In Deep is a podcast about water, climate and environment from The Water Main at American Public Media. In Season 1, we tackled the strangely fascinating yet troubling world of clean water -- from tap to toilet. Season 2 shines a light on environmental equity with a rich journalistic portrait of a working-class city and its residents at a perilous moment in our planet's existence.
Latest episodes
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21 min
Moving On
Toward the end of our team’s time in Lake Charles, the city made one last push to clean up debris that was still left over from back-to-back hurricanes. No one could have predicted…
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33 min
Peace of Mind
After severe storms struck Lake Charles, many homeowners expected to rebuild quickly. They had been paying home insurance premiums for years for just this moment. But instead of re…
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27 min
The Cavalry
People in Lake Charles expected the federal government to help them rebuild their battered city. That’s what they had been promised. That’s what had happened after previous storms.…
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31 min
The Helpers
In the wake of three historic storms, many residents of Lake Charles, Louisiana, were struggling. Roishetta Sibley Ozane felt she had to do something to keep her community together…
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29 min
Somewhere to Sleep
In a span of nine months, Lake Charles, Louisiana, endured two hurricanes, an ice storm, and a flood. The federal government promised to help the city rebuild. But as time wore on,…
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3 min
Trailer: Season 2
In one year, Lake Charles, Louisiana, endured two hurricanes, an ice storm and a flood. The federal government promised help. Lake Charles is still waiting. And rebuilding on its o…
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19 min
Make Me Care
After months of research, In Deep reporters and editors have become fascinated with water infrastructure. But can they convince a Gen Zer to care? In this episode, Todd Melby, Anni…
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26 min
Brown Flood, Green Flood
Giant engineering projects didn’t solve all of Chicago’s water woes. Intense rainfalls are dumping more water on the city, resulting in more flooding. This despite about $4 billion…
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26 min
Well, Well, Well
In the 1990s, lakes and wetlands dried up in Florida’s fast-growing Tampa Bay region. Some attributed the drastic change to drought; others to overpumping of an underground aquifer…
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30 min
Small Town, Big Struggles
Today we leave the big cities behind and ask: How does rural America manage its water infrastructure? After all, one in five U.S. households isn’t connected to a sewer system. We v…
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33 min
Poison Pipes
Clean water can get contaminated on its way to your faucet. In America, more than 9 million lead service lines connect city water to individual homes (and apartments), leaving mill…
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24 min
Godzilla's Bathtub
Older American cities have a dirty problem — outdated sewer systems that use a single pipe to carry both sewage and stormwater to treatment facilities. As population growth and cli…
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23 min
Microbial Goo
Just how hard is it to keep wastewater out of our drinking water? Super hard. In this episode, we take a look at the lengths one great American city, Chicago, went to in order to k…
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22 min
Dirty Water
Throughout human history, cities have grappled with how to keep excrement separate from drinking water. In the Middle Ages, gong farmers excavated human waste from city dwellers an…
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3 min
Trailer: Season 1
From history to policy to full-on drama, In Deep dives headfirst into the troubling state of the mysterious networks that keep our water clean and coming out of the tap. We explore…