Flanagan was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Berkeley, California.
She argued that these women, while claiming to be virtuous and concerned for others, simultaneously robbed these workers by not paying Social Security taxes.
[21][22][23][24] Flanagan was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for several articles that year, including two pieces about Babe.net's story about an anonymous woman's allegation that comedian and actor Aziz Ansari's behavior during a date rose to the level of sexual assault.
[25] Flanagan was one of several commentators who argued that the woman who wrote the piece ignored her own agency, not considering her own ability to speak up and leave the situation.
[27][28] In 2003, when her children were in preschool, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, which later metastasized to other parts of her body.
[29][30] The Atlantic ; June 2022; Chasing Joan Didion; Visiting the Writer's California homes, from Berkeley to Malibu.