This piece takes us inside one of an immigrant community's most intimate religious rituals, and Wisconsin Public Radio's Brian Bull has my full respect and admiration for his ability to succeed in an obviously awkward social situation as a cultural reporter. Bull does a remarkable job of developing a respectful rapport with his interviewees and gets them to speak candidly about very personal spiritual matters.

Hard to believe it, but this was Bull's first feature ever. I've corresponded with him about his experiences putting this story together --- he says he was really inspired by the feeling of camaraderie and community at the Hmong funeral, and that he walked away from the experience thinking that the way we observe death says a lot about our larger values as a culture.