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?

The Undertaking
Thomas Lynch reads from his book The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. (14 minutes)
Smugglers
Writer David Sedaris on an unwelcome surprise in a toilet — a turd. (14 minutes)