Human beings spend a lot of time satisfying primal urges, but relatively little talking about or studying them. On today’s show, what we can learn by studying hedonism.
Also, hell can mean a bad day, other people, or a threat to sinners, but it wasn’t always so. We'll talk about how hell has evolved, from a place of flaming torture, to tangible horrors here in the real world.
And, at the height of the Ebola epidemic last fall, the hardest hit areas in West Africa not only struggled with containing the virus, but respectfully burying the dead. We’ll take a look at how funeral rites were handled during history’s worst epidemics.
Listen to the full show.
Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n Roll: The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science
Zoe Cormier is a journalist, photographer, and science writer who heads up communications for guerilla science. She’s also author of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Science of Hedonism and The Hedonism Of Science.
What's the Purpose of Hell?
Candida Mossis professor of theology at Notre Dame University. She pondered the nature of hell for The Daily Beast. "What the Hell is the Purpose of Hell?"
Burials During Epidemics
Simon Davis is a Washington, D.C. based writer. He writes about death and other morbid things for Vice USA in a weekly column called Post Mortem. "How Bodies Were Buried During History's Worst Epidemics."
Call Your Mom
Death is a family affair – especially when it’s also the family business. Producers Phoebe Judge, Eric Mennel, Lauren Spohrer, from the podcast Criminal, bring us this story about an unusual mother-daughter relationship.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
