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'Fresh Air' at 20: Neurologist Oliver Sacks

Fresh Air went national in 1987, and we're celebrating that 20th anniversary by revisiting some classic interviews. In this segment: Neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks.

Sacks is probably best known for The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, a case-history collection in which he describes patients struggling to live with a startling array of conditions: Tourette's syndrome, autism, Parkinsonism, musical hallucinations, phantom-limb syndrome, schizophrenia, retardation and Alzheimer's disease.

A recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, Sacks has written nine books, and contributes regularly to The New Yorker. Rebroadcast from Oct. 1, 1987.

15:14
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Other segments from the episode on May 10, 2007

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 10, 2007: Interview with Oliver Sacks; Commentary on Fats Waller; Interview with Tom Wolfe; Interview with Larry Adler.
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08:14

'Fresh Air' at 20: Jazz Musician Marty Grosz

Fresh Air went national in 1987, and we're celebrating that 20th anniversary by revisiting some classic interviews. In this segment: German jazz artist Marty Grosz plays the music of Fats Waller. Rebroadcast from June 26, 1987.

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16:33

'Fresh Air' at 20: Journalist and Author Tom Wolfe

Fresh Air went national in 1987, and we're celebrating that 20th anniversary by revisiting some classic interviews. In this segment: Tom Wolfe's best-selling books include Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full, The Right Stuff and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. He began his career as a journalist, writing for The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Esquire and New York magazine. Rebroadcast from Oct. 29, 1987.

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10:00

'Fresh Air' at 20: Harmonica Legend Larry Adler

Fresh Air went national in 1987, and we're celebrating that 20th anniversary by revisiting some classic interviews. In this segment: Harmonica player Larry Adler performed with legendary entertainers including Fred Astaire, George Gershwin, and Jack Benny, but he was blacklisted amid the anti-communist fervor surrounding the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. Adler moved to England not long after; he died in August 2001. Rebroadcast from June 19, 1987.

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Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

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43:35

'Musicophilia' Examines Music in the Mind

In the book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, neurologist Oliver Sacks explores the relationship between music and the mind.

Through a series of case studies ranging from songs stuck in one's mind to a newfound passion for concert piano after being struck by lightning, the professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the NYU School of Medicine examines the complexity of human beings and the role music plays in our lives.

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