New Hampshire Legal Assistance

By Deborah Schachter on Saturday, October 11, 2008.

Robert Bolton was admitted to a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease in 2007, but after a hospitalization, the nursing home would not take him back. His wife, Ann, called New Hampshire Legal Assistance for help.

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Shea Porter and Bradley Debate in Bedford

By David Darman on Friday, October 10, 2008.

Congressman Carol Shea Porter and former Congressman Jeb Bradley squared off today in their first debate of this election.

The two First District candidates fought over their respective records in Congress, and over what they’d do to fix the problems now bedeviling the nation.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has more.

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Pop Politics Starts at the Currier

By Ellen Grimm on Friday, October 10, 2008.

It's no secret that New Hampshire prides its first in the nation primary.

But these days voters and non-voters alike can enjoy another first this political season.
It's an exhibit called Pop Politics and it's showing at the Currier Museum in Manchester.
For the first time, more than 60 of the political works of Pop artist and celebrity connoisseur Andy Warhol have been collected and put on display.
NHPR Correspondent Ellen Grimm took in the exhibit and has this report.

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Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes

By Laura Knoy on Friday, October 10, 2008.

Two years ago Concord attorney Paul Hodes defeated a popular Republican incumbent to represent New Hampshire’s 2nd District. In his first term Hodes has been elected president of his freshmen congressional class and served on the National Security and Foreign Affairs committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Now he faces Republican challenger Jennifer Horn for his seat. We’ll talk with Paul Hodes about his two years in Congress and why he wants another two.

Guest

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Warblers and Sapsuckers

By Scott Fitzpatrick on Friday, October 10, 2008.

The wonderful thing about wildlife is there is always something new to witness, Scott describes one such instance he had recently.

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Lempster Wind Project Brings Business to State

By Amy Quinton on Thursday, October 9, 2008.

The state’s first large scale commercial wind farm will soon be up and running in the town of Lempster. Twelve wind-powered turbines on top of Lempster Mountain are expected to provide power to about 10,000 homes.

The wind farm drew criticism when first proposed, but nearby towns are now profiting from the project.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports.

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Nick Flynn at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival

By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 9, 2008.

If you’re looking for a new experience this holiday weekend, consider the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. It’s the first ever state-wide celebration of poets and poetry on the home turf of Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, and Jack Kerouac. The three-day festival features readings, workshops, films and music.

Headlining tomorrow night in Kerouac’s hometown of Lowell, is poet and author Nick Flynn. His two books of poetry earned him a Guggenheim Fellowship and numerous other awards. His memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, won the Pen/Martha Albrand Award. He’s also collaborated with visual artists, worked on an Academy Award-nominated film, authored a play called Alice Invents a Little Game and Alice Always Wins, and is now at work on a new memoir.

Nick Flynn joins us on Word of Mouth to talk about his work and this weekend's festival.





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Alina Simone and the Songs of Yanka

By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 9, 2008.


Russian poet and songwriter Yana Dyagileva – or simply Yanka, as she was better known—had a music career that only ran four years. But her songs had a lasting impact on the Russian underground music scene. She gained a following as her tapes were passed around hand-to-hand below the radar of authorities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But as the Soviet Union began to fall apart, so did Yanka’s personal life. She moved back to her family’s home in Siberia and isolated herself from the rest of the world. She was 24 years old when she went missing one spring day; A week later, her body was found in a nearby river.

Her music lives on, though, most recently through the voice of artist Alina Simone. Alina has released a full album of Yanka cover songs, and the new record is developing a following of its own. It’s called “Everyone is Crying Out to Me, Beware”, and Alina joins us live on Word of Mouth to discuss it.

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Flooding The Yangtze Valley

By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 9, 2008.

Filmmaker Yung Chang was raised in Montreal by first-generation Chinese immigrants. Growing up, his grandfather told him stories about the mythical Yangtze River.

A third of China’s population lives along the river. It’s the lifeblood of the country. Peasants have farmed the Yangtze River Valley for millennia.

But the entire valley is currently being flooded to create the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. And it’s expected to provide one-tenth of China’s energy needs. But it’s also driving as many as four million people from their homes.

Yung Chang travelled up the Yangtze and found a river far different than the one his grandfather described. His documentary, Up the Yangtze, follows two young people who find work on a luxury cruise ship, ferrying wealthy foreigners on “farewell tours” of the valley. He joins Word of Mouth on the phone from Los Angeles.

Watch the trailer for Up the Yangtze:

(Photo by Jonathan Chang)

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The Stolen Forests

By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 9, 2008.

Today on Word of Mouth, how a tree in the Russian forest becomes a toilet seat at Wal-Mart.

We Americans consume more finished wood items than any country on the planet. Every year, each of us use up about 72 cubic feet of wood - from baby cribs to paint brushes, books to tables. But few of us know where the wood is coming from.

It turns out, the stores we buy from don’t know either. There’s a good chance that at least 20 percent of it comes from a country where trees are illegally harvested, and deforestation is rampant. Our increasing demand for wood may be fueling the largest destruction of forests in history.

Raffi Khatchadourian wrote about the illegal logging market for The New Yorker. He joins Word of Mouth with more about this profitable and violent underground business.

Click here to read Raffi Khatchadourian's article, "The Stolen Forests"

(Photo by Ben Alman)

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