Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Joeita speaks to Andrew Leland about his book: The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. #memoir #blindness
Highlights:
“What is Blindness?” - Opening Remarks (00:00)
Introducing Andrew Leland, Author of “The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight” (01:14)
About H.G. Wells’ “The Country of the Blind” Short Story (01:57)
Memoir Writing Process (04:12)
Curiosity in Exploring Vision Loss (06:30)
Balancing Intellectualizing Blindness & the Emotional Reality of Blind People (09:30)
Deciding Where to Draw the Line (12:16)
Blindness & the Male Gaze (15:05)
Culture of Blindness (17:38)
Surprises, Revelations & Conclusions (20:57)
Lingering Questions & Tensions (23:31)
Show Close (26:02)
Guest Bio:
Andrew Leland’s writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Quarterly, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among other outlets. From 2013-2019, he hosted and produced The Organist, an arts and culture podcast, for KCRW; he has also produced pieces for Radiolab and 99 Percent Invisible. He has been an editor at The Believer since 2003. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and son.
Bio from: penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2211927/andrew-leland
About The Country of the Blind - penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635964/the-country-of-the-blind-by-andrew-leland
Named one of the best books of the year by: THE NEW YORKER • THE WASHINGTON POST • THE ATLANTIC • NPR • PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • LITHUB
A witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author’s transition from sightedness to blindness and his quest to learn about blindness as a rich culture all its own
“After reading Andrew Leland’s memoir, The Country of the Blind, you will look at the English language differently . . . Leland rigorously explores the disability’s most troubling corners . . . A wonderful cross-disciplinary wander.” —The New York Times Book Review
We meet Andrew Leland as he’s suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: he’s midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from sightedness to blindness over years, even decades. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in, such that he now sees the world as if through a narrow tube. Soon—but without knowing exactly when—he will likely have no vision left.
Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him: not only the physical experience of blindness but also its language, politics, and customs. He negotiates his changing relationships with his wife and son, and with his own sense of self, as he moves from his mainstream, “typical” life to one with a disability. Part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, The Country of the Blind represents Leland’s determination not to merely survive this transition but to grow from it—to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening.
Thought-provoking and brimming with warmth and humor, The Country of the Blind is a deeply personal and intellectually exhilarating tour of a way of being that most of us have never paused to consider—and from which we have much to learn.
Andrew Leland Ted Talk "Blindness isn't a tragic binary — it's a rich spectrum" - July 2023
ted.com/talks/andrew_leland_blindness_isn_t_a_tragic_binary_it_s_a_rich_spectrum
NPR Article - As a writer slowly loses his sight, he embraces other kinds of perception
npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/08/1192488173/andrew-leland-blindness-memoir-retinitis-pigmentosa
About The Pulse
On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.
Follow Joeita on Twitter: twitter.com/joeitagupta
The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio and is available as a podcast on your favourite platform. For more information, visit amiplus.ca/m/0/episode?seriesId=81331440-8e73-4b5b-aff1-1e8ca4a85790&app-config=%2Fc%2Fpodcasts
Like the Pulse on Facebook: facebook.com/the.pulse.ami
Subscribe to this channel: youtube.com/channel/UCpSCygsB9AFBhl_mhK86C6g?sub_confirmation=1
About AMI
AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal.
Learn more at AMI.ca
Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia
On Instagram @accessiblemediainc
On Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
On TikTok @accessiblemediainc
Email feedback@ami.ca
Joeita speaks to Andrew Leland about his book: The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. #memoir #blindness
Highlights:
“What is Blindness?” - Opening Remarks (00:00)
Introducing Andrew Leland, Author of “The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight” (01:14)
About H.G. Wells’ “The Country of the Blind” Short Story (01:57)
Memoir Writing Process (04:12)
Curiosity in Exploring Vision Loss (06:30)
Balancing Intellectualizing Blindness & the Emotional Reality of Blind People (09:30)
Deciding Where to Draw the Line (12:16)
Blindness & the Male Gaze (15:05)
Culture of Blindness (17:38)
Surprises, Revelations & Conclusions (20:57)
Lingering Questions & Tensions (23:31)
Show Close (26:02)
Guest Bio:
Andrew Leland’s writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Quarterly, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among other outlets. From 2013-2019, he hosted and produced The Organist, an arts and culture podcast, for KCRW; he has also produced pieces for Radiolab and 99 Percent Invisible. He has been an editor at The Believer since 2003. He lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and son.
Bio from: penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2211927/andrew-leland
About The Country of the Blind - penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635964/the-country-of-the-blind-by-andrew-leland
Named one of the best books of the year by: THE NEW YORKER • THE WASHINGTON POST • THE ATLANTIC • NPR • PUBLISHERS WEEKLY • LITHUB
A witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author’s transition from sightedness to blindness and his quest to learn about blindness as a rich culture all its own
“After reading Andrew Leland’s memoir, The Country of the Blind, you will look at the English language differently . . . Leland rigorously explores the disability’s most troubling corners . . . A wonderful cross-disciplinary wander.” —The New York Times Book Review
We meet Andrew Leland as he’s suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: he’s midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from sightedness to blindness over years, even decades. He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in, such that he now sees the world as if through a narrow tube. Soon—but without knowing exactly when—he will likely have no vision left.
Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him: not only the physical experience of blindness but also its language, politics, and customs. He negotiates his changing relationships with his wife and son, and with his own sense of self, as he moves from his mainstream, “typical” life to one with a disability. Part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, The Country of the Blind represents Leland’s determination not to merely survive this transition but to grow from it—to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening.
Thought-provoking and brimming with warmth and humor, The Country of the Blind is a deeply personal and intellectually exhilarating tour of a way of being that most of us have never paused to consider—and from which we have much to learn.
Andrew Leland Ted Talk "Blindness isn't a tragic binary — it's a rich spectrum" - July 2023
ted.com/talks/andrew_leland_blindness_isn_t_a_tragic_binary_it_s_a_rich_spectrum
NPR Article - As a writer slowly loses his sight, he embraces other kinds of perception
npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/08/1192488173/andrew-leland-blindness-memoir-retinitis-pigmentosa
About The Pulse
On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.
Follow Joeita on Twitter: twitter.com/joeitagupta
The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio and is available as a podcast on your favourite platform. For more information, visit amiplus.ca/m/0/episode?seriesId=81331440-8e73-4b5b-aff1-1e8ca4a85790&app-config=%2Fc%2Fpodcasts
Like the Pulse on Facebook: facebook.com/the.pulse.ami
Subscribe to this channel: youtube.com/channel/UCpSCygsB9AFBhl_mhK86C6g?sub_confirmation=1
About AMI
AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal.
Learn more at AMI.ca
Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia
On Instagram @accessiblemediainc
On Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
On TikTok @accessiblemediainc
Email feedback@ami.ca
