The Funeral Industry vs. Disneyland

This week's caller is a 44-year-old sorority house director who lives in the house full-time and walks Geth through the ins and outs of the job. From coordinating chefs and plumbers to the occasional late-night emergency, they talk about what it's like being the only adult in a h ... Show More

Live from Bottlerocket Social Hall in Pittsburgh, Gethard talks to a witch as she prepares for a full moon ritual, and . . . let's just be honest, he has absolutely no idea what's happening. Tarot cards, birth charts, a crowd full of fellow witches quickly taking over the show. G ... Show More

Live from Hamtramck, Michigan, a Chicago caller joins us with an all-time pitch: "I'm a woman in construction. I technically worked for the mob in high school. I almost died having sex . . . or we can talk about movies forever." Gethard, our caller, and the Hamtramck crowd get to ... Show More

<p>The extraordinary measures put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ebola crisis placed restrictions on much of people’s lives, including the rituals and ceremony around death. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women whose work has supported grieving families during a time ... Show More

Love, flashes of anger and remembering funny things. It's the first time Sophie has nothing to do except sit since her husband died. And she looks like Jackie Kennedy at JFK’s funeral. A Falling Tree production for the BBC World Service. 

<p>An explosion in a rice field in Colusa County, California kills the manager of a multi-million dollar farm. Police soon discover his death was no accident. Keith Morrison has chosen this episode as one of his most memorable classic episodes.</p><p> </p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simpl ... Show More

<p>Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who would like to put herself out of business. Our corporate funeral industry, she argues, has made us forget how to offer our loved ones an authentic sendoff. Doughty is the author of <em>Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons From the Crema ... Show More

Stephen Johnson connects Mahler's beliefs about death to Viennese funeral customs, and particularly the idea of 'beautiful death' which was pervasive in Mahler's Vienna. 

The pandemic leveled live performance, and the industry is last in line for a return to normal. Musician Zoe Keating and production designer Terry Morgan describe how their work has changed with live venues nationwide shuttered for nearly a year. Venue owner Danya Frank of First ... Show More