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The Theater of David Byrne's Mind

It all started when the rockstar David Byrne did a Freaky-Friday-like body-swap with a Barbie Doll. That’s what inspired him — along with his collaborator Mala Gaonkar — to transform a 15,000 square-foot warehouse in Denver, Colorado into a brainy funhouse known as the Theater of the Mind. This episode, co-Host Latif Nasser moderates a live conversation between Byrne and Neuroscientist Thalia Wheatley at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The trio talk about how we don’t see what we think we see, don’t hear what we think we hear, and don’t know what we think we know, but also how all that… might actually be a good thing. Special thanks to Charlie Miller and everyone else at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Emily Simoness and everyone else at the Arbutus Foundation, Boen Wang, and Heather Radke.   Episode Credits: Produced by Suzie Lechtenberg   CITATIONS Theater of the mind website: https://theateroftheminddenver.com/   Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab(https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  
Duration
45m
Broadcast on
07 Oct 2022
Audio Format
other

It all started when the rockstar David Byrne did a Freaky-Friday-like body-swap with a Barbie Doll. That’s what inspired him — along with his collaborator Mala Gaonkar — to transform a 15,000 square-foot warehouse in Denver, Colorado into a brainy funhouse known as the Theater of the Mind.

This episode, co-Host Latif Nasser moderates a live conversation between Byrne and Neuroscientist Thalia Wheatley at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The trio talk about how we don’t see what we think we see, don’t hear what we think we hear, and don’t know what we think we know, but also how all that… might actually be a good thing.

Special thanks to Charlie Miller and everyone else at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Emily Simoness and everyone else at the Arbutus Foundation, Boen Wang, and Heather Radke.

 

Episode Credits:

Produced by Suzie Lechtenberg

 

CITATIONS

Theater of the mind website: https://theateroftheminddenver.com/

 

Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab(https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

 


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I'm listening to RadioLab from WNYC. Yeah, I don't know the program. Yeah, let me just do the thing. Yeah, do the thing. And then because I'm still like, I don't quite get it. Okay, great. Okay. What this? RadioLab. I've been out there making your chart-topping, new series, serrestrials. I've been out in the musical nature children's trenches. Yeah, that's right. And you were out in the world. Yeah. So I've been doing some other stuff. I've been sort of keeping myself busy. So I wanted to tell you about one of the projects that I did, which is a few weeks ago. Our executive producer, Susie Lechtenberg and I, went to Denver, Colorado. And I moderated a conversation with the one and only literal rock star, David Byrne. What was getting the call to do that like? Oh, man. It was, it was... Well, first let me say, if you happen to not know who David Byrne is, he was the front man of, and the co-founder of the band Talking Heads, you know, you've probably seen him like on HBO or on Broadway or... His music is in your head. For sure. For sure. Yes. Oh, everyone. Welcome. Thank you for being here. So, so the reason that they asked me to do an event with him was that he created this immersive theatrical, it's like a happening, I don't know, it's an event, I don't know which call it. We're here tonight to celebrate the world premiere production of Theater of the Mind and experience many years in the making. It was an article about it and it basically just said, it's like the headline was, "Take a trip through David Byrne's head," which is basically one of this. It's like a giant warehouse where you walk through. And like, hear things and see things. And hear things and see things. And then it's also very kind of, it involves a lot of neuroscience about... I'm sensing why they called Mr. Latif Nasser. And now it is a great pleasure to introduce our moderator for this evening. Please welcome to the stage Latif Nasser. So basically it was a live conversation. There were 900 people in this giant ballroom. And I was on stage with David Byrne and the neuroscientist Talia Wheatley from Dartmouth College.

Transcription truncated.

It all started when the rockstar David Byrne did a Freaky-Friday-like body-swap with a Barbie Doll. That’s what inspired him — along with his collaborator Mala Gaonkar — to transform a 15,000 square-foot warehouse in Denver, Colorado into a brainy funhouse known as the Theater of the Mind. This episode, co-Host Latif Nasser moderates a live conversation between Byrne and Neuroscientist Thalia Wheatley at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The trio talk about how we don’t see what we think we see, don’t hear what we think we hear, and don’t know what we think we know, but also how all that… might actually be a good thing. Special thanks to Charlie Miller and everyone else at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Emily Simoness and everyone else at the Arbutus Foundation, Boen Wang, and Heather Radke.   Episode Credits: Produced by Suzie Lechtenberg   CITATIONS Theater of the mind website: https://theateroftheminddenver.com/   Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab(https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.