Stories of how people cope after brushes with death. Sometimes death comes as a disease. Sometimes it swims up and bites you. And sometimes it's a pen or pencil, sitting there, just waiting for you to ingest it.
Prologue
Ira talks to comedian Tig Notaro, who recently had a bunch of horrible things happen to her all in the course of 4 months. (3 minutes)
Just Keep Breathing
A Real Nail Biter
Jessica Benko tells the story of a woman named Cathy who was almost killed several times... by a thought that she just couldn't get rid of. (15 1/2 minutes)
The Sweet Year After
Tim Kreider almost died after he was stabbed in the throat. But that wasn't nearly as interesting as the year that followed. A version of this essay appears in Tim's most recent book, We Learn Nothing. (4 minutes)
Related
Act Four: Personal Ads
Act Three: Who Am I? What Am I Doing Here?
Act Four: Heroic Obsessions
Staff Recommendations
I'm From the Private Sector and I'm Here to Help
Nancy Updike goes to Iraq to try to figure out what it's like to be a private citizen working in the middle of a war zone.
Harper High School - Part One
We spent five months at a high school in Chicago where in the last year 29 current and recent students were shot.