Bolero on the Brain

One of my favorite podcasts is Radiolab, which I discovered more than a decade ago while listening to the US public radio station NPR. This is a story from several years ago, but it’s one of the best ever. So, that’s why I’ve decided to post it first.

 

 

Radiolab is a long-running and highly influential radio show, which has informed a whole generation of podcasts that followed. It focuses on stories about science, and sometimes that includes some fascinating topics from psychology. The original hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich are unabashed nerds of the best kind. They were also pioneering in how stories could be told for radio/listening – particularly through their use of sound design – which has influenced many podcasts til this day. They are also effortlessly talented at explaining complex ideas and concepts in everyday language (and often sound) to make it all digestible for non-experts.

 

In this episode, called Unraveling Bolero, Jad and Robert do the unraveling of a good tale. It’s about artists and their obsessions, and a rare neurological condition that explains what happened when one woman’s paintings evolved into a repetitive pattern that she continued to explore without exhaustion. She was attempting to visualize the orchestral piece Bolero by French composer, Maurice Ravel. By the end, they’ve raised some compelling suggestions about how the painter and composer may have shared similar obsessions, and even the same neurological condition.

 

I don’t know much about the classical music, but I know a catchy tune when I hear one. After taking in this podcast, that incessantly repeated melody of Bolero cast a spell on me for a while too. I began listening to Bolero over and over myself. Sometimes all that separates “normal” psychological functioning from “disorder” is the degree to which it impairs our daily living.

 

That’s actually the core distinguishing factor to consider when a clinical psychologist makes any formal diagnosis – impairment on daily functioning. We all experience low moods from time to time. However, full-on, diagnose-able, major depressive disorder can impair someone so completely that they struggle to get out of bed. Similarly, I prefer the toilet paper feeds over the roll (never under, you barbarians!), but I can tolerate it either way. Thus, I don’t meet criteria for a formal diagnosis of OCD, which would compel me to fix it, and check it, and go through rituals that negatively impact my time and my daily routines or even my relationships with the people I live with and share the bathroom.

 

So, at the risk of encouraging a few new healthy obsessions (apologies for using the term lightly), I’d like to recommend:

  • National Public Radio (NPR) – although I listen to US political news less often these days to minimize unhealthy bursts of moralistic outrage.

  • Radiolab – although they’ve changed hosts in the last few years, who are still good too.