Dr. Oliver Sacks

Radiolab wishes Oliver Sacks a happy birthday.

There’s nothing quite like the sound of someone thinking out loud, struggling to find words and ideas to match what’s in their head.

When Dr. Sacks announced a few months ago that he had terminal cancer and wouldn't do any more interviews, we asked him if he'd talk with us one last time. This is that conversation.

From the archives: a visit with Oliver Sacks and the elements he's known and loved. 

A final conversation, after more than 30 years of them, with Dr. Oliver Sacks.

Radiolab wishes Oliver Sacks a happy birthday.

Hallucinations is the title of Dr. Oliver Sacks' latest book, and in it he presents hundreds of case studies and stories about those who see, hear, feel and even smell things that aren't really there. We talk with Dr. Sacks about the phenomenon of aural hallucinations of phantom voices, music, and sounds -- which, he says, is much more common than most would think, and often isn't related to mental illness. 

Oliver Sacks, physician and neurologist, explains the brain and its mysterious malfunctions, all to do with vision.

Oliver Sacks, the famous neuroscientist and author, can't recognize faces. Neither can Chuck Close, the great artist known for his enormous paintings of...that's right, faces. 

Oliver Sacks, the famous neuroscientist and author, can't recognize faces. Neither can Chuck Close, the great artist known for his enormous paintings of ... that's right, faces.

Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne got all soft inside when he thought about how the botfly larva in his scalp was eating his tissue and turning it into a new organism.

At the age of 13, mathematician Steve Strogatz was astonished to find that pendulums and water fountains had a strange relationship

How Much is Too Much?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in every 150 children has autism and there are no known cures. But music seems to have a particular impact on those who suffer from the disorder. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and author of "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain," joins ...