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?
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Act One
The Undertaking
Thomas Lynch reads from his book The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. (14 minutes)
Act Two
Act Three
Act Four
Smugglers
Writer David Sedaris on an unwelcome surprise in a toilet — a turd. (14 minutes)
Act Five
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Act Three: Dead Animal Man
Ira with Clarence Hicks, who picks up dead animals for a living.
Act Four: One Word: Timing
Television comedy writer Tami Sagher describes what can happen when you sit on a joke for years, as she did, before the perfect opportunity to tell it comes along.
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