Search the Fresh Air Archive

Close Search

Former Football Player Lionel Aldridge on Surviving Schizophrenia

Aldridge played in two Superbowls and started a successful career as a broadcaster. In the 1970s, he developed schizophrenia and lost his job, money, wife, family and home. Aldridge now travels the country, talking about his disease and recovery, and about our incorrect attitudes toward mental disease.

24:30
Queue

Guest

Host

Related Topics

Other segments from the episode on December 10, 1990

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, December 10, 1990: Interview with Lionel Aldridge; Review of the CD box set "The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings of Charlie Parker"; Interview with Diane Kurys; Review…
Queue
06:33

A Lost Holy Grail of Jazz is Found

For years, jazz fans have been looking for recordings that a fanatical fan named Dean Benedetti made of Charlie Parker in the late 40s. Those recording recently turned up, and they've just been issued on a boxed set of compact discs. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says they're surprisingly good, but don't add much to what we know about the famed saxophonist.

Review
Queue
10:39

French Film Director Diane Kurys

Kurys's films include Entre Nous and Peppermint Soda. Her new film, C'est La Vie" is the semi-autobiographical story about the summer when she was a young girl and her parents marriage broke up.

Interview
Queue
03:26

"Dreamer of Oz" Is Inspired and Inspiring

Television critic David Bianculli says the TV biopic about Frank Baum, the man who created "The Wizard of Oz," could have fallen flat with it's well-known, unsurprising story. But it succeeds with excellent performances and visual storytelling.

Review

Transcript

Transcript currently not available.

Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

You May Also like

Queue
22:40

E. Fuller Torrey on Mental Illness

Dr. E. Fuller Torrey is a research psychiatrist specializing in schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness. He has authored many books on the subject of mental illness and is president of the Treatment Advocacy Center, as well as associate director for laboratory research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute.

Interview
Queue
53:42

Is Schizophrenia an Illness?

R. D. Laing is a psychiatrist who challenged conventional views in the 1960s with his proposal that schizophrenia was an adaptive behavior, "a sane response to an insane world," as opposed to an illness. The counterculture embraced Laing's views, but they were controversial in academic circles. In 1965, Laing formed the Philadelphia (for brotherly love, not the city) Association, an alternative treatment center for schizophrenics.

Interview

Did you know you can create a shareable playlist?

Learn How
Advertisement

Recently on Fresh Air Available to Play on NPR

52:30

Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

Queue

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

43:04

This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

Queue

Related segments from the Fresh Air Archive:

See All Recent Segments

There are more than 22,000 Fresh Air segments.

Let us help you find exactly what you want to hear.
Just play me something
Your Queue

Would you like to make a playlist based on your queue?

Generate & Share View/Edit Your Queue