This Party's Dead

Constant Wonder

In some cultures, the dead are regularly exhumed and carried about in celebration. Why, in the West, are we so much more somber about death and dead bodies? And what can we learn from the carnival atmosphere at many death festivals? Guests: Erica Buist, author of "This Party’s Dead: Grief, Joy and Spilled Rum at the World’s Death Festivals" Victoria Finlay, author of "Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World"