Story Archives of 'Public Insight'

Nashua Adult Learning Center

By Deborah Schachter on Saturday, November 28, 2009.

Mr. Olocho came to the U.S. from Kenya after receiving a green card through the immigration lottery. The Nashua Adult Learning Center helped him prepare for and achieve his U.S. high school equivalency degree.

More Ways the Web Has Changed Us

By Brady Carlson on Wednesday, November 18, 2009.

NHPR webmaster Brady Carlson put together his own list of ways the web has changed us:

1) Broadband and wireless as game-changers.
There is no YouTube revolution if we’re all on dialup. Cell phones become portable computers instead of mere communication devices. It also creates a cultural expectation that we have access wherever we go. Realtors have told me through Public Insight, for example, that homebuyers ask about internet access when they’re looking at a house, the way they’d ask about the water system or the electrical.

Lessons Learned From the Recession

By Laura Knoy on Monday, November 16, 2009.

When the downturn began, the causes were well-documented: consumers drowning in debt, lenders handing out subprime mortgages and banks gambling with money they didn’t have. We said we’d change, but have we? What happens once better times return - will these lessons stick, or are we destined to repeat past mistakes?

Guests

  • Russ Thibeault, president of Applied Economic Research in Laconia
  • Amy Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Economics and Business at St. Anselm College

We'll also hear from

  • Peter Temin, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
listen: Windows Media | MP3

The Recession and New Hampshire's North Country

By Laura Knoy on Sunday, October 25, 2009.

The economic downturn put the brakes on plans to revitalize the northern economy. Now studies show that it may take the North longer to get out of the recession than the rest of the state. We’ll check in on how the recession has hit the North Country and what it may take to let the good times roll once again.

Guests

  • Barbara Tetrault, reporter for the Berlin Daily Sun
  • Peter Riviere, Executive Director of the Coos Economic Development Corporation

We'll also hear from

listen: Windows Media | MP3

Estuaries Face Serious Environmental Threats

By Amy Quinton on Friday, October 16, 2009.

A new study shows that New Hampshire’s estuaries are facing serious environmental threats. The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership recently released its State of the Estuaries report.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton has more.

listen: Windows Media | MP3

Sculpting Agent Orange's Legacy

By Avishay Artsy on Thursday, October 15, 2009.

From 1961 to 1971, the United States military sprayed millions of gallons of defoliants and herbicides over south Vietnam. Agent Orange was the most commonly used defoliant. It was later found to be contaminated by dioxin, a human carcinogen. It permanently altered the landscape, as well as the bodies of millions of Vietnamese.

A graduate student at Dartmouth College recently visited the country to capture the legacy of Agent Orange through a unique process she calls "documentary sculpture." Our producer, Avishay Artsy, went to have a look.

(Photo by Kirk Torregrossa)

listen: Windows Media | MP3

New Hampshire Grapples with a Senseless Murder

By Laura Knoy on Thursday, October 8, 2009.

Earlier this week, the small town of Mont Vernon was turned upside down by the killing of a local mother and vicious attack on her daughter. The four teenagers charged are said to have picked their victims at random. We’ll ask the questions many are asking as the state copes with an inexplicable tragedy.

Guests

  • Charles Putnam, co-director of Justiceworks, a research institute at the University of New Hampshire, and a Research Associate Professor of Political Science at UNH
  • William Pollack, Associate Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School’s Psychology Department, author of REAL BOYS: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood, and director of the Center For Men at McLean Hospital

We'll also hear from

  • Paul Apple, member of the Board of Selectmen in Mont Vernon
  • Loretta Brady, assistant professor of psychology St. Anselm College and clinical psychologist with Elliot Hospital Pain Management Center
listen: Windows Media | MP3

Schumann's Lost Sonata

By Rick Ganley on Thursday, September 24, 2009.

New Hampshire resident and concert pianist Frederick Moyer has discovered and recorded an unfinished piano sonata from Robert Schumann.

listen: Windows Media | MP3

The State of Gifted and Talented Education in New Hampshire

By Laura Knoy on Sunday, September 20, 2009.

Lucky as they may sound, these top-performing students have their own problems - especially being bored and disengaged at school. And there are complaints the No Child Left Behind Act is leaving these kids behind. We’ll look closer at the issues and, given limited time and money, how much attention they may get.

Guests

  • Joseph Renzulli, professor at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education, Director of the National Research Center On the Gifted and Talented and author of the book Light Up Your Child’s Mind
  • Theresa Morris, Gifted and Talented Coordinator for the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District

We'll also hear from

  • Ted Comstock, Executive Director for the New Hampshire School Boards Association
  • Ken Relihan, coordinator for gifted and talented policy at the New Hampshire Department of Education
listen: Windows Media | MP3

Understanding Autism

By Laura Knoy on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

The number of children diagnosed with this kind of developmental disability keeps rising, here in New Hampshire and nationwide…but no one is really sure why. We’ll explore that question and look also at how autism is diagnosed and treated, and what impact autism has on families, schools and communities.

Guest

  • Linda Quintanilha, parent of three children with conditions on the autism spectrum
  • Carol Ann Edscorn, autism educator and advocate who also has Asperger Syndrome herself
  • Laura Rubin, neuropsychologist at the Portsmouth Neuropsychology Center

We'll also hear from

  • Kirstin Murphy, Executive Director of ARCH (Autism Resources for the Community and Home) and Administrative Director for the New Hampshire Council on Autism Spectrum Disorder
listen: Windows Media | MP3