The Children’s Literacy Foundation works to spread a love of reading and writing among low-income, at-risk and rural children. We visited the New Hampshire State Prison for Women, where Executive Director Duncan McDougall is working with inmates.

A new bill in the State House would allow pharmacies and individuals in the state to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. Proponents say it would not only save individuals money but have the potential to lower health care costs. But not everyone is on board with crossing the border, some worry about the safety of the drugs while others are concerned how it may affect pharmaceutical companies in our own state. We'll look at both sides of the Canadian drugs debate.

Guests

• TBA

Can a broken city be fixed? Justin Langlois thinks so. In 2008, fresh out of grad school, Justin created the artist-led creative research group known as Broken City Lab. His idea: find a new model for social change in blighted cities like his own, Windsor, Ontario. Windsor has the highest unemployment and highest vacancy rate in all of Canada, and faces many of the same issues as its neighbor, Detroit.

City-wide projects inspire public engagement and ask residents to re-imagine their home beyond the boarded up buildings. To engage with their city, even if it’s fallen by the wayside. The lab uses multimedia, unexpected images and creative messaging to spark dialogue for change. Broken City Lab is currently spearheading a five-month project called “Save the City.” We spoke with founder and research director Justin Langlois. Justin also instructs in the School of Visual Arts and Department of Communication, Media, and Film at the University of Windsor.

GOOD Magazine: Art Therapy for a City on the Mend

Take a virtual tour of Windsor, Ontario using Google's street view

(Photo by Cristina Naccarato)

Funeral Services for Army Specialist Marc Decoteau were held this past weekend at Plymouth Regional High School.

The 19-year-old Waterville Valley resident was killed in Afghanistan on January 29th.

Correspondent Sean Hurley spoke with some of Decoteau's old friends and has this remembrance.

Demographers predict that the nation’s population will soar to 400 million citizens in the next 40 years. For some that signals disaster: global warming, peak oil, social decay and the decline of the American empire.

Futurist, columnist and author Joel Kotkin takes a more optimistic view. He envisions America at 2050 as “the most affluent, culturally rich, and successful nation in human history.” Set against ethnic conflicts, low birth rates and increasing homogeneity in the rest of the world, American will defy the naysayers and trends toward urbanization to become a more bountiful, multi-racial society, powered by land, localism, green technology and our defiant indigenous spirit.

Joel Kotkin is a futurist, social thinker and columnist for Forbes.com and for Politico.com. He’s author of several books, including, The City: A Global History, The New Geography: How The Digital Revolution is Reshaping the Global Landscape, and Tribes: How Race, Religion and Identity Determine Success in the New Global Economy. He’s with us to discuss his new book The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050.

Powell's Book Review: Living on the Edge by Tom Vanderbilt

(Photo by tom.aurthur via Flickr/CreativeCommons)