logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2024
18m 59s

42. Cemeteries

Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett
About this episode

The verdant lawns promise everlasting rest — but what does it mean to sign a lease for all eternity? Zachary Crockett finds out where the bodies are buried.

 

  • SOURCES:
    • Terry Arellano, co-founder and president of Cemetery Property Resales, Inc.
    • Jeff Lindeman, C.E.O. and General Manager of Mountain View Cemetery.
    • Tanya Marsh, professor of law at Wake Forest University.
    • Maureen Walton, founder and president of The Cemetery Exchange.

 

 

Up next
Today
104. Private Investigators
They expose fraud, catch cheating spouses, and track down missing assets — but they don’t come cheap. Zachary Crockett takes the case. SOURCES:Ashley Wardlow, chief operating officer at Nathans Investigations, owner of Wardlow Consulting. RESOURCES:"Eugène-François Vidocq and the ... Show More
19m 3s
Aug 18
103. Satellites
There are now nearly 12,000 satellites orbiting Earth. What does it cost to put them there, and how do they make money? Zachary Crockett launches an investigation. SOURCES:Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates.Rachel Jewett, managing editor of Via Satellite. RESOURCES:"How geos ... Show More
22m 37s
Aug 11
102. “The Starry Night”
How does a museum place a value on a priceless work of art? And how much does it cost to keep it safe? Zachary Crockett appraises the situation. SOURCES:Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art. RESOURCES:"Why Climate Activists Are Still Throwing Food and Paint at Famous ... Show More
20m 54s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
The Grave - Memorial Benches
THE GRAVE AND MEMORIAL BENCHES: Laurie Taylor talks to Allison C. Meier, New York based researcher, about how burial sites have transformed over time. Whilst the grave may be a final destination, it is not the great leveller, and permanency is always a privilege with the indigent ... Show More
28m 22s
Apr 2022
Bath Workhouse Burial Ground
Helen Mark visits a field on the edge of Bath, once used as the burial ground for Bath Union Workhouse. Over 3100 bodies of people who died in poverty between 1858 and 1899 were buried here in unmarked graves. For over a hundred years, the site has been unrecognised and those bur ... Show More
24m 27s
Nov 2020
Tod auf dem Friedhof - Ermittlungen im Bankenmilieu
•Krimikomödie• Ein Toter auf einem Friedhof ist eigentlich nichts Ungewöhnliches. Aber wenn er an einen Grabstein gelehnt ist und eines unnatürlichen Todes gestorben zu sein scheint, wird es doch ein Fall für die Polizei. Bald schon stoßen die Ermittler auf Spuren im Umfeld einer ... Show More
46m 7s
Oct 2023
What Big Books Have Yet to Come Out in 2023?
On this week’s episode, a look at the rest of the year in books — new fiction from Alice McDermott and this year’s Nobel laureate, Jon Fosse, a journalist’s investigation of state-sanctioned killings in the Philippines, and a trio of celebrity memoirs. Discussed in this week’s ep ... Show More
24m 41s
Oct 2022
Metropolitan Tombology (PARIS CATACOMBS) with Erin-Marie Legacey
Let’s get spooky. Venture below Parisian streets and into the catacombs: hundreds of miles of subterranean tunnels housing millions of human skeletons, some fashioned into sculpture. Alie tracked down Dr. Erin-Marie Legacey – author of “Making Space for the Dead,” professor of Fr ... Show More
1h 14m
Mar 2023
Ep. 134: Deborah Goodrich Royce (Author of Reef Road) + Book Recommendations
In today’s episode, Deborah Goodrich Royce joins me to talk about her latest book, Reef Road. We discuss the personal story behind her book and the role of generational trauma in her writing niche, which she calls “Identity Thrillers.”  We also covered the explosion of true crime ... Show More
51m 24s
Dec 2023
Our Critics' Year in Reading
The Times’s staff book critics — Dwight Garner, Jennifer Szalai and Alexandra Jacobs — do a lot of reading over the course of any given year, but not everything they read stays with them equally. On this week’s podcast, Gilbert Cruz chats with the critics about the books that did ... Show More
37m 12s
Sep 2023
Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan: Unraveling the Mystery of 40 Skulls, A Grim Revelation
The FBI's investigation into James Knott's Kentucky home reveals a shocking discovery: 40 human skulls, femurs, hip bones, and spinal cords used as decorations. In response to this disturbing find, Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack delve deep into the complex and unsettling world ... Show More
31m 59s