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The recent struggles over Manchester's school budget has resurrected an old debate.

Some high level city officials want to explore the idea of making the school district a part of city government.

But school officials say such a move would be complicated and potentially damaging to the school system.

NHPR Correspondent Ellen Grimm has the story.

Today on Word of Mouth, we find out what our stuff says about us. We talk with journalist Rob Walker about the new ways advertisers are trying to blur the line between what we buy and who we are, and researcher and author Sam Gosling tells us what the stuff collecting in our closets and desk drawers say about our psyches. We also hear about travel adventures for the 50+ crowd, and commentator Ethan Todras-Whitehill explains a new twist on culture shock.
(Photo by J Ella Smith)

Many of the baby boomers who trekked around the world in the 1960s and '70s hung up their backpacks long ago. People with families and mortgages often choose safer, more cushy trips, pushing adventurous travel into the back corners of the storage room - and maybe, with a deep sigh, into the realm of fantasy.

Now, many boomers are empty nesters and retirees with more generous schedules and bank accounts. Don Mankin, co-author with Shannon Stowell, of "Riding the Hula-Hula to the Arctic Ocean: A Guide to Fifty Extraordinary Adventures for the Seasoned Traveler," says people in their fifties and sixties should seize the moment and seek adventure!

And we hear a commentary from native New Yorker and world traveler Ethan Todras-Whitehill, who says he deals with culture shock often – but it’s when he’s coming home, not setting sail. After returning from a long trip to South America, he describes struggling to reacquaint himself with his beloved hometown.

(Photo by Kelly Nicoll)

You’ve likely heard that advertising is in big trouble. Newspaper and TV ad revenue is tanking. Consumers are informed and picky, no longer hostage to TV commercials. We’re skipping ads with Tivo while the Internet offers on-demand content 24/7. But is the advertising business really on its way to extinction?

Rob Walker writes the "Consumed" column in the New York Times magazine, and he’s not finding any proof. Americans are mired in credit card debt and covered in logos, our landfills are mounting with discarded junk, and profits from consumer products are soaring. So something advertisers are doing is working. Rob Walker joins Word of Mouth to tell us about the "murketing" strategies described in his new book, "Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are," and how we grapple with our individuality and our deep wish to be part of something bigger.

The connection between our possessions and ourselves is also of great interest to "snoopologist" Dr. Sam Gosling, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas in Austin. He joins the show to discuss his new book "Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You," which brings the fine art of nosing around people's bedrooms, offices and iPod playlists into the realm of social science.

(Photo by Matt Miller)