this is bbc news. we will have all the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the r as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from new york. i m stephen sackur. this city has always had an outsize influence on american culture. the buzz in this nation comes from right here in terms of the arts, entertainment, publishing, the media, but what happens in new york when america had s political culture is riven with division? well, my guest today is the great american novelist, new york resident, paul auster. if america is experiencing a culture war, is he ready to fight? paul auster, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s a pleasure to be in your home, your writing study is just below us, the floor below. just tell me, does it matter to you when you are writing what is going on in the world outside yourfront door? does it affect your writing? well, it depends on what you mean. if there is a fire engine screeching in front of my door, it
This is bbc news. we will have all the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the r as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from new york. i m stephen sackur. this city has always had an outsize influence on american culture. the buzz in this nation comes from right here in terms of the arts, entertainment, publishing, the media, but what happens in new york when america had s political culture is riven with division? well, my guest today is the great american novelist, new york resident, paul auster. if america is experiencing a culture war, is he ready to fight?
Paul auster, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s a pleasure to be in your home, your writing study is just below us, the floor below. just tell me, does it matter to you when you are writing what is going on in the world outside yourfront door? does it affect your writing? well, it depends on what you mean. if there is a fire engine screeching in front of my door, it will interrupt my concentration, and i might go out and see what s going on. but if there is a distant war going on in another place and i know about it, i m not going to read about it while i m doing my work for the day. but i certainly will inform myself about it later. you talk of distant worries. you talk of distant wars.
Much as the first. i thought, well, maybe that s the end, and i ve been living that way ever since thinking, maybe this is the end, and there is something new that always seems to happen. new that always seems to ha en. ., , new that always seems to hauen. . ~ , ., happen. paul auster, there are a lot of people happen. paul auster, there are a lot of people around - happen. paul auster, there are a lot of people around the i a lot of people around the world who would be delighted to hear of that. thank you very much indeed for being on hardtalk. much indeed for being on hardtalk- hardtalk. thank you for invitinu hardtalk. thank you for inviting me. hello there. it was cold over the weekend. some areas saw quite a bit of rain, and we had some snow over northern hills. similar story as we start the new week. we ve got a frontal system working its way in from the atlantic. that s going to bring another round of rain and hill snow.