The Funeral Industry vs. Disneyland

A paramedic calls in this week, and he and Gethard bond fast over the real deal world of first response. This caller is operating at a pretty intense level, working in roles that require very specific skill sets. He and Geth get into the ins and outs of the job, ambulance hierarc ... Show More

Our caller talks with Gethard about graduating from NYU into a job market that's getting worse by the minute, bouncing between temp jobs, losing health insurance, and the exhaustion of trying to build a future when nothing feels stable. Plus, mutual aid, dating apps as networking ... Show More

A caller from South Jersey (Editor's Note: 856 4EVER) tells Gethard what it was like being more than six feet tall by age 10 and growing up as, by far, the tallest girl in school while still being the "runt" in a very tall family. She also fills Geth in on the rollercoaster proce ... 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