The Line Between Life and Death

KUER 90.1 | By Doug Fabrizio

Published June 6, 2012 at 5:55 PM MDT

How do you know when someone is dead? It might sound like a question with an obvious answer, but the United States didn't have a legal definition of death until 1981. Science writer Dick Teresi says that this law actually made it easier to be declared dead than any other time in human history. Teresi has written a book that explores how modern medicine – including the process of organ donations - is blurring the line between life and death. He joins Doug on Thursday.

Guest
Dick Teresi
Author, The Undead: Organ Harvesting, the Ice-Water Test, Beating Heart Cadavers--How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death

Music
The Unicorns, Child Star
My Finder's Keeper, Fever Dream (by Iron & Wine)
Startle the Heavens, Can You Hear Them Singing?

Health & Science

Doug Fabrizio

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

See stories by Doug Fabrizio