Ayad Aktal’s parents met in Pakistan in the early 1960s. They were medical students and were “ridiculously attractive.” Despite having a love marriage (contrary to his parents’ wishes), they were rocky from the beginning.
“By the time I was four, I already knew that my dad had” other women, “as my mother called them” other women, “Ayad wrote in his Modern Love essay. I am writing.
However, it was the first time that her mother shared her confession with him a few years after Ayad became an adult. Today, Ayad tells his story about seeing his mother in a new light. Next, he hears a small love story about a child who recognizes his parents for the first time.
Ayado ActalThe 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner is the author of the novel “Hometown Elegy” and the president of PEN America.
Organized by: Anna Martin
Produced by: Hans Buetow, Julia Botero, Elyssa Dudley, Vishakha Darbha
Edited by: Sara Sarason
Executive Producer: Wendy Doll
Designer: Dan Powell
Theme music: Dan Powell
Original music: Marion Rosano
Written and read essays: Ayado Actal
Little love story: Peyton Roberts
Founder of Modern Love: Daniel Jones
Editor, Modern Love Projects: Miya Lee
Special thanks: Mahima Chabrani, Renan Borrelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Julia Simon, Lisa Tobin, Sam Dornick, Ryan Wegner, Anna Diamond (Audm).
idea? Please email us at modernlovepodcast@nytimes.com.
