Pam Houston: Learning the Best Ways to Love, Live and Die from Animals (ep59)

Award-winning author Pam Houston joins Scott to talk about her new collection of essays, ANIMALS TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING.  They discuss how it can be easier to speak for animals than other people, and how sitting vigil through the death of some 15 dogs and horses has taught her how to love, how to let go, and how to communicate across the boundaries of death. Scott and Pam also talk about the lasting relevance of COWBOYS ARE MY WEAKNESS thirty years on, what she’d tell her younger self, their shared love of Irish Wolfhounds and what it means to be a good elder: listening more than speaking and staying open to wisdom that comes through you from somewhere else.  Pam's books also include COWBOYS ARE MY WEAKNESS, WALTZING THE CAT, CONTENTS MAY HAVE SHIFTED and SIGHT HOUND.   In this episode: 👉How animals have taught her to listen, to love and to let go, and why it all comes down to attention. 👉What being present through the deaths of her animals has taught her about dying with dignity and how to be with the dying. 👉 How writing from the point of view of animals can come more naturally than speaking for humans she doesn't know. 👉What she's learned about kinship and the sentience of all things through her years at the Institute of American Indian Arts. 👉How capitalism and screens disconnect us from nature, and why people are so hungry for the tactile. 👉 Pam's struggle with long COVID, an acupuncturist’s blunt advice, and the Iceland horseback ride that brought her back to her joy and health. 👉The big lessons she learned from her experiences learning to ride her young Icelandic horse, Aski, about asking for help, and patience with herself when making mistakes. 👉Why Pam's book Cowboys Are My Weakness still resonates with people; things have changed but the patriarchal realities remain the same decades after her book was published. 👉An important question her father asked her that made her question how she was approaching dating and her relationships with men. 👉What she’d tell her younger self. 👉What it means to be a useful, generous elder and why it's importance to have this role for the younger generations. 👉Recognizing the importance of listening when guiding and giving advice. PAM'S LINKS: Website | Instagram | Pie for Breakfast Club  SCOTT’S LINKS: Substack | Website | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok  MUSIC – Wilderado, “Surefire (piano)”