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Good Life Project · September 14, 2026 · 1h 1m

Jodi Picoult: Why Every Villain is the Hero of Their Own Story

Jodi Picoult
Show Notes

Bestselling author Jodi Picoult discusses the central line from her new novel — that every villain is the hero of their own story — and how that insight shapes both her fiction and the way we all navigate life. She reveals the psychological cost of three decades spent climbing inside other people's minds, including people whose beliefs she can barely tolerate, and recounts a jarring interview that forced her to decide which version of herself would walk back into the room. The conversation also explores a finding from her research on lying that explains why even a small untruth becomes harder to take back over time, and where the boundary sits between sugarcoating your life and bending the truth to protect someone you love.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Highlights

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Every Villain Is the Hero of Their Own Story
Picoult explains that the line which opens part two of her latest novel — every villain is the hero of their own story — is also how most of us get through any given day, or life.
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Choosing Which Self to Bring Into a Hard Conversation
Picoult recalls an interview where she had to leave the room, splash water on her face, and decide which version of herself was walking back in.
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Why a Small Untruth Grows Harder to Retract Over Time
In her research for a novel, Picoult discovered a finding about lying: a small lie becomes increasingly difficult to take back the longer it is maintained.
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The Line Between Self-Protective Spin and Harmful Deception
Picoult draws a distinction between the sugarcoating people do about their own lives and the act of bending the truth to protect someone they love, and she explores what tends to happen to people who never find that line.
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Editorial

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The Personal Cost of Inhabiting Other Minds
After three decades of climbing all the way inside other people’s lives for her research — including people whose beliefs she can barely stand — Picoult describes the toll it has taken on her personally.
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References

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My Sister's Keeper — Jodi Picoult (2004)
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Small Great Things — Jodi Picoult (2016)
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Wish You Were Here — Jodi Picoult (2021)
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Hollow Bones — Jodi Picoult (2026)

Misc

✧One of Picoult's books landed on the most banned book in America list last year, and she shares how she responded.
✧She describes a nightly ritual forced by a narrator that she performed before facing her own family, illustrating the toll of carrying dark fictional voices.
✧During an interview with a person whose beliefs she abhorred, she had to leave the room, splash water on her face, and consciously choose which version of herself would re-enter.
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