This hour, we look at our cultural fascination with dead bodies. What do we owe the dead? What can the dead teach us? What does a body represent to you?

We talk to a death investigator who observes what the dead can teach us about living, a poet / mortician, who laments our growing estrangement from our dead, and a reporter who has investigated the large — and legal — market for body parts.

GUESTS: 
Barbara Butcher: Aretired New York City death investigator and the author ofWhat the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator; she is featured in Dick Wolf’s Netflix docuseries Homicide: New York
Thomas Lynch: The author of six collections of poems, six books of essays and a book of stories; a novel, No Prisoners, is forthcoming; he worked as a funeral director for over 50 years with Lynch & Sons
Ally Jarmanning: A senior reporter for WBUR; she’s the host and reporter for Season 4 of the podcast Last Seen: Postmortem — The Stolen Bodies of Harvard

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.

This hour, we look at our cultural fascination with dead bodies. What do we owe the dead? What can the dead teach us? What does a body represent to you? 
We talk to a death investigator who observes what the dead can teach us about living, a poet / mortician, who laments our growing estrangement from our dead, and a reporter who has investigated the large — and legal — market for body parts.
GUESTS: 
<ul>
<li>Barbara Butcher: A retired New York City death investigator and the author of <a href="https://www.barbarabutcherofficial.com/books" data-cms-ai="0">What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death </a><a href="https://www.barbarabutcherofficial.com/books" data-cms-ai="0"></a><a href="https://www.barbarabutcherofficial.com/books" data-cms-ai="0">Investigator</a>; she is featured in Dick Wolf’s Netflix docuseries <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81562383" data-cms-ai="0">Homicide: New York</a></li>
<li>Thomas Lynch: The <a href="https://www.thomaslynch.com/" data-cms-ai="0">author of six collections of poems, six books of essays and a book of stories</a>; a novel, No Prisoners, is forthcoming; he worked as a funeral director for over 50 years with Lynch &amp; Sons</li>
<li>Ally Jarmanning: A <a href="https://www.wbur.org/inside/staff/ally-manning" data-cms-ai="0">senior reporter</a> for WBUR; she’s the host and reporter for Season 4 of the podcast Last Seen: <a href="https://www.wbur.org/podcasts/lastseen" data-cms-ai="0">Postmortem — The Stolen Bodies of Harvard</a></li>
</ul>
The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-colin-mcenroe-show/id714179884" data-cms-ai="0">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0AXtqrzWounIoJyIqz003p" data-cms-ai="0">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9b6b3cee-f69b-4729-a78b-181f851d80e8/the-colin-mcenroe-show" data-cms-ai="0">Amazon Music</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/The-Colin-McEnroe-Show-p1208473/" data-cms-ai="0">TuneIn</a>, <a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-colin-mcenroe-show-connecticut-public-lXR08dxQSM5/" data-cms-ai="0">Listen Notes</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!
<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/newsletters" data-cms-ai="0">Subscribe to </a><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/newsletters" data-cms-ai="0">The Noseletter</a>, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.
Join the conversation on <a href="https://facebook.com/ColinMcShow" data-cms-ai="0">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/colinmcshow" data-cms-ai="0">Twitter</a>.
Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

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