Re-Release: The Uncertain World of Chronic Lyme with Ross Douthat
The Nocturnists
Emily Silverman
4.8 • 614 Ratings
🗓️ 27 March 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Our Uncertainty in Medicine series launches next week, and to set the stage, we're sharing one of our favorite episodes from the archives - a heartfelt conversation with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat about his journey through the healthcare system while living with chronic Lyme disease.
Medicine likes certainty - diseases we can see and test for and treat. But what do we do when we can't see? When we can't help? Do we keep searching? Or do we look away?
In this episode, Emily speaks with New York Times columnist Ross Douthat about his book The Deep Places, which tells the harrowing story of his experience with Lyme disease, and what it's like to navigate a chronic illness that mainstream medicine hasn't yet fully explained.
Find show notes, transcript, and more at thenocturnists.org.
The Nocturnists is made possible by the California Medical Association and donations from listeners like you.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, nocturnous listeners. We're super excited to be launching our uncertainty series next week, |
| 0:05.5 | and we've got some incredible stories, conversations, and reflections coming your way. |
| 0:10.3 | But before we dive in, we wanted to share an episode that really sets the stage. |
| 0:14.8 | It's one of our all-time favorites, and uncertainty is at the heart of it. |
| 0:19.0 | In this conversation, we talk with New York Times columnist |
| 0:21.7 | Ross Daufit, who takes us through his experience navigating the health care system while |
| 0:26.1 | dealing with a mysterious illness, chronic Lyme disease. It's a story that lives in the gray areas, |
| 0:33.2 | diagnostic ambiguity, medical disagreement, and the emotional toll of feeling unseen by the system. |
| 0:39.8 | Sound familiar? |
| 0:41.2 | These are the exact types of themes that we'll be digging into in our upcoming series. |
| 0:46.2 | So take a listen, enjoy, and get ready for uncertainty in medicine coming next week. |
| 1:00.8 | Music in medicine coming next week. Medicine likes certainty. |
| 1:03.4 | Diseases we can see and test for and treat. |
| 1:06.7 | But what do we do when we can't see, |
| 1:09.2 | when we can't help? |
| 1:13.7 | Do we keep searching or do we do when we can't see, when we can't help? Do we keep searching, or do we look away? |
| 1:26.5 | You're listening to The Nocturnous Conversations. I'm Emily Silverman. Today I speak with Ross Douthit about his new book, The Deep Places, a memoir of illness and discovery. |
| 1:33.9 | Ross has been an op-ed columnist for the New York Times since 2009, and previously was a senior editor at The Atlantic. |
| 1:40.8 | He's the author of The Decadent Society, To Change the Church, Bad Religion, and Privilege, |
| 1:43.6 | and a co-author with Rian Salam of Grand New Party. |
| 1:49.9 | He's the film critic for the National Review and lives with his wife and four children in New Haven, Connecticut. |
| 1:54.2 | Before I spoke with Ross, I asked him to read an excerpt from his book. |
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