Synesthesia—seeing sounds, hearing colours: One of Lynne Malcolm's favourite programs
All In The Mind
ABC Australia
4.5 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2020
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For some people the number six is red and music evokes a range of colours and shapes. Seeing sounds and hearing colours is one type of synesthesia—where the senses are crossed. Meet an 11-year-old girl who was surprised to find out that not everyone sees colourful auras around people, and who feels that numbers have colours and personalities.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an ABC podcast. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm Eliza, I go to St. Catherine's. |
| 0:21.6 | I'm turning 12 but 11 and I have synesthesia. |
| 0:26.6 | Hi, Lynne Malcolm here, bringing you one of my favourite programmes from my years as host on All In The Mind. |
| 0:35.6 | It's from 2018 and it's about the fascinating perceptual phenomenon of synesthesia. |
| 0:43.4 | Some of my favourite synesthetic experiences is with music. |
| 0:49.3 | I see the colour shooting past my head to, like, a point in the distance, which is really cool. |
| 0:58.9 | It feels like it's, especially in songs that I really like, sort of trying to take me to that point. |
| 1:06.6 | What colour is Monday for you? |
| 1:09.6 | What about the number four? |
| 1:11.9 | Can you taste the colour purple? |
| 1:14.6 | And does the saxophone sound orange or blue? |
| 1:18.6 | If those questions don't sound too strange to you, |
| 1:22.2 | you may be a synesthete, like Nina. |
| 1:25.6 | Everything I hear I see in shapes and colours, like Nina. Everything I hear, I see in shapes and colors. |
| 1:30.6 | Even flavors and smells, I can see. |
| 1:35.7 | I can't even imagine how it is to not see a sound. |
| 1:40.1 | Even silence has a color. |
| 1:42.2 | It's more white, but it's like a void, but I can see it as a shape. |
| 1:46.3 | Always little sounds in the silence as well that I see. |
| 1:50.1 | You know, like mini snowflakes. |
| 1:51.9 | Every number has the colour and the shape to it. |
... |
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