In this episode of In Conversation with Frank Schaeffer, novelist Stephen O’Connor discusses his book We Want So Much to Be Ourselves, a story about psychoanalysis, moral responsibility, and ordinary people living through the rise of Nazi Germany.
Stephen and Frank explore the disturbing parallels between the gradual acceptance of Hitler’s regime and the political climate in America today.
They discuss how institutions accommodate authoritarian power, how people rationalize what they know is wrong, and why self-deception can become dangerous when democracy is under threat.
The conversation also touches on Stephen’s family history, his mother’s experiences during World War II, and the emotional impact of visiting Auschwitz.
This is a conversation about the human capacity to recognize evil while finding reasons not to confront it.
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Stephen O'Connor is the author of seven books including two novels, Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings and We Want So Much to Be Ourselves, and the short story collection Here Comes Another Lesson. His fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, and Best American Short Stories, among other publications, and his nonfiction has been published in the New York Times, Nation, Boston Globe, and elsewhere. He teaches fiction and nonfiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Manhattan.