About this episode
Casey Harrell, diagnosed with ALS, is learning to speak again with the help of advanced technology.
Casey Harrell is a goofy, lighthearted chatterbox whose love for language helped him become an accomplished environmental activist. In 2020, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and slowly began losing the ability to speak. He sang his last song to his infant daughter and fell into silence. But, now, with the help of 256 microelectrodes implanted directly into his motor cortex, he’s learning to talk once more. It isn’t easy. Guests: Casey Harrell and Levana Saxon. You can donate to their GoFundMe here. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
People in this episode
Guests: Casey Harrell, Levana Saxon
Topics covered
- ALS
- language
- environmental activism
- medical technology
- communication recovery
Keywords
- ALS
- microelectrodes
- speech recovery
- environmental activism
- language
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Vox, GoFundMe, vox.com, Vox Member
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