What She Said & What I Heard: How One Man Shut Up and Started Listening

by Stuart Watson

Overview

Meet a man who actually listens to women. An award-winning investigative journalist tells poignant stories in this compulsively readable memoir, each revealing a profound moment when a woman said something that he actually heard, transforming his life for the better. With more than 50 photos, plus dozens of links to bonus audio and video, each chapter is an immersive experience that grabs hold and does not let go.

Stuart Watson spent his first career earning a living by talking. His whole identity was wrapped up in being a Peabody-award-winning investigative reporter. Then he turned 55 and got fired. He began to doubt himself. He flirted with suicide. To escape such dark thoughts, he began a five-year odyssey conducting dozens and dozens of interviews for a podcast, a book, and a film. Increasingly, those interview subjects were women. But all too often, Stuart interrupted or "mansplained" or flat-out argued. It didn't work. So gradually he learned how to stop talking over women and really listen to them. The result is this book and a podcast called ManListening, in which Stuart elevates the stories of a diverse group of strong women who bounced back.

What She Said & What I Heard is a memoir told through a series of profound moments where a woman said something that Stuart actually heard. He shifted and changed because in a moment, he really listened. This book is for broken people and the people who don't know how to hear them. If you're still reading, you're one of us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781953555007
Publisher:	Unmediated LLC
Publication date:	10/05/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stuart Watson created and trademarked ManListening® as a podcast and media company to start making amends for a lifetime of "mansplaining." As an investigative reporter, Stuart is the three-time recipient of the coveted George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcast journalism-at WKRN-TV (ABC) Nashville, TN, WRAL-TV (then CBS) Raleigh, NC, and WCNC-TV (NBC) Charlotte, NC. He won the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton twice. He served three terms on the board of directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and was also awarded a Nieman Fellowship in Journalism at Harvard University. Stuart was born in Macon and grew up in Albany, Georgia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Vanderbilt University (and they can't take it back). Stuart, along with Lorraine Jivoff, coproduced Erin, Glynis, Colleen, and Jack. They call North Carolina home. #TARHEELS

Table of Contents

Author's Note 1

Preface 5

Making My Mother Cry 9

Giving Birth 15

Batman, Jesus, and Louise Dukes 21

The Bridge Club 27

The Plane-Eating Pine Tree 33

The Medical Missionary 39

The Stripper Said Nothing 45

Meet Cute 51

The Real Sex Talk 57

High Dive Into a Dumpster 61

The Man in the Bottle 67

She Slapped the Shit Out of Me 73

The Bottom 77

The Messenger & the Message 83

Making Amends to Five- and Eight-Year-Old Girls 87

The Mean Teacher 91

Better Than Planning 97

What is Heard 103

A Pain in My Ass 107

The Question 113

She Trusted Me 119

Known, Not Known 127

Pearl 133

Not Mine to Give 139

She Fired Me 143

Irrelevant 149

LOUD and Quiet 155

Riding with the Part-Time Stripper to the Methadone Clinic 159

Wanting and Getting 165

Motivation 169

Lucy in Hospice 177

Unwiring the Bomb 181

Freedom 187

The Little Boy, Always 189

Making Marriage Work 195

Abandoners Abandon 201

Jamie Has Gone to Heaven 209

An Unanswered Question 215

Turtle Shoved Jack in the River 221

A Pretty Cool Couple 227

Breath 231

Epilogue 239

Acknowledgments 241

About the Author 246

Editorial Reviews

"A little bit Harper Lee...reminds me of David Sedaris...you can feel the influence of Gonzo journalism." - Network TV Correspondent

"We all bloom when we are heard. Stuart gets it." - Anne Heffron, author of You Don't Look Adopted

"Excellent, empathic listening style. A model for others to follow." - Stuart's Online Personality Assessment

"Sweetheart, you are not an empathic listener." - Lorraine Jivoff, wife

"Stop talking. You're wrong." - Therapist

From the Publisher