Time
Jorge Luis Borges wrote, "Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that...
View ArticleClive
The story of a man who’s lost everything. Clive Wearing has what Oliver Sacks calls “the most severe case of amnesia ever documented.” Clive’s wife, Deborah Wearing, tells us the story along with...
View ArticleMemory and Forgetting
This hour of Radiolab, a look behind the curtain of how memories are made...and forgotten. Remembering is an unstable and profoundly unreliable process--it’s easy come, easy go as we learn how true...
View ArticleEmergence
What happens when there is no leader? Starlings, bees, and ants manage just fine. In fact, they form staggeringly complicated societies -- all without a Toscanini to conduct them into harmony. This...
View ArticleName That Tune
On today’s show, Dr. Oliver Sacks discusses the relationship between music and the human brain. Then, we’ll revisit the history of the Africa-to-America slave trade through the stories of those on the...
View ArticleTales of Music and the Brain
Dr. Oliver Sacks has been writing about patients with unusual and fascinating case histories since the 1970s. In his new book, Musicophilia, Dr. Sacks explores music and its relationship to the human...
View ArticlePop Music
This hour of Radiolab: pop music's pull. Some songs have the nefarious power to stick mercilessly in our heads, and some songs have the transcendent allure to overcome cultural differences. We ask how...
View ArticleEarworms
It has happened to you. Some song wriggles its way into your brain and won't leave. Now imagine that the distant tune in the back of your head suddenly becomes very real. A real song. Real drums. Real...
View ArticleMusic and Autism
Author and neurologist Oliver Sacks talks about the potential of music to treat autism. And: an arts program designed for autistic children. Later: songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as the...
View ArticleMusic, the Mind and Autism
According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in every 150 children has autism and there are no known cures. But music seems to have a particular impact on those who suffer from the disorder....
View ArticleChoice
Logic and emotion aren't the only forces that guide our decisions. This hour of Radiolab, we turn up the volume on the voices in our heads, and try to make sense of the babble. Forget free will, some...
View ArticleYellow Fluff and Other Curious Encounters
The quest for scientific knowledge is one of the great and noble pursuits of humankind. It's also one of the most dangerous, frustrating, ego-driven, transcendent, dirty, sublime, tedious,...
View ArticleAbout Face
Oliver Sacks, the famous neuroscientist and author, can't recognize faces. Neither can Chuck Close, the great artist known for his enormous paintings of...that's right, faces. Oliver and Chuck--both...
View ArticleOliver Sacks: Visually Interesting
Oliver Sacks, physician, professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and author of, most recently, The Mind's Eye, has more stories about the brain and its mysterious...
View ArticleHearing Things That Aren't Really There
Hallucinations is the title of Dr. Oliver Sacks' latest book, and in it he presents hundreds of case studies and stories about those who see, hear, feel and even smell things that aren't really there....
View ArticleHappy Birthday, Good Dr. Sacks
One of our favorite human beings turns 80 this week. To celebrate, Robert asks Oliver Sacks to look back on his career, and explain how thousands of worms and a motorbike accident led to a brilliant...
View ArticleRadiolab Live: Tell-Tale Hearts featuring Oliver Sacks
A few days ago Radiolab performed a live show and this episode we're bringing you a few of the highlights. They were stories of what motivates us, our drives, our loves and losses. Producer Molly...
View ArticleDr. Sacks Looks Back
When Radiolab was just starting out, Robert asked Dr. Oliver Sacks if he could help us, maybe send us a few story ideas. Over the years he has shared with us stories of chemistry, music, neurology,...
View ArticleFrom the Archives: Oliver Sacks' Table of Elements
As we're busy working on our next episode, with stories inspired by the Periodic Table of Elements, we thought we'd bring you one of its chief inspirations. As a young boy, neurologist, author and...
View ArticleRemembering Oliver Sacks
In memory of one of our dear friends and one of the truest inspirations for Radiolab, a re-release of the last conversation we had with Dr. Oliver Sacks. When Radiolab was just starting out, Robert...
View ArticleOliver Sacks: A Journey From Where to Where
There’s nothing quite like the sound of someone thinking out loud, struggling to find words and ideas to match what’s in their head. Today, we are allowed to dip into the unfiltered thoughts of Oliver...
View ArticleOliver Sacks
What's it like to go inside the mind of a person you admire? A person who inspires you? In this episode we honor the man who taught us to see the simple, as sublime: a tribute to neurologist, writer...
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