about our routines, priorities, and pace of life was thrown into question. Six years later, the world is loud and fast again. But the real question is: what were we supposed to learn from the moment when everything slowed down?

In this episode, Ryan talks with award-winning author Chloe Dalton about the strange stillness of those early pandemic months and how one unexpected encounter with a wild hare during lockdown completely changed the way she thought about time, work, and the life she was building. Later in the episode, novelist Susan Straight joins the conversation to reflect on why it’s important that we don’t rush to forget that time and what remembering the pandemic can still teach us.

📚 Books Mentioned: 

• Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
• Sacrament by Susan Straight 

Chloe Dalton is a writer, political adviser and foreign policy specialist. She spent over a decade working in the UK Parliament and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and has advised, and written for and with, numerous prominent figures. You can grab a copy of her debut book, Raising Hare, which was an instant Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, at The Painted Porch. 

Follow Chloe on Instagram @ChloeDaltonUK. 

Susan Straight’s latest novel, Sacrament, is out now! Susan has published nine novels, including Mecca, A Million Nightingales, and one memoir, In the Country of Women. She’s been a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the National Book Award, among other honors, and received the Lannan Prize, the O. Henry Award, the Edgar Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. 

Follow Susan Straight on Instagram @Susan.Straight

SPECIAL OFFER | Go to dailystoic.com/spring and enter code DSPOD20 at checkout to get 20% off the Spring Forward Challenge! Challenge yourself to spring forward and become the person you aspire to be. The Spring Forward Challenge starts March 20, 2026.

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