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689
December 6, 2019

Digging Up the Bones

There's a lot that can be gained from unearthing the past -- learning about oneself, learning about others. But, it doesn't always go how you'd expect.

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  • Transcript

Ping Zhu

Prologue

Prologue

Host Ira talks with producer Emanuele Berry about the man who tried to find one of history’s — and literature’s — most storied cities. (8 minutes)

Act One

Family Plot

Producer Lina Misitzis travels to Greece with her family to exhume the bones of her dead grandmother. (20 minutes)

By

Lina Misitzis
Act Two

Next of Kindle

After his mother passes, a man unearths her book collection… and is surprised. (6 1/2 minutes)

By

Bim Adewunmi

Song:

“Buried Bones” by The Rough Shapes
Act Three

A Curious Bone

David Kestenbaum tells the story of a man on the verge of one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time … right on the verge. (4 minutes)

 

By

David Kestenbaum
Act Four

Revision Quest

In her forties, Jill Ciment wrote about the love of her life. Twenty years later, she’s writing something new about the exact same thing. (15 minutes)

By

Susan Burton

Song:

“Diggin Up Bones” by Tony Jackson

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Act Two: Tragedy Minus Time Equals Happily Ever After

Ron Mallett was ten years old when his father died unexpectedly of a heart attack.
62: Something for Nothing
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Act Two: Guinea Pig Zero

Ira interviews Bob Helms, creator of the zine Guinea Pig Zero, which is about people who make their living by donating their bodies to science for medical experiments.

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