Business of Death

Usually we talk about death as a tragedy, a mystery, a hard-to-comprehend fact of life. But in addition to all that, for all sorts of people it's also ... a job. This week, stories of undertakers, homicide detectives, slaughterhouse workers, enunculators, autopsy pathologists, exterminators, and others. Does their contact with death teach them something we should learn? Kaddish: An Allen Ginsberg poem and Ira Glass. (2 minutes) The Undertaking: Thomas Lynch reads from his book The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. (14 minutes) The Forbidden Zone: Michael Lesy reads. (13 minutes) Fireman: Actor Michael Stumm reads from fireman and fiction writer Larry Brown's book On Fire. (4 minutes) Smugglers: Writer David Sedaris on an unwelcome surprise in a toilet — a turd. (14 minutes) The Happiest Death Worker: Meema Spadola with Lou Zeidberg. (10 minutes)