When the Times reporter Ellen Barry’s father developed dementia after a fall, her family spent years trying to manage his erratic behavior and confusion. They struggled to convince him that he was home, he was safe, and he shouldn’t try to leave. The experience was exasperating and impossible to understand.
Today, Ellen tells the story of those years, and of how she discovered scientific research that helped explain everything her family had lived through — research that could potentially help to save precious memories from being lost forever.
On Today’s Episode
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/ellen-barry" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ellen Barry</a>, a mental health reporter for The New York Times
Background Reading
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/science/dementia-memory-brain-injury.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">When My Father’s Canary Flew Away</a>
Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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