Stories of people's last words before death. Their one last shot at figuring things out, summing things up. One last moment of asserting the fact of our existence, at the moment of our annihilation.
-
Download Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
- Transcript
Act One
Actions Speak Louder
Sarah Vowell tells the story of Page Smith and Eloise Pickard Smith. They were married for over five decades, and died a day apart. It's a story of people attempting to surround death in a web of words, of very eloquent people and their last words, and of what last words can and cannot accomplish. (13 minutes)
Act Two
The Unknown Soldier
Forty-five people read Luc Sante's story The Unknown Soldier, in which we hear about people's final moments, final thoughts. (7 minutes)
Song:
“Who By Fire” by Leonard Cohen, performed by House of Love
Act Three
How The Living Use The Dead
Writer Greil Marcus explains what rock fans use dead rock stars for. (4 minutes)
Song:
“L'Anarchie Pour le U.K” by The Sex Pistols, performed on the accordion
Act Four
Rosebud
An act about which the less said, the better. (12 seconds)
Act Five
Black Box
We go through transcripts from those black box flight recorders recovered from airplane crashes to see what people say. One pilot declares "I love you" to someone, another is doing his job like always and suddenly says, "uh-oh." It's an interview with Malcolm McPherson, author of The Black Box: All-New Cockpit Voice Recorder Accounts of In-Flight Accidents. (13 minutes)
Act Six
What Goes Through Your Head
Writer Tobias Wolff reads his story "Bullet in the Brain" from his collection of stories The Night in Question, about a bank robbery and a man who's shot, and what he thinks about before he dies. (13 minutes)
Related
If you enjoyed this episode, you may like these
Act Three: I Want To Be A Statistic
Starlee Kine gets answers about her parents marriage from her dad...after a lifetime of mystery.
Act One: Family Plot
Producer Lina Misitzis travels to Greece with her family to exhume the bones of her dead grandmother. (20 minutes)
Act Four: Hollywood-Induced Nightmare
Seth Lind explains how he ended up watching Stanley Kubrick's The Shining when he was six years old, and how it led to two years where every night he had trouble falling asleep and nightmares.
Staff Recommendations
The Sanctity of Marriage
A generation of researchers has revolutionized the way we see marriage.
Three Miles
What happens when of a group of public school students in the Bronx goes to visit an elite private school three miles away.