Spiracle Audiobook: How Shostakovich Changed My Mind — Stephen Johnson

For broadcaster and composer Stephen Johnson, music has the power to transform us, to change our minds, more than the other arts. Exploring the power of Shostakovich’s music during Stalin’s reign of terror, Johnson writes of the extraordinary healing effect of music on the mind for sufferers of mental illness. Johnson looks at neurological, psychotherapeutic and philosophical findings, and reflects on his own experience, where he believes Shostakovich’s music helped him survive the trials and assaults of bipolar disorder.