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Birdsong, blindness and my ‘super brain’

Juan Pablo Culasso can identify hundreds of birds from their song alone, a skill that landed him on a high-stakes TV gameshow and was the ultimate test of his abilities.

Uruguayan nature recordist Juan Pablo Culasso has a rare skill that only one in 10,000 people have — perfect pitch. His memory is as impressive as he can also identify hundreds of birds from listening to their song alone. Juan Pablo especially relies on his sense of hearing and ability to identify birds because he is blind. His talent led to a transformative moment on the Latin American TV gameshow, Super Cerebros.

Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when she fled the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Years later she ended up in America. An unexpected encounter on the popular TV show Oprah would turn her world on its head. (This interview was first broadcast in 2018.)

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: India Rakusen

(Photo: Juan Pablo Culasso recording. Credit: Courtesy of Juan Pablo Culasso)

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41 minutes

Last on

Fri 9 Dec 2022 03:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 8 Dec 2022 12:06GMT
  • Thu 8 Dec 2022 18:06GMT
  • Thu 8 Dec 2022 23:06GMT
  • Fri 9 Dec 2022 00:06GMT
  • Fri 9 Dec 2022 03:06GMT

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