Podcast · Society & Culture

The Obit Project

by Jad Abumrad and Jule Banville · English · Society & Culture

Stories about the lives of real Montanans after they die. Co-hosted by old friends and colleagues Jad Abumrad (founder of Radiolab and creator of Dolly Parton’s America and 2025’s Fela Kuti: Fear No Man ) and University of Montana professor and journalist Jule Banville ( An Absurd Result ). Thi

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 25 min
Latest: 18 Jun 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

18 Jun 2026 · 36 min

Obituary for a Small Town

Dagmar, Montana , is way up there in what’s almost Canada and almost North Dakota. She was very Danish and had a rebellious youth – at one point, she was kind of a Communist. Mostly, she was the town where the farmers came to buy groceries, go to church and pull up to the bar. But over time, those institutions closed or burned down. If a newspaper ran her obit, Megan Torgerson would be among those listed as loving survivors. She goes back home to find out: Is Dagmar really and truly dead? Reported and narrated by Megan Torgerson, UM alum and creator and host of Reframing Rural…

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Earlier episodes 12 most recent

11 Jun 2026 · 19 min
Climbing Out of the Dark Hole
When Bea Burnham walked up to her house one day, she saw her husband of 30-plus years lying dead in the lawn. That stopped her world from spinning for a while, but she pulled herself up, fixed what needed to be fixed and got on with life, eventually outliving three more husbands. She worked hard and taught her daughters about women’s rights. She took care of her friends in their grief. She was buried in her fur coat and shaved her legs one swipe at a time, so that it was always in progress. After her dearth, her daughters come to a new understanding about a mom who carved her own way.…
4 Jun 2026 · 18 min
Deciding to Say Goodbye
Clifford Marion was a jokester and a lover of card games and gambling. He was a force where he worked for a decade at the Town Pump. And then he got sick. At the end, surrounded by his family, it was his wife who had to make the decision about when to let go, a moment at the heart of this story. Reported and narrated by Sophia Marsolek, current student at UM Journalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
28 May 2026 · 23 min
The Farmer Who Never Left His Land
Wayne Boyes was the de facto mayor of the unincorporated town of Tarkio off Interstate 90, though he’d never want that title. He was too busy with his cows. Wayne was born in Tarkio, he married his neighbor, and he died on his land with a list of chores. His family picked up that list in his honor and because some chores just need to get done. It’s what Wayne would have wanted. Reported and narrated by Kathleen Shannon, alum of UM Journalism’s graduate program See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
21 May 2026 · 29 min
Off the Grid by Choice
A lot of people in Billings, Montana, knew Stanley Littleboy by sight. He was that homeless guy with the great face you’d see downtown or in South Park. But he had people who loved him. His kids and grandkids in Billings tried to give him options, including a roof over his head. Stanley said no. He preferred his lifestyle, even though it ended when his body was found frozen near the railroad tracks. His family reconciles what they knew and what they tried to understand about Stanley now that he’s no longer running from them. Reported and narrated by Paul Hamby, UM Journalism alum…
14 May 2026 · 34 min
An Imperfect Parent
Darrel Johnson was someone people thought they knew. Maybe they worked alongside him at a high school dance. Maybe they knew him from Boy Scouts or through the camp he ran for troubled boys. His son knew his dad was also involved in some grisly investigations because Darrel would develop crime-scene photos in the family bathroom. Darrel’s job and personality were darker than most knew and time has allowed for honest, nuanced reflection. Reported and narrated by Bayliss Flynn, current student at UM Journalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7 May 2026 · 23 min
The Ghost Lady Is My Neighbor
When she was in high school, Lotus Porte-Moyel interviewed her neighbor, Ellen Baumler, about being a successful woman. Ellen’s success was measured in history books – she wrote 13 of them about the people and places of Montana and was the historian when it came to its capital city of Helena. But really? She was possibly best known for her good work on ghosts and Montana’s many spooky spots. Reported and narrated by Lotus Porte-Moyel, current student at UM Journalism See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
30 Apr 2026 · 25 min
Vanished in Vietnam
In 1965, Montanan pilot Dean Pogreba pulled up into the clouds over North Vietnam and was never heard from again. That left his wife and kids to always wonder: Was he still out there? Over the years, a few clues and stories gave his family hope. Maxine Pogreba lived her own full life before and after her husband died, but without someone to bury, she had to find her own path of grief and memory. Reported and narrated by Charles Bolte, alum of UM Journalism’s graduate program. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
23 Apr 2026 · 19 min
Friends Till the End
Brendon Galbreath ’s death was covered by most major news stations in Montana. He died after being pulled over. At first, it wasn’t clear if a cop shot and killed a 21-year-old citizen of the Blackfeet Nation in Missoula or if he died by suicide in that moment. But this isn’t a story about that. It’s about the beautiful moments we share with our friends, the kind that never show up in news stories. Reported and narrated by JoVonne Wagner, alum of UM Journalism currently at Montana Free Press See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
16 Apr 2026 · 35 min
The Elephant Under Dillon
Everyone from Dillon knows about the elephant struck by lightning and buried on the spot in what’s now the fairgrounds. But few are as obsessed with telling and remembering the story of Old Pit as Jack Kirkley, who taught for many years at the college there. He thought it would be a good idea to dig up the bones and display Dillon’s elephant in a history museum, but he found out others might dig him up one day if he tried that. Pit came by circus train to Dillon and never left. This is her story. Reported and narrated by Jacob Baynham, alum of UM Journalism and current Adjunct…
9 Apr 2026 · 37 min
For Ruth
The headline on Ruth Anderson’s obit in the New York Times defines her as a pioneering electronic composer. In certain circles, she was a famous artist and professor. Her partner, Annea Lockwood, was famous in her own rite in those circles, too. But to each other, they were partners with inside jokes and shared memories, many of them based at Flathead Lake near where Ruth Anderson was born. In this unconventional obit, a different Ruth from Montana finds Ruth Anderson on late-night radio and then unpacks how we think about a loved one’s legacy. Reported and narrated by Ruth Eddy,…
2 Apr 2026 · 27 min
A Very Responsible Dude
In his obit picture, Terry Holo looked like The Dude from The Big Lebowski and, for a time, he kind of was that guy. But when reporter Izaak Opatz joined Terry’s brother, Bob, to clean up the house of his dead brother, he learned there was a lot more to Terry than he expected. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
18 Mar 2026 · 2 min
The Obit Project - Coming April 02, 2026
Stories about the lives of real Montanans after they die. Young journalists reinvent the obituary, creating a form that explores universal truths, legacies and reckoning with the memories of those we love. Coming April 2, 2026. Co-hosted by old friends and colleagues Jad Abumrad (founder of Radiolab and creator of Dolly Parton’s America and 2025’s Fela Kuti: Fear No Man ) and University of Montana professor and journalist Jule Banville ( An Absurd Result ). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About The Obit Project

The Obit Project is a English society & culture podcast from Jad Abumrad and Jule Banville. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Jad Abumrad and Jule Banville
Language: English
Category: Society & Culture
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 25 min
Latest episode: 18 Jun 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1886539926

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