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Blank on Blank
Season 1
Episode 80

Oliver Sacks on Ripe Bananas

January 24, 2017

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Blank on Blank - S1 - E80

”I’m very interested in how people adapt to extremes” This interview was recorded on July 28, 1996 for the Cover-to-Cover radio show on WGBH-FM in Boston.

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Blank on Blank: Season 1 - 51 Episode s

1x30 - Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness
June 3, 2014
"Learning how to die is therefore learning how to live" - Philip Seymour Hoffman Conversation with Simon Critchley recorded live at the Rubin Museum of Art on Dec 22, 2012
1x31 - Meryl Streep on Beauty
June 24, 2014
"It's very humbling to imagine somebody else's really life and their pain ... It's my drug" - Meryl Streep Interview by Christine Spines, 2008
1x32 - Jimi Hendrix on The Experience
August 26, 2014
"When things get too heavy just call me helium--the lightest known gas to man." - Jimi Hendrix in his final interview
1x33 - Michael Jackson on Godliness
September 16, 2014
"My singing… i'll just say it simple as possible: it's just godly." - Michael Jackson in January 1980
1x34 - Bette Davis on The Sexes
September 30, 2014
"I think men have got to change an awful lot. They still prefer the little woman." - Bette Davis in 1963
1x35 - Liberace on Peacocking
October 14, 2014
"Anyone that dares begrudge what I have today, just better get off their duff and do something about it" - Liberace in 1968 as told to Jay Kent Hackleman
1x36 - Maya Angelou on Con Men
October 28, 2014
"The only way you can be a mark is if you want something for nothing. If you're greedy, you're set up." - Maya Angelou, as told to Studs Terkel in 1970
1x37 - Wayne Coyne on Living With Death
November 11, 2014
"I'm pouring my guts out so they can feel like your guts at the same time." - Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips in 2002
1x38 - Robin Williams on Masks
December 2, 2014
"Comedy is there to basically show us we fart, we laugh. To make us realize we still are part animal.... So you don't take yourself seriously and destroy the species." - Robin Williams in 1991, as told to Lawrence Grobel
1x39 - Tom Robbins on Jitterbugs
December 16, 2014
"If I knew how it was going to end, I probably wouldn't write it." - Tom Robbins in 1994, as told to Tod Mesirow
1x40 - Elliott Smith on Freaks
January 20, 2015
"A lot of people are kind of depressed. I'm happy some of the time, and some of the time I'm not." - Elliott Smith in 1998, as told to Barney Hoskyns
1x41 - B.B. King on The Blues
February 3, 2015
"I don't like to feel that I owe anything. I like to feel that I pay my own way, no free lunch." - B.B. King on September 5, 1986, as told to Joe Smith
1x42 - Lou Reed on Guns & Ammo
February 17, 2015
"I write a song called 'Heroin', you would have thought that I murdered the Pope or something" - Lou Reed on March 20, 1987, as told to Joe Smith
1x43 - Dolly Parton on Getting Dirty
April 14, 2015
"Mama just always said, 'you be what you are and you don't have to worry about nothing'" - Dolly Parton as told to Lawrence Grobel on March 13, 1978
1x44 - Ray Bradbury on Madmen
April 28, 2015
"Nobody else is going to give a damn what you're doing, so you need a few other people like yourself" - Ray Bradbury as told to two college kids on road trip in 1972
1x45 - John Coltrane on Giant Steps
May 12, 2015
"I want to be the force which is truly for good." - John Coltrane in 1966, as told Frank Kofsky
1x46 - Joni Mitchell on Illusions
May 26, 2015
"I didn’t like the sound of people gasping at the mere mention of my name. It horrified me." - Joni Mitchell in 1986, as told to Joe Smith
1x47 - Ayn Rand on Love and Happiness
June 9, 2015
" I have no faith at all. I only hold convictions." - Ayn Rand on February 25, 1959, as told to Mike Wallace
1x48 - Roger Ebert on Ego
June 23, 2015
"I have innate confidence that I am right. Partially out of conviction and partially as a pose." - Roger Ebert in 1990
1x49 - Dustin Hoffman in 1971 on Duplicity and Famosity
July 14, 2015
"I did as much as I could do at that time in my life ... I tried as hard as I could and I couldn't do better" - Dustin Hoffman in 1971
1x50 - Hunter S. Thompson on Outlaws
July 28, 2015
“I keep my mouth shut now. I’ve turned into a professional coward.” - Hunter S. Thompson in 1967
1x51 - Tom Waits on Everything and Nothing
September 29, 2015
"I don’t know what the ‘big time’ is" - Tom Waits in 1988. Tom Waits had just released the concert film, Big Time, when he was interviewed by Chris Roberts in September 1988. The interview was recorded on cassette tape at a recording studio; you can hear various tunes playing in the background. We found the interview in the Rock’s Backpages archive.
1x52 - Patty Hearst on Reasonable Doubt
October 13, 2015
"I'm sorry, I‘m a coward. I didn’t want to die." - Patty Hearst in 1982 in the first interview she gave after getting out of prison
1x53 - Bill Murray on Being Obnoxious
October 27, 2015
"I‘m just an obnoxious guy who can make it appear charming, that’s what they pay me to do" - Bill Murray in October 1988
1x54 - Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys
November 10, 2015
"Nothing means anything" - Kurt Vonnegut on November 8, 1970
1x55 - Nina Simone on Shock
December 1, 2015
"I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life. I have a chance to live, as I've dreamed." - Nina Simone in July, 1968
1x56 - Garrison Keillor on Humor
December 15, 2015
“My family was shocked when I came home with a volume of Hemingway … There was a price to be paid for being interested in fiction.” - Garrison Keillor in 1994. In this new episode we have a conversation with a true storyteller, the humorist, Garrison Keillor. This interview was recorded in front a live audience back in November of 1994 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. On stage that night was Keillor, the host of A Praire Home Companion, and George Plimpton, the famed editor of the Paris Review. The thread of their conversation that night was: the qualities of humor. It’s been awhile since we dug into the archives of talks recorded at the 92Y over the years. What we loved about this conversation was something we hadn’t really thought about before: What is the obligation of humor? Enjoy
1x57 - Sally Ride on Dumb Questions
February 2, 2016
“I wish that there had been another woman on my flight. I think it would have been a lot easier.” - Sally Ride in 1983. Interviewed by Gloria Steinem. Hear more outtakes from the interview @ http://blankonblank.org/sally-ride This episode marks the return of our special series, The Experimenters. We’re uncovering lost interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation - people who helped make the world we live in today. And some guest animators are bringing these conversations to life. One of those people is Sally Ride. These days, just about every space mission has women on it. It’s just not a big deal. But in 1983, it was very much a big deal - that’s the year Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. Back in 1963, Russia sent Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman to fly to outer space. But it took two more decades for the Americans to follow suit. At the time, journalist and icon of the feminist movement Gloria Steinem had an ABC interview series, called ‘In Conversation with…” As part of that program she interviewed Sally Ride - and we found the tape in Smith College’s archive dedicated to the life and work of Steinem - The Gloria Steinem Papers, part of the Sophia Smith Collection. Now at the time of this interview, as far as the public - and it turns out the press - were concerned, space was for clean-cut alpha males with names like Buzz. Then Sally Ride came along. Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
1x58 - Frank Lloyd Wright on Arrogance
February 16, 2016
“Any man who really has faith in himself will be dubbed arrogant by his fellows” - Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957, as told to Mike Wallace If you’ve ever been to Illinois, you’ll know all about the defining features of its landscape - namely, that it’s pretty much flat. But architect Frank Lloyd Wright did something new when he made buildings that somehow became one with the prairie. Long, low lines, and interiors that brought the light and space of the outside in. With the same approach, he built homes in the woods around waterfalls, on high bluffs that take in the stretch and space of the land below. If you’ve ever visited one of his houses, you’ll know how they manage to make you understand more about exactly where you live. As part of our special series, The Experimenters, where we’re uncovering interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation, we found this 1957 interview with Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s part of a collection at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin celebrating The Mike Wallace Interview, a TV program that ran back in the late ‘50s. Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs and style seem very nice, very clean now, but at the time, he was a controversial personality. And like most famous architects, his work was as much hated as respected. And that’s what Mike Wallace wanted to talk about. Here’s the tape. Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
1x59 - Temple Grandin On Her Search Engine
March 1, 2016
""Everything in my mind works like a search engine set for the image function."" - Temple Grandin in 2008, from an oral history at Colorado State University Hear more interview outtakes and learn more about Temple Grandin @ http://blankonblank.org/temple-grandin You’ve probably heard the story that Einstein - whose name is synonymous with genius - didn’t seem destined for much when he was a small child. He was years behind other children when it came to learning to talk, he did horribly in school. It seems that Einstein’s brain just worked differently than most other people’s. And many people these days are saying that Einstein was probably autistic - one of them is Temple Grandin. Temple Grandin is a professor of animal sciences who’s worked in the meat industry to invent kinder ways to lead cattle to slaughter. She’s also autistic - the high-functioning version known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Autism, in case you don’t know, is a brain disorder that tends to affect people’s social skills, like the ability to read facial expressions and body language, but it can also mean extraordinary talent in math, music and the visual arts. Temple Grandin has become something of a celebrity of autism. She’s written books, given TED talks, and she’s been around the world to speak on the subject. Claire Danes has even played her in a movie about her life. As part of our special series, The Experimenters--where we uncover interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation…-- we found this interview in the holdings of Colorado State University, where Temple teaches. In this conversation, Temple’s at her best, explaining for the rest of us what it’s really like to have an autistic brain and how Einstein’s not the only genius who could have been dismissed for being different. Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
1x60 - Jane Goodall on Instinct
March 11, 2016
"Animals were my passion from even before I could speak apparently. When I was about 10, 11 I fell in love with Tarzan" - Jane Goodall, as told to Ira Flatow in 2002 Hear more interview outtakes and learn more about Jane Goodall http://blankonblank.org/jane-goodall Jane Goodall is so nice, so good, it’s intimidating. She seems like almost a kind of mythic figure. She made groundbreaking discoveries about the behavior of chimpanzees when she was only in her 20s, and without any formal training or degree. Even now, she’s always on the go, speaking up for the rights of animals, campaigning for conservation, and working slavishly on her environmental education program. She’s a role model for young girls to get into science. With all that, it’s sometimes been hard for me to imagine her as one of us ordinary humans. Which is why this interview we came across by veteran public radio science journalist Ira Flatow was just so great. Ira talked with Jane Goodall for his long-running Science Friday program back in 2002, and in that conversation, you can hear a Jane who’s full of formidable conviction, yes - but she’s also humble, vulnerable and best of all even actually fun. This is another episode from our special series, The Experimenters, where we uncover interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation. Support for this series comes from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
1x61 - Dame Stephanie Shirley on Survival Code
March 15, 2016
"I have to make my life worth saving, and each day you spend as if it would be your last" - Dame Stephanie Shirley in 2010 from an oral history at the British Library Computers had their start as a way to turn over the tedium of complicated, repetitive, mathematical calculations to someone else. Sort of the, um, ‘women’s work’ of mathematics and in fact women were often the ones doing the grunt work in the days developing the first computers and the code-writing that would become computer software. They just didn’t tend to get the credit. As a young woman in 1950’s Britain with a talent for math, Stephanie Shirley, found herself in an ever-evolving field of information technology - building computers and writing code, working in places where the world's first programmable electronic computer was invented, exciting stuff. But at work, she found she was often the only woman in the room. "When I first walked in there, about 200, you know, handsome, intelligent men turned round and looked at this new female that had sort of turned up. [laughs] So, and that, you know, took, it was, it was quite, you know, you were... It was almost scary to go into a big place like that, 100, not quite 100 per cent but ninety-nine per cent men." - Shirley said. And this had its limitations. So she decided to strike out on her own and by doing so she came up with a whole new way to work in the computing industry - a way that allowed women to thrive. As part of our special series, The Experimenters -- uncovering interviews with the icons of science, technology, and innovation -- we found this interview with British IT pioneer and businesswoman Stephanie Shirley in the British Library’s collection of Oral Histories. She explains how from the start, her home-based computer software company was uniquely women-friendly: Additional support from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
1x62 - Buckminster Fuller on The Geodesic Life
March 22, 2016
"I must reorganize the environment of man by which then greater numbers of men can prosper." - Buckminster Fuller in 1965, as told to Studs Terkel Buckminster Fuller was kicked out of college, and booted by Harvard not once, but twice. As a young man trying out jobs, he best liked working with his hands, and was more at home with mill workers, meat-packers and sailors, than professors. Fuller’s most famous for his Geodesic Dome - think Disney’s Epcot Center. You could call him an inventor-philospher-engineer-architect-artist - but he was outside category, really - and he wanted to ‘do a lot with a little.' All to make the world a better place. The tape we found told us he also had his own deeper, more personal reasons for what he did. Fuller spoke with Studs Terkel for Studs’ Chicago radio show twice. Once in studio in 1970, and the other five years earlier. That’s when he and Studs rode around in a station wagon through the rapidly gentrifiying neighborhood Lincoln Park - see if you can hear the hum of the moving car. A conversation with Fuller was like running through a hedge maze - he spoke in fragments, these big ideas endlessly around the corner from others, warm and charismatic the whole way. Studs is firmly there, both holding the reigns and along for the ride - addressing him with all due respect. But as you’ll hear, Buckminster Fuller wasn’t too big on formalities. Support for this series comes from PRX and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
1x63 - Richard Feynman on What It Means
March 25, 2016
"The key was somehow to know what was important and what was not important, what was exciting, because I can’t learn everything." - Richard Feynman in 1966 Richard Feynman sat down for several hours of interviews in Altadena, California in June 1966. The conversations covered his life, thoughts on physics, and more. We uncovered this oral history at the American Institute of Physics.
1x64 - Carl Sagan on Extraterrestrials
March 29, 2016
"A literal reading of the Bible simply is a mistake; I mean it’s just wrong" - Carl Sagan on October 4, 1985, as told to Studs Terkel. We found this conversation between Studs Terkel and Carl Sagan in the WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive. Following “Contact,” the book he wrote with wife Ann Druyan - and the major motion picture that followed it -- Carl Sagan spoke with Studs all about our continuing search for intelligent life out there, including how, for a long time, Hollywood just got it wrong. Here’s the tape.
1x65 - Martin Scorsese on Framing
April 12, 2016
"Sometimes when it all comes together ... you become the film you’re making." - Martin Scorsese in 1990, as told to T.J. English. In this new episode we have a previously unheard conversation with legendary director, Martin Scorsese, on how he's framed his movies and his life. The early foray into making a movie as a kid, toying with becoming a priest, and where his parents fit into all this. And wouldn't you like to see a Scorsese Western? Enjoy!
1x66 - Patti Smith in 1976 on Getting Bleeped
April 26, 2016
“When people say fuckin‘ shit, they don‘t think of a big turd, or two people makin‘ it anymore” - Patti Smith in May 1976, as told to Mick Gold In the spring of 1976, Patti Smith made her debut in London. She wasn't even 30, yet. We're going inside her hotel, the Portobello, a Bohemian place popular with the fashion biz and musicians. Several journalists are inside the room asking Patti questions. For nearly two hours Patti holds court on her love of the French poet Rimbuad that spawned her creative path while still a young woman in New Jersey, her publicized relationship with Bob Dylan once she arrived on the scene, and her ability to dip into her unconscious pretty much anytime she wanted to. It's vintage Patti Smith, unvarnished and unfiltered. We get to be flies on the wall that day.
1x67 - Cher on Kitsch
May 10, 2016
“I’m a cookie-decorating mom. I don’t bake them. I decorate them.“ - Cher in 1999, as told to Benjamin Svetkey. On a spring afternoon, Svetkey drove to Cher's house in Malibu for an interview. Her assistant led him up to her bedroom where she was dressed in leopard print and resting on a leopard print bedspread. Cher was open, honest, and forthcoming about the ups and downs of fame, being a mom, her gay following, the camp element of her persona, and how Sonny Bono changed her life. It's vintage Cher. Enjoy.
1x68 - Rod Serling on Kamikazes
May 24, 2016
”The most unfettered imagination belongs to young people, and they don’t walk through life; they fly” - Rod Serling in 1963. The Twilight Zone was mesmerizing audiences across the U.S. when he was interviewed for Australian radio by Binny Lum. We came across this conversation in Australia's National Film and Sound Archive and it's one of those delightful back and forths that makes you stop and listen. Serling jumps into the conversation, there's little apprehension, and suddenly he takes you on a journey thinking about your own past and childhood, and the ultimate realization that "you simply cannot go home again."
1x69 - Frank Zappa on Fads
June 7, 2016
"I don‘t think that there‘s a girl around that would fit in with what we do" - Frank Zappa on June 6, 1971, as told to Howard Smith. Frank Zappa had a few opinions. Surly? Matter-of-fact? Misunderstood? We'll let you decide as we present this rarely heard interview with Zappa recorded in his hotel room. Zappa has a few things to say about women's lib ("a fad"), on LA vs "depressing" New York, why America is a nation of people being told what to do, and why women couldn't hack it in his band. Sit back and enjoy.
1x70 - Bob Dylan at 20 on Freak Shows
June 28, 2016
“I'm never going to become rich and famous” - Bob Dylan in 1962. This interview originally aired on WBAI FM in New York City in February of 1962. Dylan was 20 at the time and it was his first appearance on the Folksingers Choice radio show. This recording was uncovered from the Pacifica Radio Archives. After the animated section of this episode is an excerpt of Dylan talking about his songwriting process from another of Pacifica’s interviews, which was also recorded in 1962.
1x71 - Nora Ephron on Crazy Salad
July 12, 2016
"It’s okay being a woman now. I like it. Try it some time.” - Nora Ephron. This interview by Studs Terkel with Nora Ephron was recorded on July 28, 1975 and comes from the remarkable WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive.
1x72 - Marlene Dietrich on Sex Symbols
July 26, 2016
"I have never used my body. I have played roles where the legs were used and the body was used but in life, I have never done that" - Marlene Dietrich. Interview by Jay Kent Hackleman recorded in 1969 for Houston radio station, KHRH. Dietrich was in midst of one of her many cabaret tours. “Ms. Dietrich agreed to our interview on the condition that it could be done in a dressing room at the theater,” Hackleman recalled. “I certainly had no problem with that and she gave the entire interview reclining on a chaise longue and somehow that seemed absolutely appropriate.” Hackleman’s granddaughter, Liss LaFleur, graciously allowed us to bring this lost tape to life.
1x73 - Aldous Huxley on Technodictators
September 13, 2016
"If you want to preserve your power indefinitely, you have to get the consent of the ruled" - Aldous Huxley. In this remarkable interview, Huxley foretells a future when telegenic presidential hopefuls use television to rise to power, technology takes over, drugs grab hold, and frightful dictatorships rule us all. The interview originally aired on Wallace’s television show, The Mike Wallace Interview, on May 18, 1958. Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World, was 63 when he sat down for this interview. He died in 1963.
1x74 - Stevie Wonder on Keys of Life
September 27, 2016
"If God didn't want me to sing it, he wouldn't have given me the talent to do it“ - Stevie Wonder in 2005. Barney Hoskyns recorded this interview with Stevie Wonder on March 26, 2005.
1x75 - Ronald Reagan on Oatmeal Meat
October 11, 2016
“How did I get over being poor? I got a job as a sports announcer and it led to everything else.“ - Ronald Reagan. Interview by Bill Moyers recorded on April 30, 1979 - six months before Reagan announced his run for president and nearly two years before he was sworn into office as the 40th President of the United States. This interview comes to us from WNET and Bill Moyers Journal.
1x76 - Jimmy Carter on Power and God
November 1, 2016
“Although I have prayed a good bit, and do, I've never asked God to let me be President.“ This conversation was recorded on May 6, 1976, six months before Jimmy Carter was elected President and comes to us from WNET and Bill Moyers Journal.
1x77 - Leonard Cohen on Moonlight
November 15, 2016
“I don’t feel any compulsion just to stand under the spotlight night after night unless I have something to say“ This interview by Kathleen Kendel was recorded on December 4, 1974 when Leonard Cohen appeared on WBAI FM in New York City. We uncovered this interview in the Pacifica Radio Archives.
1x78 - Francis Ford Coppola on Solitude
November 29, 2016
”Death is on the back of everyone’s minds whether they want to admit it or not.” This interview was recorded on July 28, 1996 when Francis Ford Coppola was promoting the film, Jack, starring Robin Williams.
1x79 - Stephen King on Childhood
December 13, 2016
“We think in a different way as children. We tend to think around corners instead of in straight lines.“ Conversation recorded on October 22, 1989 and originally aired on the Public Radio Book Show. It comes to us courtesy of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Writers Institute.
1x80 - Oliver Sacks on Ripe Bananas
January 24, 2017
”I’m very interested in how people adapt to extremes” This interview was recorded on July 28, 1996 for the Cover-to-Cover radio show on WGBH-FM in Boston.

Blank on Blank: All seasons

S0: Specials
1 Episode
S1: Season 1
80 Episode s

1x30 - Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness

1x31 - Meryl Streep on Beauty

1x32 - Jimi Hendrix on The Experience

1x33 - Michael Jackson on Godliness

1x34 - Bette Davis on The Sexes

1x35 - Liberace on Peacocking

1x36 - Maya Angelou on Con Men

1x37 - Wayne Coyne on Living With Death

1x38 - Robin Williams on Masks

1x39 - Tom Robbins on Jitterbugs

1x40 - Elliott Smith on Freaks

1x41 - B.B. King on The Blues

1x42 - Lou Reed on Guns & Ammo

1x43 - Dolly Parton on Getting Dirty

1x44 - Ray Bradbury on Madmen

1x45 - John Coltrane on Giant Steps

1x46 - Joni Mitchell on Illusions

1x47 - Ayn Rand on Love and Happiness

1x48 - Roger Ebert on Ego

1x49 - Dustin Hoffman in 1971 on Duplicity and Famosity

1x50 - Hunter S. Thompson on Outlaws

1x51 - Tom Waits on Everything and Nothing

1x52 - Patty Hearst on Reasonable Doubt

1x53 - Bill Murray on Being Obnoxious

1x54 - Kurt Vonnegut on Man-Eating Lampreys

1x55 - Nina Simone on Shock

1x56 - Garrison Keillor on Humor

1x57 - Sally Ride on Dumb Questions

1x58 - Frank Lloyd Wright on Arrogance

1x59 - Temple Grandin On Her Search Engine

1x60 - Jane Goodall on Instinct

1x61 - Dame Stephanie Shirley on Survival Code

1x62 - Buckminster Fuller on The Geodesic Life

1x63 - Richard Feynman on What It Means

1x64 - Carl Sagan on Extraterrestrials

1x65 - Martin Scorsese on Framing

1x66 - Patti Smith in 1976 on Getting Bleeped

1x67 - Cher on Kitsch

1x68 - Rod Serling on Kamikazes

1x69 - Frank Zappa on Fads

1x70 - Bob Dylan at 20 on Freak Shows

1x71 - Nora Ephron on Crazy Salad

1x72 - Marlene Dietrich on Sex Symbols

1x73 - Aldous Huxley on Technodictators

1x74 - Stevie Wonder on Keys of Life

1x75 - Ronald Reagan on Oatmeal Meat

1x76 - Jimmy Carter on Power and God

1x77 - Leonard Cohen on Moonlight

1x78 - Francis Ford Coppola on Solitude

1x79 - Stephen King on Childhood

1x80 - Oliver Sacks on Ripe Bananas

S0: Specials

S1: Season 1