# The Art of Fiction, Democracy & Truth with AL KENNEDY Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-creative-process-in-10-minutes-or-less-arts-culture-society-books-film-music-tv-art-writing-creativity-education-environment-theatre-dance-lgbtq-climate-change-sustainability-social-justice-spirituality-feminism-technology-4458372/the-art-of-fiction-democracy-truth-with-al-kennedy Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-creative-process-in-10-minutes-or-less-arts-culture-society-books-film-music-tv-art-writing-creativity-education-environment-theatre-dance-lgbtq-climate-change-sustainability-social-justice-spirituality-feminism-technology-4458372/the-art-of-fiction-democracy-truth-with-al-kennedy.md Podcast: [The Creative Process in 10 minutes or less · Arts, Culture & Society: Books, Film, Music, TV, Art, Writing, Creativity, Education, Environment, Theatre, Dance, LGBTQ, Climate Change, Sustainability, Social Justice, Spirituality, Feminism, Technology](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-creative-process-in-10-minutes-or-less-arts-culture-society-books-film-music-tv-art-writing-creativity-education-environment-theatre-dance-lgbtq-climate-change-sustainability-social-justice-spirituality-feminism-technology-4458372) Published: 2026-03-03T14:20:26+00:00 Episode link: https://www.creativeprocess.info/10mins/al-kennedy-highlights-zzbah-mktc9-ne5kk Audio file: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5745d9f137013b9d0a627c60/t/69a6ee11b82d941d7821fd46/1772547623127/AL+KENNEDY+HIGHLIGHTS-NEW+.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-creative-process-in-10-minutes-or-less-arts-culture-society-books-film-music-tv-art-writing-creativity-education-environment-theatre-dance-lgbtq-climate-change-sustainability-social-justice-spirituality-feminism-technology-4458372/episodes/the-art-of-fiction-democracy-truth-with-al-kennedy Duration seconds: 2056 ## Resource "The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed?" My guest today is  AL Kennedy . She is one of Britain’s most acclaimed and versatile literary voices, a writer who can inhabit the internal life of a soldier in a POW camp, as she did in her Costa Book Award-winning novel  Day , as easily as she can navigate the "professional lying" of a modern civil servant. Her latest novel,  Alive in the Merciful Country , takes place during the 2020 lockdown. It tells the story of a primary school teacher who receives a confession from an undercover police officer who infiltrated her life decades earlier. It’s a provocative investigation into state power, the "Spy Cops" scandal and the search for mercy in an age of surveillance. It’s a book about the breakdown of trust. We talk about her life, her activism, and why she believes fiction is the only way to tell the truth when the facts are forbidden and how she balances the truth of her novels with the relief of stand-up comedy. (0:00)  Finding Your Voice On the  Alfred Wolfsohn voice method and the power of being fully expressed (2:30)  Reading from Alive in the Merciful Country Kennedy shares a passage from her latest novel, exploring hope and resilience in dark times. (4:43)  The Myth of Shrinking Attention Spans Challenging the narrative that modern audiences cannot focus, and the importance of engaging storytelling. (6:22)  Education and the Foundation of Democracy The dangers of dismantling education and how critical thinking protects us from fascism. (10:26)  The Spy Cop Scandal and State Surveillance Unpacking the reality of undercover police in… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-creative-process-in-10-minutes-or-less-arts-culture-society-books-film-music-tv-art-writing-creativity-education-environment-theatre-dance-lgbtq-climate-change-sustainability-social-justice-spirituality-feminism-technology-4458372/episodes/the-art-of-fiction-democracy-truth-with-al-kennedy/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-creative-process-in-10-minutes-or-less-arts-culture-society-books-film-music-tv-art-writing-creativity-education-environment-theatre-dance-lgbtq-climate-change-sustainability-social-justice-spirituality-feminism-technology-4458372/the-art-of-fiction-democracy-truth-with-al-kennedy.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.