About this episode
The episode explores the blurred lines between Oliver Sacks's personal life and his portrayals of patients in his writing, as revealed by Rachel Aviv's investigation into his archives.
Oliver Sacks was once crowned “the poet laureate of medicine” — he's known as one of the greatest science writers of our time. But when New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv dug into his archives, she discovered that some details in his intimate portraits of patients mirrored his personal life a little too closely. Guest: Rachel Aviv, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of Strangers to Ourselves. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
People in this episode
Guest: Rachel Aviv
Topics covered
- Oliver Sacks
- science writing
- medical narratives
- personal life
- Rachel Aviv
- patient portraits
Keywords
- Oliver Sacks
- Rachel Aviv
- New Yorker
- science writing
- medical narratives
- patient portraits
- nonfiction
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New Yorker, Vox
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