4.9 • 636 Ratings
🗓️ 8 November 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | The cage doors, any that were, that I had caged myself in were flung open. |
0:08.4 | There's nothing like it when someone says, you know, be you, do you. And then you're like, |
0:14.5 | wait, really? I'm talking to Drew Lanham in his home office in South Carolina. It's raining |
0:20.4 | and we can hear the rain |
0:21.7 | falling on this tin roof. Recently, Drew won the prestigious MacArthur Genius Grant. It's $800,000, |
0:30.0 | paid out over five years with no strings attached. It's only given to highly creative people |
0:36.2 | to help them with their future creative work in anything like art, music, literature, math, or even science. |
0:44.3 | The foundation just selects you because you're a rock star. Some of the past winners include Cormick McCarthy, Taunahassee Coates, Lynn Manuel Miranda, and even N.K. Jemison. |
0:56.2 | And like everyone on that list, Drew is a creative powerhouse. And his primary area of |
1:02.7 | expertise is birds. Just this very sweet, lilting song, this... |
1:07.0 | Drew is an ornithologist. And his love for birds led him down a path to get his doctorate, do research, write a memoir, write poetry, teach, and on and on. |
1:19.9 | But what's hard to believe about this award-winning scientist is that he almost didn't study birds at all. |
1:26.9 | Part of my story has been one of living life, |
1:33.3 | not necessarily for myself, but oftentimes for others. |
1:38.3 | Here I was a black kid good at math and science. |
1:42.3 | The algorithm was if black and good at math and science. The algorithm was if black and good at math and science, then engineer. |
1:50.3 | I felt choiceless. |
1:53.8 | I felt trapped. |
1:56.4 | Really dark thoughts at times about my life. |
2:04.9 | And so I have always been appreciative of chickens because it was a bird that saved my life. I'm Dr. Ray Wyn Grant, and this is a different |
2:15.1 | kind of nature show, a podcast all about the human drama of |
2:19.5 | saving animals. This season, I want to share my story. But I also want to introduce you to the other |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNET, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WNET and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.