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Ross Dowdh is with us today, who, as the saying goes, needs no introduction, certainly not to

first things audiences.

He's a columnist for the New York Times and author of many, many things, including the book,

The Decadent Society, which we discussed here on the podcast many, many moons ago.

His latest book is something quite different.

It's called The Deep Places, a memoir of of Illness and Discovery, our topic today. Welcome, Ross. It's great to be back, Mark. Thanks so much for having me.

Your opening describes a bedroom, a desk, and a strange box with cords and metal tubes.

Now, I don't want you to describe what that is, Ross.

Not yet. Maybe we should just leave that scene for our audience who want to, who want to go out

and buy the book real fast. It's a tease. It's a tease. It's a tease, yeah. Okay, but it's a very powerful opening because it is a little bit

mysterious. We don't quite know what's going on just as a compositional point. Yeah, what was at the point?

It's not only for us right here, but as you write the book,

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