Overview of The Muse — Snap Classic
This Snap Judgment episode (The Muse) features two intimate, character-driven stories about how people — or music — become the creative and emotional force behind someone’s life. Hosted by Glynn Washington, the episode explores loss, reinvention, and uncanny gifts: first, Matt Hay’s struggle with neurofibromatosis type 2, sudden deafness, and his journey back to sound with an auditory brainstem implant; second, Derek Amato’s near‑fatal pool accident that left him an acquired musical savant. Both pieces focus on memory, music as identity, and the people who sustain us.
Main stories
Matt Hay — Choosing a soundtrack for survival
- Diagnosis: Matt is diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 2 in his early 20s after tumors press on his hearing nerves; he faces progressive hearing loss and later paralysis from a spinal tumor.
- Preparation: While hearing fades, Matt deliberately memorizes songs (lyrics and rhythms) that evoke positive memories so they can remain in his mind if he goes deaf.
- Relationship and caregiving: Nora (his partner) becomes his primary support — learning sign language, attending appointments, and later leaving med school to help care for him. They marry and start a family despite setbacks.
- Surgery & ABI: Matt receives an auditory brainstem implant (ABI) — an experimental device with about a 50/50 chance of benefit at that time. Initial sounds are alien (robotic, indistinct); over months of tuning and practice he learns to map the ABI’s 21 electrodes to meaningful sounds.
- Rehabilitation through music: By replaying the songs he’d memorized (Beatles, Prince, etc.) he re-teaches his brain to identify sounds. Eventually he regains the ability to recognize voices, household sounds (e.g., heels), and music cues, helping him reconnect with memory and family life. Nora and their children become central to his motivation and recovery.
Derek Amato — From concussion to musical savant
- Accident: At nearly 40, Derek dives into the shallow end of a pool, suffers a severe concussion and blackout.
- Sudden musical ability: Days later he unexpectedly sits at a keyboard and plays complex pieces despite no prior training. Medical evaluation labels him an acquired musical savant with synesthetic-like experiences (visual “ticker tape” black-and-white notation that guides his hands).
- Aftermath: Derek’s life pivots away from corporate work into performing and storytelling. The gift brings acclaim but also instability — sporadic gigs, financial insecurity, and periods of homelessness.
- Perspective: He embraces living in the moment, acknowledging the limits of the gift (can’t read music, can’t control what comes out) and warns listeners not to try to reproduce such injuries.
Key takeaways
- Music can function as a mnemonic anchor — people can deliberately store songs as a form of emotional and auditory memory.
- Advanced, experimental medical devices (ABI) can restore meaningful, though not “normal,” hearing; recovery requires intensive tuning and relearning.
- Supportive relationships (e.g., Nora’s commitment) are often decisive in medical and emotional recovery.
- Acquired savant syndrome shows the brain’s unpredictable plasticity after trauma: remarkable abilities can arise but don’t guarantee financial or social stability.
- Both stories emphasize resilience, adaptation, and the strange ways identity is remade after trauma.
Notable lines / moments
- “When something takes 10 years to go away, it's hard to... prepare for the moment. It's like waiting for a steamroller.” — Matt Hay
- Matt’s ritual: deliberately memorizing songs to “choose the soundtrack for the rest of your life.”
- Derek describing his internal notation: “My mind basically creates a pattern of black and white squares... that almost go in like a ticker tape.”
- The bittersweet ritual of Matt and Nora getting margaritas and guacamole the night they accept his impending deafness — a small human moment amid crisis.
Production & credits
- Host: Glynn Washington
- Matt Hay story produced by April Domboski (originally aired on KQED’s Queued Up)
- Derek Amato story produced by Anna Sussman; music for Derek’s piece included his own playing
- Sound design and additional production support credited in episode (April Domboski, Pat Macidi Miller, Renzo Gorio, Leon Morimoto, others)
Resources & where to listen
- Snap Judgment podcast: subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or visit snapjudgment.org
- Matt Hay’s segment first aired on KQED’s Queued Up — search for “Queued Up Matt Hay” for the original version
- For more on auditory brainstem implants and neurofibromatosis type 2, consult medical sources such as NIH/NF2 foundations and peer-reviewed otology literature
If you want the short actionable summary: listen to the episode for two powerful, personal accounts about how music and human support help rebuild life after catastrophic change.