This week on Reclaiming, Monica sits down with artist and author Charlie Mackesy for a warm conversation about softness, grief, and what it means to stay human in a world that urges you to harden. Charlie opens up about the unexpected impact of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, the emotional weight of meeting readers in their most tender moments, and how creating gentle work requires its own quiet courage. Together, in this connecting, deep dive they explore childhood defenses, the ache of losing the people and animals we love, and why storms change us even when we don’t choose them. Charlie also tells us about when his 19 year old dog, Barney, met the late Queen Elizabeth. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.