Oliver Sacks's not quite nonfiction
3/23/202631 min
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
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Amy Pedulla· Host0:25
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Amy Pedulla· Host0:54
I recently sat down with one of my favorite writers.
Rachel Aviv· Guest0:59
I'm Rachel Aviv, and I'm a staff writer at The New Yorker.
Amy Pedulla· Host1:03
But I called her up to talk about a different writer.
Rachel Aviv· Guest1:06
I think e- I r- I remember [laughs] the first story I pitched for The New Yorker. I, like, tried to make it clear, like, "Don't worry, I'm not trying to do an Oliver Sacks piece," 'cause I didn't want them to think that I was daring to compete. I really admired his ability to just, like, delve deeply into the inner life of one person.
Amy Pedulla· Host1:26
The late neurologist and bestselling author,