Main content

The Taste of Words

Esther wonders why she can see the days of the week arranged in 3D. It turns out other people can even taste words and see music. What’s going on!?

11 year old Esther visualises days of the week in a kind of 3D structure. It’s something called ‘synaesthesia’ and she wants to know why it happens - and why other people don’t experience things the way she does.

Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain explore the vibrant and varied ways different people experience the world, from the man who tastes individual words - including all the stops of the tube - to the composer who sees music in shapes and colours.

And along the way, they figure out why Mozart is white wine while Beethoven is red.

Contributors:

Professor Julia Simner: Professor of Psychology,University of Sussex
Professor Jamie Ward: Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Sussex
James Wannerton, President of UK Synaesthesia Association
CoriAnder: electronic music producer

Producer: Ilan Goodman
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
A ±«Óătv Studios Audio Production

Release date:

Available now

28 minutes

More episodes

Next

Coming soon

See all episodes from Curious Cases

Featured

  • .

Why do you see faces in unexpected places?

We are “hardwired” for recognising faces and it starts at birth.

Podcast