My brother died on Sept. 7th, last year.
People (me included) still "talk" to his Facebook page.

Hi, I enjoyed the afterlife show. For some reason, while listening I could not help but recall and savor the memories of a TV show, Tales from the Darkside. Although short lived, it is readily considered The Twilight Zone of the 1980s. There weren't any chainsaws. Just good old storytelling. Like the episode where Grandpa (3 days deceased) keeps coming downstairs for meals and no one has the heart to tell him until he starts getting a bit "ripe." His family eventually decides to hide crushed black pepper in his napkin. While using his napkin that night, he has a hearty sneeze that blows his decaying nose clear off and into the napkin. Seeing this, the stubborn old gent excuses himself, to go back upstairs to his final resting place while muttering something like "well I'll be damned," never to return again. Thanks, PC

I LOVE, LOVE RadioLab! This show never fails to make me think about life, ourselves, our communities, and our place in this universe. Thank you for creating this show and please keep up the great work!!

Thank you. Loved this show!

Four years ago I went into cardiac arrest a few times while in the hospital. I flatlined for a time and due to the circumstances, the last one lasted for a bit. I don't believe that I died, but that these were just near-death experiences. I didn't see any lights or any deceased loved ones. I'm not trying to dispute people who report these experiences, but I didn't have them. I did keep a conciousness and had a definite experience that would take too long to explain here. I'll just say that there are no words that can express how beyond joyful and beyond perfect it was for me while I was out. My loved ones? Somehow I just knew they would be ok without me in the long run. Then I was back here. I have nothing but gratitude for the nurses who revived me because they truly felt that they were helping me. Think me an ingrate if you want but that doesn't matter. I wasn't glad when I was pulled back here. I'm convinced that death is the least fearsome thing in life. The fact that it's the big unknown is probably why so many people fear it. That's natural, I guess. I'm a military veteran and have been in my share of hazardous spots, so I've not had any illusions about living forever, and I'd never had a definite opinion of what happens after death. Death is inevitable, so it's a waste of energy to spend too much time worrying about it. I still don't think that I have the answers. I'm just saying that, even though I'm not suicidal, I sincerely hope that the next time for me is the final time. Because nothing in life approaches the beauty of what I experienced when my line went flat.

Years ago I read a fictional story in Playboy about a boy who was in an airplane accident. His body was destroyed but his brain was still alive. The brain was kept alive and eventually hooked up to a devise that allowed him to communicate and be communicated with. By that time he had gone insane from sensory deprivation. Attempts to rehabilitate him were eventually successful, but in the mean-time, brain transplants had become possible. "Consciousness" had become transferable from body to body, but because initially he was insane, the boy was not eligible for transplant until his mental health was restored.

I don't remember how the story ended, but I have always remembered the story, I have even asked Playboy about it, but got no response.

Does anybody else remember this story? It is probably from the late 60's or 70's. Would love to read it again!

I just listened to death afterlife and when you die program..

Suprised you didn't get into The Urantia Book...
it gives all sorts of information as what happens after death,,,
with our spirit,soul and personality...
And where we find ourselves after...
Wow for those interested...this book is a must...
Blending science,philosophy and more!

Critical Care RN, seem many deaths over 30 yrs....one can absolutely tell when death is final and also can tell when death is near. Sometimes electrical activity as monitored on EKG may continue for a while but it's over before then absolutely. The patients often know but maybe not if sudden and unexpected, my mom saw her dead husband standing and waiting for her.

I remember hurtling towards an abutment at 100 miles an hour on a road in Michigan years ago and time slowing down. It seemed as if I had time to read a paper. I began to talk to the driver calmly even as I could see the abutment approaching. It didn't seem to matter. Just at the last moment, we hit the curb and suddenly we were going 80 miles straight down the road. I remained calm, though to this day, I still feel that I died then, in some way.

How come you never reveal what happened to the patient who'd been in a coma for fifth months in the "Tennis anyone?" segment? I was screaming at my radio. What happened to her?

That sign-off was PURELY adorable.

We don't remember birth or death... This must be infinite.

What if the soul's weight change is do to the gravitational pull to the human body. if the atom's slow enough or what ever gravity pull's on. what if when the energy of the body leave's gravity give's the body it self a diffident mater mass. like give a body a six or more hour time and dont the body blot? weigh it then and see if with adding nothing if the body weigh's more... i dont know but the soul could have a grip on our gravity link.

Susan loves Bill Maher... Who'd a thunk...

I was sad at the "Good-bye" segment because hearing about deaths that happened in the past doesn't scare me as long as they aren't people I know but either have or haven't met, but hearing about the sun frying the earth to a crisp and the universe being pulled apart is sad. I want to keep everyone alive forever and prevent that scenario from happening. Please don't say that again.

"Afterlife" was the first time I've ever heard a Radiolab show. It was an unexpected and wonderful gift while driving home from Midway Airport in Chicago.

I'm not concerned about the war of science vs. spiritual... I am merely open to the possibility that I don't know everything. That makes me curious, and will keep me tuning in from now on.

Well done!

I listened to this during a brutal job along the ocean - extremely entertaining.

I LOVE radiolab
that's all
thanks for all the free pod casts
you guys are amazing!

ps. i think you should make a pod cast about interesting things that go on with teenagers and young adults
idk just a suggestion :)

"This hour: Radiolab stares down the very moment of passing, and speculates about what may lay beyond."
Come on Radiolab - you are always fascinating, can't you also be literate?
lay:
verb (used with object)
1. to put or place in a horizontal position or position of rest; set down: to lay a book on a desk.

lie:
verb (used without object)
1.to be in a horizontal, recumbent, or prostrate position, as on a bed or the ground; recline.

I heard the rebroadcast of this show yesterday and had multiple flashbacks! When the original brain death criteria were reviewed (Beecher), I remembered how many times my transplant colleagues and I used those criteria to provide organ transplants to others. I remembered being in operating rooms and personally discontinuing respiratory support for a brain-dead person just before the surgeons removed the kidneys for transplant. As a nurse, I was the one who explained to their loved ones that the person was dead. I still believe those criteria to be the basis of definition of death (with some improvements).
I was disturbed by, or maybe I missed something in the story about fMRI--did those persons have any activity on an EEG? Were they breathing spontaneously or did they have NO respiratory activity--especially those who apparently responded on the testing?
More importantly--are there differences in our personhood--being able to live and function in the world even with assistance vs a biological, cellularly functioning being who has no cognitive, sentient abilities? Is existing as cellular function being a live person? How do you want to live?

Hi Jad and Robert. Just a note to alert you to a topic you could do a series of shows on - the work of Julian Jaynes. In his seminal book "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind," Jaynes offers a completely new theory that explains the origin of consciousness, substantiated by an analysis of ancient writing compared to more modern works; recent advances in brain science; and fascinating examples of the vestigial bicameral mind structure in the modern world, such as schizophrenia, hypnosis, even explorations like your own.
For more, see www.julianjaynes.org/
Contact Marcel Kuijsten, Founder and Executive Director of the Julian Jaynes Society. I look forward to hearing your treatment of this fascinating theory.

@Andrew Finlayson... your dismissive explanation is simplistic to a say the least focusing only on one small part the experience (which is necessarily encountered by all NDEs).

Perhaps in the many posts someone has already brought this up. It would seem to me that Radiolab's glaring omission with this program is NDEs (near death experiences) of which, at this point, there are many fascinating accounts. Most of the stories Radiolab recounted in this program I’ve read about before. I’m not sure why NDEs would be left out or ignored, considering the topic. Any discussion of what lays beyond without including this experience that has been witnessed by thousands is for the most part worthless.

Usually Radiolab is too jumpy for me (the sound production - sounds layering over one another), but I'm glad I listened today: love the rebroadcast of "After Life". Fascinating & moving. Particularly - the letter that fixes a moment in time....when your name is no longer said aloud....geologist Jan Zalasiewicz talking about what we’ll leave behind in a hundred million years....a failed suicide talks about how he immediately changed his mind (I wondered: is the adrenaline surge - as a result of the suicide - the brain's way of trying to restart/jump out of depression?).

P. M. H. Atwater and her book(s) titled, Future Memory give a keen insight on time, death, and life.

I LOVE THIS PROGRAM! So exciting, exhilirating and profound.

But I CANNOT STAND Mr. Krulwich's disparaging attitude towards Mr. Eagleman's rather provocative idea put forth in segment #7. Sometimes, Krulwich, you can be so entertaining and interesting but sometimes you can be so boorish! Why must you affect that tone, unless you think it's funny or something... I don't get it. But, anyway, great program. And keep em coming! Including you, Krulwich.

then again I have known a couple people that have technically died....nothing but blackness till they were revived.

@Xu Yun ....yes people have had near death experiences, and yes they often report similar things .... a dark tunnel, a bright light at the end etc.

Two possibilities: this is just a manifestation of something hard wired in the brain, triggered when one is near death.

Second, that we are remembering something quite similar which has happened to us before .... a dark tunnel with a bright light at the end .....

It's called birth.

It's totally false when he says no one has come back to tell us where people go when they die. Many have come back and many of these people's stories are quite similar. If you choose not to believe them that is fine but don't claim that no one has tried to tell us.

That is ridiculous. Looking at the world without theistic belief means assuming there is not a god. It is less of an assumption than a specific god, but it still is an assumption. A negation can be an assumption, not making an assumption is completely different. No they are not the same. Assuming T or -T is much different from not assuming either T or -T.

Actually, when you analyze the word atheist, it simply means to be without theistic belief. Many people commonly perceive it to mean more, but it really doesnt. So while I used to insist on being called an agnostic, im more ambivalent these days about the attribution of atheism. Both say pretty much the same thing.

There isn't a grey area Joshua. There is just faith and no faith. The faith side includes the religious and the atheists because they both have opinions on a subject that is not scientifically testable, i.e. the existence of god. The no faith camp is populated by agnostics. Not weak agnostics who just think they don't know, but strong agnostics who proudly stand up and say at this stage of human thought and technology any positive or negative statements about a creative intelligence that could be considered god are scientifically baseless. How to you test for the influence of super natural forces if by definition they act outside of known forces? How do you look at what caused the big bang if it is a continuum. Don't count math and science out for explaining things, but there certainly isn't a testable hypothesis about the existence of god or a soul as of right now. Science never leads to certainty, only the systematized definition of uncertainty and atheists are awfully certain for people who so often claim to love science. Science is agnostic, atheism is a bias and biases skew data.

desperately not seeking susan - i appreciate the fact religion must have wronged you in some way, obviously this would be nothing new. But, honestly, don't be so closed off. The complete opposite approach to something is rarely a good answer to things as you end up becoming very similar to that which you have disliked in the first place. My advice is chillax and don't be so black/white with ideas. Find a nice gray balance. You may even find yourself a happier person

M wrote, "Einstein was a reader of the Bhagavad Gita (a book you would not find appealing) and he did believe in a supreme self, as well as all the other geniuses that have lived...."

Citation please.

That rumor has been going around since at least the sixties without actually being attributed directly to any of Einstein's own writing.

From all the quotes that actually can be directly attributed to Einstein, through his letters or other writings, there is abundant indication the he most certainly did not believe in a supreme self or eternal soul.

As far as your similar implication about "all the other geniuses that have lived", well that is quite obviously utter malarky.

I dont think they are sharing any personal belief, the are giving you facts!, and this doesnt mean they agree with it.....

Susan,

Einstein was a reader of the Bhagavad Gita (a book you would not find appealing) and he did believe in a supreme self, as well as all the other geniuses that have lived....

but as you created the universe, I guess you know better. ; )

peace

Wow, you scientific materialists are off your rockers! To say that that there is nothing of the individual that survives death is as speculative as saying that there is. However, being brainwashed by your particular religion, you think you have some actual insight into the total mystery we call "death".

susan im not sure you are here anymore to read this but im gonna say this anyway

they in no way put believes on you... they gave you facts... and what someone a long time ago made of it

they even said afterwards that everything could tip the scale...

now I do not believe in souls but I am sure something left the body wether it's air sweat or something else we have no idea of

Also Robert and Tom(if I got the names correct) often just do a back and forth bit so that people can draw the conclusion that not everyone has to believe the same thing

1 more thing... you don't want ideas forced on you but in your post you have no respect for other religions so pretty please... go learn abit about empathy

Susan, Just because people count something in what they say is their religion does not make it inherently religious. If some people start worshipping chairs, chairs shouldn't be kept out of school. Some people could say to you to keep for yourself your SECULANT HUMANISM believe.But what a boring planet with just the you. no? I love diversity in food, wine, and opinions/believes.

Susan, I am so glad we have someone who has been dead and come back to tell us what happened. You have truly offered more insight than any expert on Radiolab.

Please continue to spread the good news. How dare we listen to an interesting take on death when you have been there and done that. Get over yourself, this was a fantastic show.

LH: Yes, how dare they attempt to use sound design to create a sense of drama and urgency about existential topics? How blasé! If Radiolab so terrible, why don't you recommend us all to the amazing radio show that you listen to that we've probably never heard of instead of poopooing something we all enjoy?

Susan: As a very staunch atheist, I completely agree with your non-belief, but I don't think this show contradicted those standpoints. Many of the ideas posited were theories of what consciousness consists of and what happens to it after the brain dies. I heard of no spirits or souls, just musings on molecular breakdown and memories of things past. The Jeffery Tambor readings of "Sum" (the only segments that could be construed as mystical) were mere literary musings and anecdotes. There is no reason to take offense. I, too, was a little off-put by Robert's constant disbelief in facts at first, but you have to realize that this is probably how many listeners will react and it is important to have a sympathetic "character" on the show to ease those listeners in to those ideas. Most people are not as strongly skeptic as you or I.
Let's relax and enjoy the show. It is, after, just a show. :)

Susan they don't "owe" you anything. Death and the afterlife is something that has puzzled man since we could communicate. We don't "know" anything. And I don't believe in an afterlife. This was a fascinating show and deserves to be recognized as so. You're just coming across as arrogant and pompous.

Today I was having an existential crisis, feeling sort of lost at the final dropping away of all my religious beliefs of youth to face the nothingness of non-existence: the moment when my self is just gone.

I decided to listen to Radiolab today, and there it was: After Life. I listened in wonder at all the science and belief, mixed together. Because we have no knowledge of what happens after life.

But it was at Ineffable that I broke down into sobs, filled with wonder at the thought that in a way, life is a moment of art, a sonata, a story that gains it's own spirit from the sum of its parts.

Thank you.

I heard this podcast rebroadcast on WNYC this morning (1/30/10) and, again, I was disgusted by your references to "the soul" and where it "goes" after life. Life ENDS. The person ENDS. The person and their fictitious soul go NOWHERE. The brain STOPS. And decomposition BEGINS. This is a science show and I expect better of you. If you are believers, keep your beliefs to yourself. There are a growing number of us Secular Humanists who are appalled by your foisting superstitions, myths and historical lies about the "after life" on the public. Do science; report science and keep religious beliefs, and your religion, in particular, out of it. Robert, it is not charming or funny or cute. I'm a faithful listener to RadioLab podcasts, but this rebroadcast just set my teeth on edge. You owe us Secular Humanists at least 3 or 4 podcasts devoted entirely to how people live life ethically, compassionately and lovingly without gods, ghosts, heaven, afterlives, and the fear of hell, just to balance out all the ten commandments, religion, myth, spirituality, "wonder" and superstition you so subtlety endorse just by making it your subject matter. What about interviewing Sam Harris or Bill Maher on the threat of religion to life and happiness? How about a program on Einstein and his rejection of a personal god at the age of twelve? Or is that a little "too religious" for you?

Another Great Show Robert & Jad, thank you for letting us listen. Can anyone tell me what song that started playing at the end (54:24) as they are saying good bye? It was very nice and relaxing.

Great show! I, like others, was a bit apprehensive about a topic such as this, but it was handled with such a mastery that it has become one of my favorite episodes you guys have produced. Well Done!

The readings from Sum were so completely enjoyable, I would suggest that an audio book combining the thoughtful production of Radiolab and the stories from this book would be outstanding. I'd be the first to pre-order.

See, I can believe in a silicon reproduction of life---as long as it is embodied. Remember "Where Am I?" Life might be life without a body, but it'd be a different kind of life.

Honestly, this show is the most affected, pretentious waste of an hour, especially the mock-dulcet tones and the hipster/pseudo-intellectual inflection. Radiolab is the only thing that bums me out about Friday afternoon.

it is science because it is the science of the mind.

How can something make you cry if it has no meaning?

"You're dead, sir" - Catch-22, chapter 31

==================================
"Goddammit," Doc Daneeka expostulated politely in an
uncommon excess of exasperation, "what's the matter
with you two men anyway? It just isn't right for a person
to have a low temperature all the time and walk around
with a stuffed nose. (...) Just look how cold I am right now.
You're sure you're not holding anything back?"

"You're dead, sir," one of his two enlisted men explained.

Doc Daneeka jerked his head up quickly with resentful
distrust. "What's that?"

"You're dead, sir," repeated the other. "That's probably
the reason you always feel so cold."

"That's right, sir. You've probably been dead all this time
and we just didn't detect it."

"What the hell are you both talking about?"

"It's true, sir," said one of the enlisted men. "The records
show that you went up in McWatt's plane to collect
some flight time. You didn't come down in a parachute,
so you must have been killed in the crash."

"That's right, sir," said the other. "You ought to be glad
you've got any temperature at all."

Doc Daneeka's mind was reeling in confusion. "Have you
both gone crazy?" he demanded. "I'm going to report
this whole insubordinate incident to Sergeant Towser."

"Sergeant Towser's the one who told us about it," said
either Gus or Wes. "The War Department's even going
to notify your wife."
==================================

There are no scientific questions that can be answered about the afterlife. So I guess the "lab" part of radiolab get thrown away.

I am not yet ready to throw radiolab away but after this episode and the "In Silence" offering, I am definitely looking at radiolab with more skepticism and much less respect.

Fantastic show...I really loved the tennis match going on in dead people story. Kinda creepy.

Great show, as always.

At the risk of being a little surreal, I really liked the mashup of two ideas here. When the oceans have boiled away and that new generation of geologists find our future fossils, they'll be very puzzled as to why we apparently only lived on the mountain tops.

I wonder how long it'll take them to figure it out.

Russell

@Windswept Waif: Yes, know the movie. Not sure why you saw 'so-called' locked in syndrome: it's a well-characterized disorder, but is characterized by patients retaining some ability to communicate (usually with eye movements). What is different about the scenarios being proposed is that these would be people who didn't have even that ability - no one would be able to tell if they had consciousness - and the person couldn't communicate at all. Kind of like a disembodied brain, except that information could flow one way (from body to brain; the patient could experience pain, hunger, physical pleasure etc.).

You Lied! You did.

“… but it won’t be depressing.”

I got seriously bummed out several times! :P

Moving, outstanding, great!
I am going to translate parts of the show into German to talk about it with my students! Thank you and greetings from Cologne, Germany

To Drew:

You wrote --

"The scenario described in this Radiolab episode in which someone might have consciousness but is completely otherwise locked-in – unable to move or in any way express any thoughts, wishes, needs – cannot indicate when they are in pain, hungry, etc. – this scenario is actually far more disturbing than someone who is truly vegetative because that person is completely trapped.

It’s terrifying to contemplate, and as fMRI research is coming out and people are trying to grapple with what it means, some have begun arguing that there is more of a compelling argument to stop life-prolonging treatments in patients with consciousness than in those without due to the possibility of immense suffering"

Regarding so-called "locked-in syndrome," I don't know if you have seen the beautiful French film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, about the editor of ELLE Magazine, Jean-Dominque Bauby, who in 1995 was put into precisely that condition due to a rare kind of stroke. He was totally paralyzed -- save for one blinking eyelid. By using blinks to indicate letters of the alphabet this extraordinary man wrote a beautiful autobiography. I shudder to think what would have happened had he not had that single eyelid to tell the world he was still there!!!

Not sure how it's possible to continually outdo yourselves, but you manage to do so, with each show better than the one before. You folks are my heroes. Thanks for expanding the mind space in such imaginative and entertaining ways. Bravo, Jad, Robert, & All! ~ P.S. The music, effects, and edits are brilliant - which just help lift the merely great to the unbelievably grand. Any chance you'll start publishing, by episode, the titles used for the music beds?

Several months ago, my young and healthy husband dropped dead. His heart just stopped beating. Doctors have no clue why - no history of heart disease, no contributing factors. It just stopped.

A bystander gave him CPR for 10 minutes until the lifesquad arrived. That means he was dead for 10 full minutes, with somebody manually keeping the blood flowing to his brain. His heart did not restart until after they shocked him with an AED. He was still unconscious when they brought him into the ER and after many tests (still showing no cause...they call this "idiopathic") they induced hypothermia, paralyzing him and putting him on life support in the hopes that his brain- thus relieved of other responsibilities, would repair any damage which might have occurred. They told me his odds of surviving were about 50 - 60%, and that he'd probably have some brain damage.

I sat at his bedside in sheer disbelief. He had hoses and tubes running everywhere, and machines blinking and beeping, his chest rising and falling in a mechanical unhuman rhythm. Have you ever looked at a loved one in a casket, and kept expecting their eyes to open? That's what it's like watching someone on life support. I stayed with him and read to him, talked to him, sang to him, and every nurse or doctor who came in felt compelled to tell me "He can't hear you" to which I'd say "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" I'm sure they were just trying to give me a break, but that's where I wanted and needed to be.

To the amazement of everyone, when they warmed him back up and began to remove the paralyzing drugs, he started to respond. The process took hours but suddenly...he opened his eyes! Two days later he was reading and talking and wondering what the heck had happened.

He doesn't remember any of this. He had no "afterlife" or "near death experience." At least, he says he didn't, and I believe him. but he was dead for a full 10 minutes and I will always wonder...where was he then? His body was there, but where was HE?

I'm just glad he's back. For now. This has certainly changed MY life, and made me realize it's not a dress rehearsal.

I love your podcast. I listen to many, including This American Life, but yours is my favorite.

I just saw on your Twitter that you plan to follow up the afterlife episode with a video instead of a shorter audio cast. I am always disappointed when your podcasts aren't audio. They are so well done and the videos do nothing for me.

This was an incredible show. I have spoken with several people who had near death experiences. Their experiences all seem to be very close. There was a lot to chew on with this show. The Lady who sent this to me wanted me to comment on it after I had listened to the show. I told her, Too much to process. Maybe tomorrow. Thank you for this. I repeat. Incredible show.

I love all your show's, always interesting and creative. This one was particularly moving. thanks!

Correcting my own typo here.... Last paragraph should say -

There is a 10% chance that in a year they will have improved somewhat – not sure how much – but it’s possible they’d regain the ability to communicate.

Regarding 'murder': the distinction about brain death is not really relevant to this. At least in the US, anyone can have life-prolonging medical treatments withheld or stopped (including artificial feeding, antibiotics, ventilators, etc.) which are only serving to maintain them in a state which is unacceptable to them. Patients who cannot communicate for themselves can have these treatments withheld or withdrawn by an informed decision by a legal surrogate decision maker (usually a family member). For example, a patient with dementia who has pneumonia and is on a ventilator - their surrogate decision maker can have the ventilator stopped, even if it means they die sooner, if they deem that the patient would not want to go through such an uncomfortable procedure if it was only going to restore the patient to an already unacceptable quality of life.

The same ethical case applies to patients in severely brain injured states (whether 'vegetative' or not). In fact, patients who are truly 'vegetative' (as it is currently conceptualized) are not thought to have any awareness/consciousness and therefore cannot at least suffer. The scenario described in this Radiolab episode in which someone might have consciousness but is completely otherwise locked-in - unable to move or in any way express any thoughts, wishes, needs - cannot indicate when they are in pain, hungry, etc. - this scenario is actually far more disturbing than someone who is truly vegetative because that person is completely trapped.

It's terrifying to contemplate, and as fMRI research is coming out and people are trying to grapple with what it means, some have begun arguing that there is more of a compelling argument to stop life-prolonging treatments in patients with consciousness than in those without due to the possibility of immense suffering (see here: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=19644010).

Either way, an informed decision by a loving family member that someone would not want their life prolonged medically in such a state is not murder, and has never been characterized as such in the US, and I was disappointed when the scientist Robert was speaking with did not directly contest Robert's use of the term 'murder.'

Where fMRI may eventually help is to stratify patients into those who have virtually zero chance of ever recovering and those who have a small (but real) chance of actually recovering (most never will under any circumstances at least with current technology).

This may *help* of course, but it will do so by presenting families with some variation of this choice: your loved one cannot indicate any signs of consciousness, awareness, pain, or suffering. This scan suggests they may be aware of their surroundings in some way. They might be in agony and we'd never know it. There is a 10% chance that in a way they will have improved somewhat - not sure how much - but it's possible they'd regain the ability to communicate. Would the patient want to be kept alive with artificial medical support given those odds?

Yikes.

Please Clarify. In the tennis meditation story, Robert suggests that we may be murdering people who are still aware and thus alive. But surely these patients were not deemed brain dead. They had cognitive activity, which is why they hadn't been allowed to die yet and why they were around for the experiments. These are the patients we do keep alive. Unplugging the brain dead is not murder. It is not cruel to the unaware patient. It is only cruel to the aware and grieving family to call it murder; to call them murderers. It is inflammatory and unjust. Surely the tennis meditation patients were not brain dead and would not have casually unplugged.

. . . wow

The Andrew Bird song I mentioned a few comments above is called "Souverian" off his latest album, Noble Beast (which is amazing). That was driving me crazy!

love this!!!!!!

Great Show. You guys are truly the best. I am 14 and plan to be a listen till I am 100 hopefully you'll live till then. If not they maybe you guys will get supercomputer for a brain and live forever.

Another fantastic show. For the folks that think this was too metaphysical, Radio Lab isn't only about science. Also, for every person that finds the edits and sound effects annoying, there is someone like me that finds them intriguing and as integral to the show as Jad and Robert.

Can anyone pinpoint what song is playing at 50:10 (on the podcast when reading Wyatt's letter)? I know it's an Andrew Bird song, I can't remember/figure out which one though.

Thanks!

To Sam Maiser-

you can read Wyatt's whole letter here:
http://www.futureme.org/public.php?id=81118

Jeannie, Wyatt's mom, also encourages people to visit Wyatt's Zambia blog: http://www.zambum.blogspot.com/

All the best.

What was the music at 43:10 into Afterlife? Great show.

Provocative show. I wrote reflections on my blog (link above). Excepts: Who among us is so irreplaceable that we should cling to our spots perhaps at the expense of others? Can you imagine fairly universal immortality? Who'd want to pay the electrical bill to keep your disembodied brain running for 1000 years? Who'd want to interact with you? How would this brain differ from the woman who couldn't tell if she were alive?

The sound effects and edits are annoying.

Is Radiolab a "science" show? I never thought so, rather it seems an exploration show. And very well done! Hey I'm as science-heavy as anyone who is, but don't get stuck on this as a science show. Observation preceeds all, and not all observation is scientific (yet :).

p.s. this also regards comments made re: the Dawkins interview. Robert K. did perfectly fine on that podcast... some (and I) don't see eye-to-eye with all his views, but he wasn't begging or pleading, not that I heard.

More Power To RadioLab!

While I was away for Peace Corps, my best friend jumped. He wasn't as lucky as this guy. As I listened, I wondered, "What were his last thoughts?"

Then ten minutes later, my dog was looking at me funny for laughing out loud.

Amazing show!

One note about the MRI that supposedly yielded results of a tennis match: we ought to bear in mind that the brain works a lot like the internet. Just because there is a web page that exists on one computer, that page must be uploaded to a server to have any real significance. Some lone neurons firing in the motor cortex doesn't in itself have any significance. Now, if there were a way to get those action potentials into the lower parts of the brain, then maybe we'd be in action!

If anybody could put my skepticism to rest, please answer this question - is there any research in the origin of action potentials? What creates the first action potential - that first spark - that initiates anything in the brain? Much of the brain is homeostatic, but is there such thing as an original thought? Wouldn't this be the true test of life and death?

While it's difficult to encapsulate properly there seems to be an answer inherent of all of us to the question of what happens after we die.

And it's rather simple; pause and consider for a moment you're existence. We know now that the universe has existed 13.7 billion years before anyone of us came into being.

Now, where were "you" during those 13.7 billion years? You were a part of the ether of everything. That's what death is; Going back to the point of non-existence, or rather non-sentience.

We've all been there before, it's nothingness it's our home, the cosmic womb but really, its returning the fabric of everything.

We must enjoy this breif blip of life, which is to say; this emergent consciousness that is all so fleeting.

All the same, there may be billions of years to come after we cease to be.

Half way through the episode, and i am pleasantly surprised how you managed to navigate this seemingly unscientific topic. this is great beyond stuff! cant wait for the commute home to listen to the rest!

Folks!
"My mind is sleeeepin" is The Temptations.
"Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind" from Psychedelic Soul.

(whoop whoop)

Hello my new favourite podcast,
I listened to this driving my son to school yesterday - he was late for a chemistry competition.

Despite that - he found it hard to get out of the car.

As I did when I got to work... luckily I was allowed to take my mp3 player.

So from Perth, Australia, about as far away as you can be from NY and still be on the planet.

Yay.

I'm glad I found you.

CB

PS: Loved the jumper story too, I'm glad he survived to tell his story.

Robert Krulwich*** is my hero!!!

Thank god Jad is back.. now can Kulrich take an extended vacation please?

Another great episode. I can only hope that the people moaning about the religious nature of this episode are kidding, because there was really no such thing.
Also, regarding http://www.switchbreak.net/images/AnimalCrossing.gif - the story depicted definitely did not happen. In the game Animal Crossing, there is a character called "Mom" who regularly sends you various presents, no matter what. Sorry to burst any bubbles. Regardless, it's still a powerful story touchingly encourages you to appreciate your family, and even knowing the truth about it, I still can't help but get a little misty-eyed when watching it.

Wonderful, beautiful, touching and thought provoking. The very, very best episode I have ever heard. Wyatt's story brought out emotions in me that have been locked up for some time. I think I'll start writing letters to my Mom, though she can longer answer them. THANK YOU

Metamorphosis reminds me of Kevin Brockmeier's novel The Brief History of the Dead in which the room is a city.

I lived with Wyatt during my junior year in college. He was the only person who forced me to be myself. I wish I could read that letter...

Alexandre:

Your reorganizing of the episode works great, but the Radiolab team already had it organized in a different way. If you click the "Read More" link in the post you'll find this organization. Here it is, using your "Arc" term:

Arc 1: When am I Dead?
-Soul has Weight, physician thinks
-Metamorphosis
-When am I Dead?
-Anyone for Tennis?

Arc 2: What's the Difference Anyway?
-4 Seconds Down
-Am I Dead?
-If I only had a Brain
-Ineffable

Arc 3: But am I Really Dead?
-Booyah Mozart
-Cyberternity
-Goodbye

Anyway, I'm not sure if you knew about these "arcs," but I thought I'd point them out, just in case.

Dear Jad and robert

I almost loved this episode, but as I stated before, I really felt the format of very short stories worked against the episode as a whole. I really felt there were themes to the show, but by jumping between one
and another without enough time to get deep the meaning was easily lost.

This bothered me so much I took the liberty of reediting the episode :} I hope you don't mind. I basically took out the parts where you play around the number counting and rearranged the stories slighty,
just so to make the show work in four great arcs:

Radiolab, episode After, after life. -Introduction and the attempts at measuring a soul

Arc 1 - What does it means to be dead?
-When does one actually dies? (breath, heart and brain death)
-Are you even sure? (the tennis experiment)

Arc 2 - How does it feels to die?
-4 seconds before death (the failed suicide attempt story)
-Your brain losing your body (a borrowed story about a pilot having a near death experience from one of my favorite episodes, "where am I?")
-Living as a non-living (the story about the woman who feels she is no more in real life, which has a great hook to the next arc in the last phrase)
-I resisted the opportunity to play a clip of David after dentist saying "is this real life?"

Arc 3 - Can mind survive the body?
-What if your mind could be uploaded to another body? ("if I only had a brain" story)
-Electronic life after death. ("cybeternity" story)
-Surviving in the minds of other people (part of the "cybeternity" story)
-When do memories die? ("metamorphosis" story on when you are last remembered)

Arc 4 - What happens after death?
-Can our things die? (another story from Sum, by david eagle, but ending with the interesting idea that our atoms might "mourn" us)
-How long will we last last? ("booya mozart" a very funny story that was cut short in the original episode)
-How long can it all last?

Of course it's very amateurishly edited, without Jad's fantastic transitions and musics, and some introductory and credits clip have been cut, but it just shows how a little bit of reediting can really transform that episode. I hope you didn't mind me doing it - I enjoyed
doing.

I posted this before with a link for download, but it got catch by the spam filter I guess.. Anyway, I would love to share it with you.

"There lies the rub..." :)

This is the first time I've felt the need to post a comment about one of your shows.
Jad, Robert, I want to say thanks. Well done. You managed to touch on a subject that affects us all with just the right amount of emotion, while still keeping in mind that it's just a natural part of life's progression. And I know have a great way to answer that lame "what about that doctor who calculated that we lose 21 grams at death?" question, when discussing souls vs consciousness.

ops, small correction: where it reads David Sedaris, I obviously meant David Eagle and his book Sum..

Dear Jad and Robert

I almost loved this episode, but as I stated before, I really felt the format of very short stories worked against the episode as a whole. I really felt there were themes to the show, but by jumping between one and another without enough time to get deep the meaning was easily lost.

This bothered me so much I took the liberty of reediting the episode :} I hope you don't mind. I basically took out the parts where you play around the number counting and rearranged the stories slighty, just so to make the show work in four great arcs:

Radiolab, episode After, after life.
-Introduction and the attempts at measuring a soul

Arc 1 - What does it means to be dead?
-When does one actually dies? (breath, heart and brain death)
-Are you even sure? (the tennis experiment)

Arc 2 - How does it feels to die?
-4 seconds before death (the failed suicide attempt story)
-As your brain loses your body (a borrowed story about a pilot having a near death experience from one of my favorite episodes, "where am I?")
-Living as a non-living (the story about the woman who feels she is no more in real life, which has a great hook to the next arc in the last phrase)
-I resisted the opportunity to play a clip of David after dentist saying "is this real life?"

Arc 3 - Can mind survive the body?
-What if your mind could be uploaded to another body? ("if I only had a brain" story)
-Electronic life after death. ("cybeternity" story)
-Surviving in the minds of other people (part of the "cybeternity" story)
-When do memories die? ("metamorphosis" story on when you are last remembered)

Arc 4 - What happens after death?
-What will survive us? (another story from david sedaris, like the last one, but ending with the interesting idea that our atoms might mourn us)
-How long will we last last? ("booya mozart" a very funny story that was cut short in the original episode)
-How long can it all last?

Of course it's very amateurishly edited, without Jad's fantastic transitions and musics, and some introductory and credits clip have been cut, but it just shows how a little bit of reediting can really transform that episode. I hope you didn't mind me doing it - I enjoyed doing.

download here
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/181003/after-after-life.m4a
or here
http://wanderingabout.com/stuff/after-after-life.m4a

ps. the total running time is 1h05m but I accidentally left out 50 minutes of silence in the end. Also, I uploaded different cover arts for each arc.

Wyatt's story was really sad, how his mom is still trying to connect. I had a hard time not to cry at work. ;)

Great episode. Thank you.

I am a bit confused. Several people have commented that this episode was somehow religious. Did you listen to the episode?

Detractors aside, this was another brilliant hour! I can't wait for the next one.

What was the piano music at around 7:20? I could've sworn it was from Persona 4!

Outstanding and thought provoking. Probably my favorite episode yet.

"We've entered into this very difficult space where we have learned enough to know much less than we thought." Should be Radiolab's official motto. I love this show more than anything else on public radio.

I love that you used a Through the Viewfinder pic for this post.

I'm so happy to have full episodes back. My house painting time is so much richer when spent with you Radio Lab folk.

I was rather let down by the fact they were many unconnected stories. I measure each episode by how many times my mind goes boom after they grow an insight. Unfortunately in this episode the size of each story never allowed that to sink in.

Is rather sad really because I believe with a little editing those unconnected tales could form at least three or four bigger adventures on what is the nature of death and life.

The future fossils, for example, I felt it was cut short just when it was getting interesting, answering the question of "what will be the testimony of humans". It could be perfectly connected to the last one, of what happens billions of years in the future. Or the story of wiatt that could be connected to that fiction writer telling about immortal silicon self. Also valid on the many stories that, unconnected, seem mere philosophical tales on the nature of afterlife of unliving things, but connected together make a great story on how our ideas are alive until they live in someones brain.

Many times I felt this, a little threading could go a long way in transforming all those unconnected just great npr-level stories into one single head-exploding hour radiolab-worthy hour.

what was the music after the tennis meditation, around 23:43 into the show?

“My mind is sleeping, but I am wide awake”

please let me know, too!

m

Wow. Add another episode to my "listen again" list. This episode was tactfully done, especially in avoiding religious controversy.

That story on Wyatt was one of the most touching things I've heard in a long while.

That animated GIF goes right in line with this episode. Here's the URL again:
http://www.switchbreak.net/images/AnimalCrossing.gif

Very nice episode. I tuned in expecting o hear alot of religious drivel, and was pleasantly surprised to find a great show minus the drivel.

Switchbreak: I remember that GIF. I think that GIF could be a turing test in the future. If you see it and it doesn't break your heart, you're a robot.

Congrats on another brilliant show! Now, to all the whiners who will inevitably moan about the metaphysical content, I will quote from the Radiolab home page:
"Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE (my caps). Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. "
You sure blur away at those bounderies, Jad and Robert, bless your hearts!

There's an animated GIF that's been going around the internet that immediately popped into my head when I heard this episode. Here is a link to a copy of it:

http://www.switchbreak.net/images/AnimalCrossing.gif

(hopefully posting that link on this blog doesn't kill my webhosting)

Please, please, RadioLab, tell me who is singing that beautiful line...

"My mind is sleeping, but I am wide awake"

with sincere appreciation.

I was sort of half-listening while working and drawn out of focus when I heard the words "Peace Corp", "Zambia" and the name "Wyatt".

You see, Wyatt was a friend of mine. I knew him as the best friend of a good friend and big brother type to another good friend. Hearing his story took me by surprise as much as his death took all of us by surprise.

Wyatt's being was full of energy and charisma and wit. To hear his words spoken only reinforces that which he left with us. To know that his aspirations for inter-Earthly transience will never be realized, rather replaced by another sort of transience, is a comfort.

Be well, Wyatt, wherever you are.

my god! you brilliant, brilliant bastards! that was a great episode! the ending with robert and jad fading off into atomic disintegration was extremely funny - soooo glad you're back with full episodes - more, more, more

Why not discuss the belief that the dead cross the river Styx and we end up in Hades. This episode was racist agains non Judeo-Christians.

Just discovered this show through the wonderful guys at Speechification... (google their blog... they have some great radio pics...) wonderful mix of sound production, genuinely interesting human interest, scientific explanation and entertainment. You have a new fan!

Amazing.

Great show, I love how you guys take on a topic like The After Life and apply scientific studies to understanding it, if it even exists or is capable of being understood. I think anyone who can say they've truly lived a single day on this earth can say they've had some strange after life experience, whether it's in reference to their own life or the life of someone they have lost. My personal experience with "the After Life" was shortly after the death of my father... Thanks for doing this and all your other shows, my mind has officially been taken to depths I didn't even know existed... it's a great feeling. Take Care and be blessed :-)

Really? Afterlife? I thought this was a science show! Afterlife is most definitely NOT science! Get that religion crap out of here. I expect better from you guys.

the best part of this one ... the jumper. how often are we deluded to think we know the way out.