In this reflective episode, Candace explores the quiet power of fiction — how stories invite us into lives unlike our own and gently expand our capacity for empathy. Through reading, we don’t just escape the world; we begin to understand it more deeply, and sometimes, see it entirely anew.
What if one of the greatest ways we learn to understand each other… is through story?
In this episode, Candace reflects on a moment from Open Book with Jenna Bush Hager, where author Emily Henry shares that the heart of fiction is learning to understand people who aren’t like you. That idea opens a doorway into a deeper conversation about empathy, perspective, and the quiet ways books can shape who we become.
Candace shares a thought Emily shared, how fiction invites us to enter a story carrying all our assumptions about the world — and then gently challenges them. Through characters, inner worlds, and lived experiences, we’re offered intimate glimpses into people’s traumas, upbringings, personalities, and choices. We begin to see not just what people do, but why.
Candace shares how fiction has been one of her greatest teachers — a place where empathy is practiced, perspectives are softened, and understanding is expanded. While nonfiction has its own wisdom, fiction holds a unique magic: the ability to change how we see the world by helping us truly see each other.
This episode is an invitation to reflect on the stories that have shaped you — the books that became part of you, the characters who cracked your heart open, and the ways reading may have quietly changed your world.
Because sometimes, the most profound growth doesn’t come from being told what to think…
It comes from stepping into someone else’s story and letting it change you.