Like all writers, Margaret Atwood is a ‘chancer’ – but she’s always optimistic

Margaret Atwood sat down with Stephen Marche for Gloves Off, Marche's podcast about the threat the U.S. poses to Canadian sovereignty.

For a Canadian writer, interviewing Margaret Atwood is a bit like interviewing Santa Claus; it doesn’t feel altogether real. There’s no precise equivalent for the situation in other countries. It’s as if an American novelist could go and chat with Mark Twain, or a French poet have a drink with Baudelaire. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible. But I know it’s possible because I recently did it. We are a young country, indeed. You can still go and interview the leading canonical figure of our national literature.

For Gloves Off , my podcast about the American threat to Canadian sovereignty, I wanted to interview Atwood about the state of the new