Suzy Hansen's "From Life Itself"
Suzy Hansen's "From Life Itself"  
Podcast: LARB Radio Hour
Published On: Fri May 08 2026
Description: Kate Wolf speaks to the Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist Suzy Hansen about her new book, From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdogan. It centers on Istanbul's neighborhood of Karagümrük, which Hansen first began reporting on in 2015. She writes about the influx of Syrian immigrants, the constant new construction, the conflicts between residents, and local muhtar's role in resolving them. Both a record of place and refraction of the global forces shaping Turkey today—not least the consolidation of power by president Erdogan—From Life Itself explores the ways that small lives become intruded on by the larger world. Hansen discusses her work as a foreign correspondent, Turkey's history, and its outsized role in current international conflicts from the war in Ukraine to Gaza and Iran.