Word of Mouth Past Shows

Today on Word of Mouth, private companies and the Japanese government plan to send solar satellites into orbit and beam the energy back to earth. Is it science fiction or the next green thing? And a journalist goes back to school for free, using MIT's OpenCourseWare program. We find out if learning physics and Romanian online is worthwhile. And hip-hop artists in Myanmar oppose the military regime with subversive rap. Plus, we’ll look at what gets lost when online communities like Geocities are shut down. And we revisit a conversation with choreographer Bill T. Jones about his work on the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.

(Photo by mtkr via Flickr/Creative Commons)

This Labor Day, Word of Mouth is stepping away from the microphone to bring you a look at dream jobs of the new millennium. We’ll meet a robotics engineer, a video game designer, and a special effects creator working in Bollywood. We’ll hear from people pursuing their passions and career paths with purpose, like a hydro-electric engineer, bringing electricity to remote areas of Fiji. Spectrum Radio traveled to four continents to profile people whose innovative careers are engineering the 21st century.

(Photo by Maitri via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Today on Word of Mouth, between email, Twitter, online games and shopping, there’s plenty to keep people busy online. For those who can’t get themselves to unplug, the first Internet rehab center in the U.S. is now open. We’ll talk to the director of the program. Plus, very short stories written for iPhone screens - are we looking at the future of fiction? And scientists search for the genetic origins of perfect pitch – the ability to name a note on hearing it. Plus, we get behind the scenes with teens making the "fresh greens" series on the environment. And two New England high schools help connect students to the consequences of consumption, from farm to plate, from light switch to polar ice cap.

(Photo by zenobia_joy via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Today on Word of Mouth, a pragmatic approach to preserving the Brazilian rainforest: paying landowners not to slash-and-burn. Plus, biodynamic wine. We’ll find out what happens when winemakers use lunar cycles and animal talismans to harvest. And, we check in with a pair of radio producers scouring America’s small towns to hear what’s really happening down on Main Street. Plus, from Faulkner to Hitchcock, former poet laureate Robert Pinsky joins us for some literary takes on small-town life.

(Photo by Ann Heppermann)

Today on Word of Mouth, why Joe College can’t write. We’ll hear from a prominent professor who says that first year composition courses are to blame. And, how to vanish in the digital age. Wired Magazine challenges its readers to track down a writer on the lam. Then, we tune in to the hypnotic draw of power lines. Plus, musicians, playwrights, and filmmakers remix short stories and songs in a literary mash-up free-for-all.

(Photo by Ken Stein via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Today on Word of Mouth, money can’t buy happiness, or can it? New research says it all depends on how you spend it. How to donate your computer’s extra processing speed for science. Altruistic computers crunch numbers while you check out the latest Youtube video. Teen radio producers wonder how to encourage their friends to be more green. Medical students spend ten days eating, sleeping, and bathing in a nursing home to prepare themselves for careers in geriatric medicine. And from Japandroids to the Mr. T Experience, we find out what’s catching the ear of the blogger known as Largehearted Boy.

(Photo by Aart van Bezooyen via Flickr/Creative Commons)