Can Distance Change Who You Are?

What happens when distance changes the way we see the world—and ourselves?Inspired by Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, we explore the Overview Effect: the profound shift astronauts describe after seeing Earth from space. From there, the conversation expands into borders, war, loneliness, mortality, perspective, and the relief that can come from stepping back.Along the way, we discuss the International Space Station, the former Yugoslavia, Viktor Frankl's Man’s Search for Meaning, climate anxiety, AI and art, social media, body image, and why some books help us see familiar things from a completely different angle.📚 BOOKS MENTIONED:• Training for the Uphill Athlete by Steve House, Scott Johnston, and Kilian Jornet• Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose• Orbital by Samantha Harvey• In Ascension by Martin MacInnes• Awe by Dacher Keltner• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl• The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell💌 Our Substack & Show Notes:https://transatlanticbookmarks.substack.com/📚 Read Ksenija’s Novels:https://transatlanticbookmarks.substack.com/p/publications📚 Ksenija on Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6449766.Ksenija_Popovi_🎙️ ABOUT TRANSATLANTIC BOOKMARKSHosted by European novelist Ksenija Popović and American engineer Sue Graham Johnston, Transatlantic Bookmarks uses books as the starting point for conversations about culture, history, psychology, morality, politics, and the questions hiding between the lines.New episodes every Saturday.👉🏻 CHAPTERS00:00 Intro00:25 What We’re Reading08:03 The Overview Effect19:14 Isolation vs. Connection26:09 When Borders Disappear33:46 Judging from a Distance39:05 Above Situationalists48:26 Literature and Human Empathy52:39 Literature, Climate, and the Earth59:08 Mortality, Meaning, and Daily Life01:01:40 Body Image and Beauty Standards01:08:08 Book Recommendations