#225: Susan Choi, novelist

Rachel and Simon speak to the American novelist Susan Choi. Born in Indiana to a Korean father and a Jewish mother, Susan is the author of six novels: "The Foreign Student" (1998), "American Woman" (2003), "A Person of Interest" (2008), "My Education" (2013), "Trust Exercise" (2019) and "Flashlight" (2025). In 2004 "American Woman" was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and in 2019 "Trust Exercise" won the National Book Award for Fiction. (It was also a bestseller in America and picked by Barack Obama as one of his books of the year.) "Flashlight" was shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize. We spoke to Susan about working as a fact-checker at the New Yorker, the role of literary prizes and about turning "Flashlight" from a short story into a novel.