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The growing industry of green burials
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The Indicator from Planet Money

The growing industry of green burials

One estimate says 2.4 million people die in the U.S. each year, and burying them is expensive: a typical burial can cost about $10,000. That's a lot of money, caskets, and plots filling up cemeteries. But ... what if there was a cost-effective option to bury people, one that was good for the Earth and your pocket book? Today, we look at the prices and features of sustainable burials.

The growing industry of green burials

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Death and grief in 'Succession'; plus, privacy and the abortion pill

The third episode in season four of the HBO hit 'Succession' has the dysfunctional Roys dealing with grief and death. HBO hide caption

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HBO

It's Been a Minute

Death and grief in 'Succession'; plus, privacy and the abortion pill

This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by UC Berkeley Law professor Khiara Bridges to connect the dots between the recent legal battles over the abortion pill mifepristone and our constitutional right to privacy. Then, Linda Holmes of NPR's 'Pop Culture Happy Hour' stops by to chat about the television episode that still has our group chats in a chokehold, and how it eloquently captured the way we experience death and grief in real life.

Death and grief in 'Succession'; plus, privacy and the abortion pill

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Opinion: Painting the smiles of people we know, love and will never see again

A mural of Melissa Ortega, an 8-year-old victim of gun violence in Chicago, painted by artist Milton Coronado. Milton Coronado hide caption

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Milton Coronado

Opinion

Simon Says

Opinion: Painting the smiles of people we know, love and will never see again

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the work of Chicago-based artist Milton Coronado, who paints murals that memorialize people killed by gun violence.

Opinion: Painting the smiles of people we know, love and will never see again

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The West Coast Heat Has Killed Dozens And Hospitalized More In Canada And The U.S.

A display at an Olympia Federal Savings branch shows a temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday in the early evening in Olympia, Wash. Ted S. Warren/AP hide caption

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Ted S. Warren/AP

Weather

The West Coast Heat Has Killed Dozens And Hospitalized More In Canada And The U.S.

Heat-related illnesses have sent hundreds of people to the ER across the region as temperatures hit unprecedented highs. British Columbia reported about 100 excess deaths from Friday to Monday.

COVID-19 Deaths Top 1 Million Worldwide. How These 5 Nations Are Driving The Pandemic

Relatives at a mass burial of pandemic victims at the Parque Taruma cemetery in Manaus, Brazil, mourn a family member. Andre Coelho/Getty Images hide caption

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Andre Coelho/Getty Images

Goats and Soda

COVID-19 Deaths Top 1 Million Worldwide. How These 5 Nations Are Driving The Pandemic

Nine months after the first reported fatality in China last January, the world has hit a sobering milestone.

COVID-19 Deaths Top 1 Million Worldwide. How These 5 Nations Are Driving The Pandemic

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'Let Us Stay In Touch With Those That We Love.' A Funeral Director's Lessons For Life

Norman J. Williams, the president and funeral director of Unity Funeral Parlors in Chicago. Bill Healy/WBEZ hide caption

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Bill Healy/WBEZ

The Coronavirus Crisis

'Let Us Stay In Touch With Those That We Love.' A Funeral Director's Lessons For Life

Because we can not hug or stand close, the coronavirus has changed how we mourn those we've lost. Funeral director Norman J. Williams of Unity Funeral Parlors offers his thoughts about the living.

'Let Us Stay In Touch With Those That We Love.' A Funeral Director's Lessons For Life

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The Ventilator

Stephanie Rinka in her beach wheelchair at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, North Carolina. Courtesy of John Rinka hide caption

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Courtesy of John Rinka

Hidden Brain

The Ventilator

Many of us believe we know how we'd choose to die. We have a sense of how we'd respond to a diagnosis of an incurable illness. This week, we have the story of one family's decades-long conversation about dying. What they found is that the people we are when death is far in the distance may not be the people we become when death is near.

The Ventilator

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PHOTOS: The Dead Live With Their Loved Ones On This Indonesian Island

Suande, whose uncle died the previous month, lays a cloth over his uncle's coffin on the eve of the funeral. Tommy Trenchard and Aurélie Marrier d'Unienville hide caption

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Tommy Trenchard and Aurélie Marrier d'Unienville

Goats and Soda

PHOTOS: The Dead Live With Their Loved Ones On This Indonesian Island

The Toraja people of Indonesia keep the preserved bodies of their deceased relatives at home for years. They're saving up for a big funeral. But there's a deeper reason for the custom.

Death And The Great Beyond: How We Grapple With The Idea Of Dying
Fanatic Studio/Gary Waters/SCIEN/Getty Images/Science Photo Libra

Hidden Brain

Death And The Great Beyond: How We Grapple With The Idea Of Dying

There's an event we were all invited to the day we were born. Attendance is mandatory. But we'd rather not think about it. On this week's radio show, the lengths we go to to avoid thoughts of death.

Death And The Great Beyond: How We Grapple With The Idea Of Dying

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We're All Gonna Live Forever!
Andrew Holt/Getty Images

Hidden Brain

We're All Gonna Live Forever!

Last week, we spoke with psychologist Sheldon Solomon about the fear of death and how it shapes our actions. This week, we pivot from psychology and politics to religion and history as we explore how people have tried to resolve these fears. We talk with philosopher Stephen Cave about the ways we assure ourselves that death is not really the end.

We're All Gonna Live Forever!

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We're All Gonna Die!
Scott MacBride/Getty Images

Hidden Brain

We're All Gonna Die!

Death may be inescapable, but we do our best to avoid thinking about it. Psychologist Sheldon Solomon says we're not very successful though. This week on Hidden Brain, we confront how death anxiety courses through our actions, even when we don't realize it.

We're All Gonna Die!

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A Good Life And A Good Death: How Palliative Care Is Changing Medicine

Palliative care is a growing specialty that provides comfort care and that teaches patients and doctors how to talk about patients' goals for life with serious disease — and how to prepare for a good ending. Sturti/Getty Images hide caption

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Sturti/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

A Good Life And A Good Death: How Palliative Care Is Changing Medicine

In That Good Night, palliative care doctor Sunita Puri shares insights from her years caring for patients with serious illness. She sees her role as an advocate and ally — every step of the way.

Facebook Promises To Stop Asking You To Wish Happy Birthday To Your Friend Who Died

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at a trade fair in 2018. The company says it will use artificial intelligence to figure out which of its users have died. Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images

Technology

Facebook Promises To Stop Asking You To Wish Happy Birthday To Your Friend Who Died

The social media company said new artificial intelligence will figure out who has died, and make sure their profile doesn't appear in "painful ways."

One Woman Helps Others Make Sure End-Of-Life Planning Is 'Good To Go'

Guests bring beverages and food that remind them of loved ones. Amy Pickard provides the "death wine." Lisa Napoli/NPR hide caption

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Lisa Napoli/NPR

On Aging

One Woman Helps Others Make Sure End-Of-Life Planning Is 'Good To Go'

After dealing with the sudden death of her mother, a Los Angeles woman has taken it upon herself to prepare others to grapple with getting their affairs in order.

One Woman Helps Others Make Sure End-Of-Life Planning Is 'Good To Go'

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Prince Died With 'Exceedingly High' Level Of Fentanyl, Report States

Images of the music superstar at Prince's Paisley Park Museum in Chanhassen, Minn. His death has been ruled accidental by the local medical examiner. Adam Bettcher/Getty Images hide caption

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Adam Bettcher/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Prince Died With 'Exceedingly High' Level Of Fentanyl, Report States

The confidential toxicology information was reported by AP less than a week after a local official said Prince's death investigation remains active. His family is considering a wrongful death lawsuit.

Our Last Year Together: What My Camera Captured As My Parents Died Of Cancer

Dad called these "his and hers chairs." He would sit beside Mom, his partner and wife of 34 years, as they got their weekly chemotherapy treatments. Howie Borowick had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and wife Laurel was in treatment for breast cancer for the third time. For him, it was new and unknown. For her, it was business as usual, another appointment on her calendar. Nancy Borowick hide caption

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Nancy Borowick

Shots - Health News

Our Last Year Together: What My Camera Captured As My Parents Died Of Cancer

Photographer Nancy Borowick captured her parents' deep love and joy in life, even as they endured treatment in their 50s for the cancers they knew would soon kill them.

Our Last Year Together: What My Camera Captured As My Parents Died Of Cancer

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Indian Americans Reckon With Reality Of Hate Crimes

Members of the South Asian community and others attend a peace vigil for Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the 32-year-old Indian engineer killed at a bar Olathe, Kansas, in Bellevue, Washington on March 5, 2017. Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images

Code Switch

Indian Americans Reckon With Reality Of Hate Crimes

Unaccustomed to being targets, they are organizing and marshalling resources after one fateful killing.

Indian Americans Reckon With Reality Of Hate Crimes

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