Close to Death

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Introducing Mission K-Pop Oct 15, 2025

Show notes

Introducing Mission K-Pop

Caty Szeto is a woman with a dream: to become a K-Pop superstar. The 23-year-old Asian American is traveling from her home in LA to South Korea’s capital Seoul to attend a K-Pop academy. There she’ll do hardcore training in singing, dancing and styling. All this is to prepare for make-or-break auditions for K-Pop entertainment agencies. If she makes it, Caty could be like all those chart-topping idols who travel the world, perform to legions of fans and make millions. But this quest has its challenges. Caty finds out about ageism in the industry, where many new idols are in their teens. Then she comes face-to-face with incredibly specific K-beauty standards while navigating being a foreigner in K-Pop. Over just three months, our host journalist Haeryun Kang follows Caty to see if she can overcome these obstacles and reach K-Pop stardom.

Listen to Mission K-Pop on all platforms or wherever you get your podcasts.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

6: Home Funerals Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

We've all been to a funeral where we've looked around and thought: "[The deceased] would have hated this." So what would it look like if we ditched the stuffy funeral homes, skipped the expensive caskets, and designed our funerals before we died? Death doula Jill Schock helps her clients have end of life celebrations that feel unique to the life they lived. In this episode, she guides writer and producer Greg Heller through a practice run of his own funeral.

Credits:

Josh Bloch- For USG Audio

Jessica Grimshaw- For USG Audio

Jennifer Sears- For USG Audio

Tara Frelund- For USG Audio

Utkarsh Ambudkar- Host

Gretta Cohn - Executive Producer

Kesila Childers - Executive Producer

Greg Lubin - Executive Producer

Jordan Bailey – Lead Producer

Greg Heller - Producer

Sara Nics - Executive Editor

Jasmine Flott- Music Supervisor

AJ Hanneld- Graphic Artist

Nocturnal Sound - Mixing and Sound Design

This is a USG Audio podcast in collaboration with Transmitter Media and Powderkeg.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5: Crime Scene Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

When someone dies, they always leave things behind, and their loved ones are left to clean up. But sometimes, cleaning up after death means cleaning up a literal biohazardous crime scene. Comedian Mary Beth Barone spends time with people who do that kind of extreme cleanup for a living: crime scene cleaners from Spaulding Decon. They share what they've learned from looking at the messiest parts of death head on.

Credits:

Josh Bloch- For USG Audio

Jessica Grimshaw- For USG Audio

Jennifer Sears- For USG Audio

Tara Frelund- For USG Audio

Utkarsh Ambudkar- Host

Gretta Cohn - Executive Producer

Kesila Childers - Executive Producer

Greg Lubin - Executive Producer

Jordan Bailey – Lead Producer

Camille Peterson - Producer

Mary Beth Barone - Producer

Sara Nics - Executive Editor

Jasmine Flott- Music Supervisor

AJ Hanneld- Graphic Artist

Nocturnal Sound - Mixing and Sound Design

This is a USG Audio podcast in collaboration with Transmitter Media and Powderkeg.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4: Earth & Stars Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

For years, we’ve been sold on just two ways to deal with a dead body — you either get cremated or you’re caked in makeup and placed in a casket six feet under. But there’s gotta be more options, right? Uninspired with what's on offer, comedian and journalist Francesca Fiorentini went on a tour of how to dispose of a dead body to get some ideas of what she'll do with her eventual corpse. First, she visits Walt Patrick at Herland Forest, a green burial site in Washington that's composting human bodies. Then, she gets a peek into Celestis, the space burial company that'll shoot your remains into space.

Credits:

Josh Bloch- For USG Audio

Jessica Grimshaw- For USG Audio

Jennifer Sears- For USG Audio

Tara Frelund- For USG Audio

Utkarsh Ambudkar- Host

Gretta Cohn - Executive Producer

Kesila Childers - Executive Producer

Greg Lubin - Executive Producer

Jordan Bailey – Lead Producer

Allie Graham - Producer

Francesca Fiorentini - Producer

Sara Nics - Executive Editor

Jasmine Flott- Music Supervisor

AJ Hanneld- Graphic Artist

Nocturnal Sound - Mixing and Sound Design

This is a USG Audio podcast in collaboration with Transmitter Media and Powderkeg.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3: Taxidermy Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

It feels normal to try to preserve someone we've lost. But what does that do for us — and our grief? Comedian Mary Beth Barone seeks the wisdom of someone who makes mementos out of the once living: a very chic, very glamorous taxidermist. For a lot of us, losing a pet is our first introduction to death, and taxidermist Divya Anantharaman helps clients process that grief by turning their well-loved pet into a beautiful and lovingly stuffed memento.

Credits:

Josh Bloch- For USG Audio

Jessica Grimshaw- For USG Audio

Jennifer Sears- For USG Audio

Tara Frelund- For USG Audio

Utkarsh Ambudkar- Host

Gretta Cohn - Executive Producer

Kesila Childers - Executive Producer

Greg Lubin - Executive Producer

Jordan Bailey – Lead Producer

Camille Peterson - Producer

Mary Beth Barone - Producer

Sara Nics - Executive Editor

Jasmine Flott- Music Supervisor

AJ Hanneld- Graphic Artist

Nocturnal Sound - Mixing and Sound Design

This is a USG Audio podcast in collaboration with Transmitter Media and Powderkeg.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2: Witch Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

After someone we love dies, it’s hard to get them off our minds — especially if we didn’t get the chance to say everything we needed to. But for some people, the conversation doesn’t die when their loved one does. Comedian and TV writer Jourdain Fisher confronts his fear of witches and visits Lynn Swain of Magik Craft — a woman in his hometown who speaks to the dead… and owns a handful of cauldrons and wands, too.

Credits:

Josh Bloch- For USG Audio

Jessica Grimshaw- For USG Audio

Jennifer Sears- For USG Audio

Tara Frelund- For USG Audio

Utkarsh Ambudkar- Host

Gretta Cohn - Executive Producer

Kesila Childers - Executive Producer

Greg Lubin - Executive Producer

Jordan Bailey – Lead Producer

Jourdain Fisher - Producer

Allie Graham - Producer

Sara Nics - Executive Editor

Jasmine Flott- Music Supervisor

AJ Hanneld- Graphic Artist

Nocturnal Sound - Mixing and Sound Design

This is a USG Audio podcast in collaboration with Transmitter Media and Powderkeg.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1: Obits Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

Greg Heller sets out to discover what actually makes an obit feel like a satisfying account of a person's life. With the guidance of professional obituary writer John Pope, Greg practices the craft by writing his own.

Credits:

Josh Bloch- For USG Audio

Jessica Grimshaw- For USG Audio

Jennifer Sears- For USG Audio

Tara Frelund- For USG Audio

Utkarsh Ambudkar- Host

Gretta Cohn - Executive Producer

Kesila Childers - Executive Producer

Greg Lubin - Executive Producer

Jordan Bailey – Lead Producer

Greg Heller - Producer

Sara Nics - Executive Editor

Jasmine Flott- Music Supervisor

AJ Hanneld- Graphic Artist

Nocturnal Sound - Mixing and Sound Design

This is a USG Audio podcast in collaboration with Transmitter Media and Powderkeg.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Close to Death Trailer Oct 09, 2021

Show notes

Close to Death is a podcast that profiles people who spend every day working with the dead and dying. Sound depressing? It isn’t. Sound creepy? It can be! From death doulas to crime scene cleaners, obituary writers to taxidermists, human composting farms to witches who talk to the dead, these death experts have seen it all. In each episode, with the help of comedians and reporters, we’ll hear their stories and find out what they have learned about life by working with death. Hosted by Utkarsh Ambudkar.

This is a USG Audio podcast in collaboration with Transmitter Media and Powderkeg.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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