Episode 222 with Andrew Leland, Author of The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, and Masterful Chronicler of His and Other Journeys with Blindness and its Intersections with our World

Notes and Links to Andrew Leland’s Work

   For Episode 222, Pete welcomes Andrew Leland, and the two discuss, among other topics, his early balance of technology and art and creativity that continues to govern his writing and careers, early formative reading, the philosophy of “going blind” versus “becoming blind,” the spectrum of blindness, and salient themes in his book like intersectionality, ableism, and differing ideas of how society sees the blind and disabled, and how this affects Andrew and others in similar situations.

   Andrew Leland is a writer, audio producer, editor, and teacher living in Western Massachusetts.

His first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, about the world of blindness (and figuring out his place in it), was published in July 2023 by Penguin Press.

He has produced audio for a range of entities, including an interview with the DeafBlind poet John Lee Clark for the New Yorker Radio Hour; a story about disabled astronauts for Radiolab; and a story about reading technologies for the blind for 99 Percent Invisible.

From 2013–2019, he hosted and produced the Organist, an arts-and-culture podcast, for KCRW.

He has taught nonfiction writing, radio, and “digital storytelling” (?) at Smith College, UMass-Amherst, and the University of Missouri, he’s been an editor at the Believer since 2003, and he’s edited books for McSweeney’s and Chronicle Books.

Buy The Country of the Blind

Andrew's Website

New York Times Review of The Country of the Blind

NPR Article on The Country of the Blind

At about 3:15, Andrew details his background with reading and writing, including how he was influenced by his parents in different ways, as well as how he was indirectly influenced by his uncle, the playwright Neil Simon

At about 6:25, Andrew talks about a towering gift from his aunt that really energized his reading and writing journeys

At about 9:30, Pete and Andrew discuss David Foster Wallace, his lasting literary legacy, and his marred legacy outside of writing

At about 11:15, Andrew responds to Pete’s questions about how his background in audio engineering, and how it has affected his writing

At about 15:15, Pete reflects on the reading experience and Andrew reflects on how the book moved along due to his audio background, and Andrew shouts out Rachel Cunningham at Penguin Random House as being extremely helpful with structuring his book

At about 17:10, Andrew discusses seeds for his book

At about 21:00, The two lay out some exposition of the book and discuss the book’s opening lines and contradictions; Andrew expands upon Will Butler’s ideas of “going blind” vs. “becoming blind”

At about 25:20, Andrew gives background on the book’s title, and how it’s based on a HG Wells’ book

At about 27:30, Andrew talks about long-held ideas or stereotypes of blind people and the consequences of same<