A good friend sent me a link to an excellent Ted Talk yesterday by a Nigerian writer titled The Danger of a Single Story. I loved and agreed with it.

Later on, I searched through BBC Radio’s Desert Island Discs for a good real-life story to listen to while I ate dinner. Desert Island Discs has had ample time since its beginning in 1942 to establish itself as a classic in British culture and society. Each week’s guest faces the proposition of getting cast away on an island where all they have is eight pieces of recorded music, one book of their choice (they all get Shakespeare and the Bible/Koran and so on) and one luxury item. And, prompted by the host, they talk about their life up till now.

I looked over one recent show a few times but didn’t pick it. I felt the interviewee would be less than engaging because he’s a scientist. In other words, I did exactly what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke of in her Ted Talk. I made a decision – a judgement, actually – based on a stereotype. A single story about “all scientists.” So much for my Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions years ago!

However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised out of my delusions before on this show, so I decided to give Clive Oppenheimer a shot.

At first I thought my pre-judgement was accurate. He spoke in the clipped accent and sentences of highly erudite, brainy British people. I was expecting classical or choral music for every one of his music choices.

Boy, was I wrong!

This chap had the most eclectic taste in music imaginable. He started with a great jazz piece by Dave Brubeck, which he followed with Love Hangover by Diana Ross. Turns out he has a collection of keyboards and he was bowled over as a kid by Kraftwerk. I simply do not get the Kraftwerk thing so I fast-forwarded that track. Then he picked The B-52s because they were the first live gig he went to at age 15! By this time I realised how narrow-minded I’d been.

More surprises to come! A beautiful piece of classical music followed a heavy rock song by American alternative-rock band The Pixies and then came an Ethiopian artist called T’zeta.

By the end of the show I felt humbled and inspired by this quietly spoken Cambridge University professor of volcanology.

I wonder how many times I get surprised in this way before I stop making these kneejerk judgements about people based on stereotypes I’ve adopted.

Well, Desert Island Discs has more than 3,000 recorded episodes, so multiple mind-opening opportunities lie before me to help me drop my single stories!

Thanks for photo by Sergio Jara on Unsplash