Crampton’s ordeal with cancer left her with hypochondria – the fear that something, anything, might make you terribly sick. Crampton says that, at its heart, hypochondria is about seeking knowledge to beat back the fear of uncertainty. So it isn’t surprising that she wrote a book about the condition. It’s part-memoir and part-history, chronicling her own struggle with hypochondria, along with that of people like Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, and the ancient Greeks. She’s joining us to talk about what it’s like to live in a body that you feel like could succumb to disease at any moment.
GUEST –
Caroline Crampton | She’s a writer and podcaster. Her 2024 book is called “A Body Made of Glass: A Cultural History of Hypochondria.”
Original Airdate: Jun. 26, 2024; rebroadcast Aug. 13, 2025, and Aug. 19, 2026.