Stephen Fry's Identity Crisis
Stephen Fry wants to know why he struggles to remember faces. Science sleuths Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate. From 2019.
Stephen Fry (no relation) asks Adam and Hannah to investigate the following question:
"All my life I have been mildly plagued by the fact that I have a quite appalling ability to remember faces. I cut people I should know well dead in the street, or at least fail to recognise them in a way which must often be hurtful.
At a party I can talk to someone for ten minutes and then see them again twenty later and have no idea who they are unless I’ve made an effort to fix some accessory or item of their dress in my mind. If I see them the next day in another context I’ll have no idea who they are. It’s distressing for me in as much as I hate the idea that people might think I am blanking them, or think little of them, don’t consider them significant and so forth.
I’d be very grateful if my sister-in-surname and her eximious partner Adam could investigate prosopagnosia for me and offer any hint add to as to its cause or even possible – I won’t say “cure” as I am sure it’s chronic and untreatable – but at least any interesting ways of relieving it."
Hannah and Adam call in the experts, neuroscientists Sophie Scott and Brad Duchaine. Why is it that some people struggle with prosopagnosia, whilst others never forget a face?
You can find out more about Face Blindness, who it affects and how to cope with it by visiting www.faceblind.org.uk/
Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Producer: Michelle Martin
First broadcast on ±«Óătv Radio 4 in 2019.
Last on
Broadcasts
- Wed 13 Nov 2019 09:30±«Óătv Radio 4
- Wed 13 Nov 2019 20:45±«Óătv Radio 4
- Sat 16 Nov 2019 05:45±«Óătv Radio 4
- Sun 27 Feb 2022 10:45±«Óătv Radio 4 Extra
- Sun 27 Feb 2022 21:45±«Óătv Radio 4 Extra
- Thu 3 Mar 2022 11:45±«Óătv Radio 4 Extra
- Thu 3 Mar 2022 21:45±«Óătv Radio 4 Extra
Why do you see faces in unexpected places?
We are “hardwired” for recognising faces and it starts at birth.
Podcast
-
Curious Cases
Hannah Fry and Dara Ă“ Briain tackle listeners' conundrums with the power of science!