This week on 60 Minutes
THE LIFE OF BRAIN
At first it sounds so unbelievable it’s laugh-out-loud funny, but this story is certainly no joke. Foreign Accent Syndrome is an extremely rare and baffling condition that affects the way people speak. One moment they’re completely normal, the next they’re talking as if they were born and raised in another country.
Sarah Abo meets two Australian women who unexpectedly started speaking in accents that suggested they’d spent all their lives in Ireland. For years, FAS has left experts scratching their heads, but that could finally be changing with a Sydney neuroscientist trying to unlock the secrets of this strange syndrome by using state-of-the-art technology to map what’s going on inside the brain. It’s very welcome news for those who are struggling to recognise the sound of their own voice.
Reporter: Sarah Abo
Producers: Madeleine Apps, Sheree Gibson
(Original air date: 20 June 2021)
THE MIRACLE MAN
The evil that occurred on September 11, 2001 will never be forgotten. On that horrible day the world changed forever. There was so much destruction and so much loss that even now, more than 20 years later, it is hard to comprehend the magnitude of what happened. But out of the utter despair there were also incredible stories of heroism and survival. And none is more extraordinary than that of New Yorker Pasquale Buzzelli. He was trapped inside the north tower of the World Trade Centre as it collapsed. Amongst the rubble, he fell 18 floors to the ground, but against impossible odds somehow emerged alive and barely injured.
As Tara Brown discovers, Pasquale really is a miracle man, grateful for his second chance at life, and determined to offer hope and inspiration to us all.
Reporter: Tara Brown
Producer: Garry McNab
(Original air date: 5 September 2021)
