Recorded at the 2025 Brattleboro Literary Festival, Kurt White speaks with author, designer, and Creative Director of The Atlantic, Peter Mendelsund. Their conversation centers on Mendelsund’s book Exhibitionist: 1 Journal, 1 Depression, 100 Paintings, an unconventional work that pairs personal journal entries with paintings created during a period of severe depression. Through vivid, abstract imagery and unfiltered reflection, Mendelsund explores the lived experience of depression, including its loneliness, alienation, shame, and the difficulty of sharing suffering with loved ones. He speaks candidly about bipolar depression, suicidal ideation, the limits of creativity as a coping mechanism, and the life-saving roles of therapy, medication, and human connection. The conversation reflects on the slow work of getting through each day, the courage it takes to ask for help, and the possibility of greater openness and compassion on the other side of despair.
Links:
Peter Mendelsund's website
Paintings by Peter Mendelsund
Exhibitionist and other books by Peter Mendelsund
Brattleboro Literary Festival
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Dial or text 988 in the US and Canada to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
