Stuff You Should Know

Snapshot · Stuff You Should Know

Short Stuff: The Voice of God

Explore episode Jul 15, 2026

Where this was said

Final Years, Death & 'In a World' as Last Words

At 15:15 · chapter starts 15:10

Chuck delivers the episode's most affecting passage: Don LaFontaine's death. Despite having quit smoking for twenty years, he was admitted to Cedars Sinai in 2008 with a pulmonary embolism. His family rallied publicly, asking fans and colleagues to send their prayers. He died on September 1, 2008, ten days into his hospitalisation, at the age of 68. He is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery — which, as Josh notes, is a place so legendary it warranted its own Stuff You Should Know short. Josh then delivers the quietly perfect coda: LaFontaine's final recorded performance was in an episode of Phineas and Ferb called 'The Chronicles of Meep,' and his very last line was 'In a world.' A tribute card ran at the end of the episode. As Josh says, with obvious feeling: 'A great final line.'

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