Check out this quiz that columnist Tara Parker-Pope of the New York Times put together—based on THE UNTHINKABLE. I actually always wanted to do a quiz like this, but I never got around to it. So thanks, Tara! It’s a really lovely way to kill 10 minutes.
Topic for next book: Why does the human brain love quizzes so much? What is it about quizzes? And how is it related to our lust for Top 10 lists?
Check out this NPR Talk of the Nation segment on the book from earlier today. The listener call-ins included Diane, who survived Katrina on a rooftop in New Orleans; Gary, who survived the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California; Upton, who lived through the catastrophic break up of United flight 232 in Sioux City, Iowa; and Nina, who clung to a cement bench in Kalamazoo, MI, during the 1980 tornado.
Think of the wisdom contained in that collection of people. Here’s the enduring mystery: Why aren’t Diane and Gary and the rest of…
A number of you have emailed me to ask for the news-you-can-use side dish to the TIME adaptation of my book. Unfortunately, TIME did not put this piece of the story online. So I figured it might be fun to summarize it here—and elaborate a bit.
1. Attitude:
It turns out attitude really does matter. People who perform well in crises and recover well afterwards tend to have three underlying advantages: 1) They believe they can influence what happens to them. 2) They find meaningful purpose in life’s turmoil. 3)They are convinced they can learn from…
I did the Diane Rehm show today, which was a blast. (Rarely do you get an hour of media time to talk about anything, let alone an obsession that you’ve been researching for years.)
But I wanted to share with you what one listener sent in by email during the show. I wish I could have said it half as well:
From Jerry in O’Fallon, Missouri:
“I spent over 15 years training airline pilots and flight attendants in emergency procedures. Here’s what I know: Everyone has a moment of panic. The trick is to move…
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