The Deep End

Season 1

1. The Deep End Trailer Trailer

   Show notes

   Brain implants for depression: It sounds like science fiction but it’s real. The Deep End, a new podcast from Science News, will give you a glimpse of what it’s like to live with electrodes in your brain. It might change how you think about mental health, the brain and what makes you you.

   Feb 3, 2025 3 min

2. Meet Jon Nelson

   Episode 1

   Show notes

   Hear why he volunteered to get brain implants for his relentless depression.

   Feb 10, 2025 23 min

3. ‘It felt like dread’

   Episode 2

   Show notes

   Jon Nelson explains what it’s like to live with severe depression, and listeners hear the backstory of an experimental treatment involving brain implants.

   Feb 17, 2025 25 min

4. The void is gone

   Episode 3

   Show notes

   Jon Nelson wasn’t scared of brain surgery. His worry about the procedure was the same amount of worry he had about getting his teeth cleaned — none. What happened next was surreal.

   Feb 24, 2025 24 min

5. Living with brain electrodes

   Episode 4

   Show notes

   After surgery, Jon went through some big transformations. But his relief came with trade-offs.

   Mar 3, 2025 26 min

6. A 'no casserole' disease

   Episode 5

   Show notes

   Jon details the intense stigma, shame and judgement that comes with depression and its treatments. Is there something different about changing our brains versus other body parts?

   Mar 10, 2025 23 min

7. Their depression is gone. Now what?

   Episode 6

   Show notes

   Several years after surgery, Jon and others have found relief. Here’s a look at what’s next for them and what’s next for deep brain stimulation research.

   Mar 17, 2025 24 min

1. Life after deep brain stimulation Bonus

   Show notes

   Jon Nelson shares how he’s doing these days, now that his depression is gone.

   Mar 24, 2025 40 min

Season 2

1. Season 2 Trailer: Talk to Me Trailer

   Show notes

   What if you lost your voice? Today, AI can recreate it, and brain implants can turn your thoughts into speech. This season of The Deep End: Talk to Me follows the people living through these vocal transformations — and asks what these remarkable technologies can teach us about why our voices matter at all.

   Sep 29, 2026 2 min

2. What happens when you lose your voice?

   Episode 1

   Show notes

   Jules Rodriguez has always had a lot to say — as a dad, podcaster and stand-up comedian. As ALS takes away his ability to speak, we discover why voices are so deeply tied to who we are and what it’s like to face losing your own.

   Oct 6, 2026 20 min

3. The decision that could silence him for good

   Episode 2

   Show notes

   Jules is losing his ability to talk. Now he faces a decision that could silence his natural voice for good. A voice carries more than words — emotion, identity, even a smile. As Jules weighs his choice, we explore what makes a voice so personal, and why letting it go can be so difficult.

   Oct 13, 2026 27 min

4. Could an AI voice give someone a reason to keep living?

   Episode 3

   Show notes

   Jules lost his voice. Then AI gave it back. Voice-cloning technology can now recreate voices for people who can no longer speak — raising a remarkable possibility: How much of a person can a synthetic voice restore?

   Oct 20, 2026 27 min

1. What’s it like to speak with your brain?

   Show notes

   Casey thinks of a sentence. A computer says it out loud, in a voice that sounds like his. Brain implants are beginning to turn thoughts into speech, bringing scientists closer to something that once seemed impossible.

   Oct 27, 2026 34 min

Season 2

1. Who owns your voice after you die?

   Episode 5

   Show notes

   Your voice can now be cloned — and used without you. The same AI that can give a voice back to someone who has lost it can also separate a voice from the person it belongs to. What does this division mean in our modern era?

   Nov 3, 2026 26 min