The Story

We hear from Sally Silverstone who was part of an eight member team that sealed themselves into a glass structure in Arizona called the Biosphere and did not leave for two years.

Clark Wang is a psychiatrist who, like most of us, didn't think much about death.  When he did, he always figured he'd be buried next to his mother in Michigan.  Then Clark found out he might be dying. Now he's become an advocate for a growing movement in the United States called green or natural burial.  Instead of an expensive metal casket sealed in a vault to keep hazardous fluids from leaching into the ground - or cremation which spews contaminated dust residue into the air, Clark is opting for a biodegradable coffin made from salvaged wood.  He'll be buried in a natural wooded area newly set aside as a memorial garden by a traditional cemetery.  Also: a reluctant landlord. And, running barefoot.

From the time she was a little girl, Barbara Quinn loved the idea of nursing.  But after marriage, kids and a career as a public health nurse, at age 68 it was time to retire.  Now she's 72 and back at work…as a volunteer. She works at a clinic staffed by health professionals who have come out of retirement to treat the needy.

James Brabazon reads a short essay about a photograph his friend Tim Hetherington did not take.