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In this episode, Maria Paz Guti\xe9rrez does battle against the one absolute truth of human existence and all life\u2026 death. After getting a team of scientists to stand in for death (the grim reaper wasn\u2019t available), we parry and thrust our way through the myriad ways that death comes for us - from falling pianos to evolution\u2019s disinterest in longevity. In the process, we see if we can find a satisfying answer to the question \u201cwhy do we have to die\u201d and find ourselves face to face with the bitter end of everything that ever existed.\n\nSpecial thanks to Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Steven Nadler, Beth Jarosz, Anjana Badrinarayanan, Shaon Chakrabarti, Bob Horvitz, John K. Davis, Jessica Brand, Chandan K. Sen, Cole Imperi, Carl Bergstrom, Erin Gentry -Lam, and Jared Silvia. \n\nThis episode was made in loving memory of Dali Rodriguez.\n\nEPISODE CREDITS - \nReported by - Maria Paz Guti\xe9rrez\nProduced by - Maria Paz Guti\xe9rrez\nwith help from - Alyssa Jeong Perry and Timmy Broderick\nOriginal music and sound design contributed by - Maria Paz Guti\xe9rrez and Jeremy Bloom\nwith mixing help from - Arianne Wack\nFact-checking by - Emily Krieger\n\nOur newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!\n\nRadiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.\n\nFollow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.\n\nLeadership support for Radiolab\u2019s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.