Listen
Modeling individual human skulls in resin give surgeons a pre-op edge.
Word of Mouth
From High School to High Security
By Reginald Dwayne... on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
Reginald Dwayne Betts went from the high school honor roll to the penitentiary. He spent nine years in prison beginning at age 16 for a carjacking in Virginia. He’s the first person in his family to graduate from college, but memories of prison still haunt him.
You can listen to it at the Public Radio Exchange.
(Photo by Jenn Vargas)
The Return of Fine Cider
By Avishay Artsy on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
Thanksgiving is just over a week away. A day when many of the grateful wash down turkey and stuffing with a glass of wine, or celebrate visits from old friends over a cold beer, or two.
One New Hampshire farmer hopes we’ll try sipping on artisanal cider instead. Hard cider is a New England tradition that dates back to the Founding Fathers, and as falling apple prices leave orchard owners struggling to stay afloat, a cider revival could provide a lifeline to New Hampshire growers.
Word of Mouth producer Avishay Artsy went to taste for himself.
(Photos by Scott McIntyre)
Add new comment
Thanksgiving is just over a week away. A day when many of the grateful wash down turkey and stuffing with a glass of wine, or celebrate visits from old friends over a cold beer, or two.
One New Hampshire farmer hopes we’ll try sipping on artisanal cider instead. Hard cider is a New England tradition that dates back to the Founding Fathers, and as falling apple prices leave orchard owners struggling to stay afloat, a cider revival could provide a lifeline to New Hampshire growers.
Word of Mouth producer Avishay Artsy went to taste for himself.
(Photos by Scott McIntyre)
Add new comment
Prisons as Investment Opportunities
By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
Here's an investment opportunity in a big growth industry: the prison business. Yes, there are rape scandals, murders, and riots, but many investors know a “buy” when they see it. Bryant Urstadt is a contributor to Harper's Magazine. He took a close look at a very positive securities analyst's report for Geo Group, one of the two largest private prison companies in the US. Urstadt analyzed the document for the magazine's December issue, and joins us with his read of what's hidden between the lines of the report's optimistic investment advice.
Austin Chronicle: The Privatized Government
(Photo courtesy Still Burning via Flickr/CreativeCommons)
Here's an investment opportunity in a big growth industry: the prison business. Yes, there are rape scandals, murders, and riots, but many investors know a “buy” when they see it. Bryant Urstadt is a contributor to Harper's Magazine. He took a close look at a very positive securities analyst's report for Geo Group, one of the two largest private prison companies in the US. Urstadt analyzed the document for the magazine's December issue, and joins us with his read of what's hidden between the lines of the report's optimistic investment advice.
Austin Chronicle: The Privatized Government
(Photo courtesy Still Burning via Flickr/CreativeCommons)
The Chemicals In Our Bodies
By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
Every morning we wake up, brush our teeth, wash our hair, make a cup of coffee, and ingest thousands of chemicals. From the flame retardants on our bed sheets to the plastic tube surrounding our toothpaste, items we use each day are laden with chemicals. And if you think the Centers for Disease Control weeds out the bad ones, think again.
The FDA requires pharmaceuticals to be tested and the cosmetic industry has a voluntary system for making sure that new eye cream won’t give you a rash, but the chemicals found in many household products are never tested. So, how do we know which chemicals we take in? And what are their long-term effects?
Arianne Cohen is a freelance journalist who describes herself as a “paranoid and curious person.” She decided to have every man-made substance in her body tested through biomonitoring technology. She wrote about the process for Popular Science, and she joins us for a closer look at the chemicals we carry with us.
Popular Science: My Quest To Analyze Every Man-Made Chemical In My Body
New York Times: Chemicals in Our Food, and Bodies
Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database
(Photo courtesy Francisca Ulloa via Flickr/CreativeCommons)
Every morning we wake up, brush our teeth, wash our hair, make a cup of coffee, and ingest thousands of chemicals. From the flame retardants on our bed sheets to the plastic tube surrounding our toothpaste, items we use each day are laden with chemicals. And if you think the Centers for Disease Control weeds out the bad ones, think again.
The FDA requires pharmaceuticals to be tested and the cosmetic industry has a voluntary system for making sure that new eye cream won’t give you a rash, but the chemicals found in many household products are never tested. So, how do we know which chemicals we take in? And what are their long-term effects?
Arianne Cohen is a freelance journalist who describes herself as a “paranoid and curious person.” She decided to have every man-made substance in her body tested through biomonitoring technology. She wrote about the process for Popular Science, and she joins us for a closer look at the chemicals we carry with us.
Popular Science: My Quest To Analyze Every Man-Made Chemical In My Body
New York Times: Chemicals in Our Food, and Bodies
Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database
(Photo courtesy Francisca Ulloa via Flickr/CreativeCommons)
Butterflies in Space
By Jen Nathan on Monday, November 16, 2009.
In just a few hours, the shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to blast off from the Kennedy Space Center. Atlantis will deliver parts to the international space station, with a few creatures stowed among the cargo. No, not pigs, but butterflies. One hundred K-12 schools will receive “habitat kits” to observe butterflies develop in earthly classrooms while simultaneously watching larvae in outer space.
Russian Whistleblower Turns to YouTube
By Virginia Prescott on Monday, November 16, 2009.
Police corruption is no secret in today's Russia, but it’s rarely discussed out loud. Aleksei Dymovsky, a police officer in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiisk threw his career to the wind and decided to go public - on YouTube.
In a series of three 2-7 minute long videos released over the past two weeks, Dymovsky faced the camera and addressed his complaints directly to Vladimir Putin. "I want to work," he says, in one video, "but I can no longer stand investigating made-up crimes, imprisoning people we are told to imprison. I can’t stand crimes made-on-order. I’m sick of it all."
Dymovsky was quickly fired, but his videos have drawn more than 1 million hits on YouTube and he is being hailed as a hero, and joins the growing number of Iranians, Chinese and other citizens using the Internet to defy government secrecy.
Miriam Elder covers Russia for GlobalPost. She’s been reporting on Dymovsky’s case and joins us from Moscow.
GlobalPost: Russia's whistleblower cop is a YouTube sensation
Police corruption is no secret in today's Russia, but it’s rarely discussed out loud. Aleksei Dymovsky, a police officer in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiisk threw his career to the wind and decided to go public - on YouTube.
In a series of three 2-7 minute long videos released over the past two weeks, Dymovsky faced the camera and addressed his complaints directly to Vladimir Putin. "I want to work," he says, in one video, "but I can no longer stand investigating made-up crimes, imprisoning people we are told to imprison. I can’t stand crimes made-on-order. I’m sick of it all."
Dymovsky was quickly fired, but his videos have drawn more than 1 million hits on YouTube and he is being hailed as a hero, and joins the growing number of Iranians, Chinese and other citizens using the Internet to defy government secrecy.
Miriam Elder covers Russia for GlobalPost. She’s been reporting on Dymovsky’s case and joins us from Moscow.
GlobalPost: Russia's whistleblower cop is a YouTube sensation
Indie Video Games
By Virginia Prescott on Monday, November 16, 2009.
Most video games are full of camouflaged men and buxom women flipping and kicking on the screen, carrying machine guns and leaving explosions of dust and blood in their wake. But if you reboot and discover the DIY video game movement, you might see something a bit more refined.
In the surreal game Blueberry Garden, flowers blow back and forth against a stark, hand drawn landscape, and you can hear a bird in a top hat landing on floating islands and pieces of cheese. The game won this year’s Independent Games Festival in San Francisco. It’s kind of like a Sundance Festival for indie video game developers, a place where gaming aficionados can step out from behind the controllers and show off games they themselves design.
Joshuah Bearman attended this year’s conference for The New York Times Magazine and joins us with more on the indie video game scene. We also hear from Chris Dahlen, who lives in Portsmouth and reviews video games for the Onion A.V. Club.
New York Times Magazine: Can D.I.Y. Supplant the First-Person Shooter?
Fierce Developer: Make your own XBOX games in 10 steps
(Photo courtesy Patrick Brosset via Flickr/CreativeCommons)
Most video games are full of camouflaged men and buxom women flipping and kicking on the screen, carrying machine guns and leaving explosions of dust and blood in their wake. But if you reboot and discover the DIY video game movement, you might see something a bit more refined.
In the surreal game Blueberry Garden, flowers blow back and forth against a stark, hand drawn landscape, and you can hear a bird in a top hat landing on floating islands and pieces of cheese. The game won this year’s Independent Games Festival in San Francisco. It’s kind of like a Sundance Festival for indie video game developers, a place where gaming aficionados can step out from behind the controllers and show off games they themselves design.
Joshuah Bearman attended this year’s conference for The New York Times Magazine and joins us with more on the indie video game scene. We also hear from Chris Dahlen, who lives in Portsmouth and reviews video games for the Onion A.V. Club.
New York Times Magazine: Can D.I.Y. Supplant the First-Person Shooter?
Fierce Developer: Make your own XBOX games in 10 steps
(Photo courtesy Patrick Brosset via Flickr/CreativeCommons)
And Now We Hear From You
By Avishay Artsy on Monday, November 16, 2009.
Our segment on those old cassette mixtapes from ex’s that we just can’t let go of got a response from a listener named A. Rioux, who wrote:
The Sounds of Science
By Avishay Artsy on Monday, November 16, 2009.Here’s another way to make science appeal to kids – put it to song. Take one part Mr. Wizard and two parts High School Musical, shake vigorously, and you get The Sounds of Science.
Physics With a Side of Fun
By Virginia Prescott on Monday, November 16, 2009.
On Saturday, hundreds of middle and high school students gathered for a lesson in math and science at the first annual New Hampshire TechFest held at Pinkerton Academy in Derry. The all-day event wasn’t your typical science fair with shoebox dioramas and glue-gun and styrofoam planets.
Instead, students spent the day investigating crime scenes alongside police detectives, charting airplane paths with the National Air Traffic Controller’s Association, and resuscitating a simulation baby mannequin with its own pulse and blood pressure. Professional engineers joined in to show kids the technology they use, and explain why their jobs are more fun than anything they’ll find in a textbook.
Word of Mouth correspondent Robin Respaut covered the festival for us. She’s joins in the studio to tell us about technology and trebuchets.
Derry News: Pinkerton to host first TechFest event
(Photo by Robin Respaut)
On Saturday, hundreds of middle and high school students gathered for a lesson in math and science at the first annual New Hampshire TechFest held at Pinkerton Academy in Derry. The all-day event wasn’t your typical science fair with shoebox dioramas and glue-gun and styrofoam planets.
Instead, students spent the day investigating crime scenes alongside police detectives, charting airplane paths with the National Air Traffic Controller’s Association, and resuscitating a simulation baby mannequin with its own pulse and blood pressure. Professional engineers joined in to show kids the technology they use, and explain why their jobs are more fun than anything they’ll find in a textbook.
Word of Mouth correspondent Robin Respaut covered the festival for us. She’s joins in the studio to tell us about technology and trebuchets.
Derry News: Pinkerton to host first TechFest event
(Photo by Robin Respaut)
About us
Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.
Contact us
Say what you want to say. How you want to say it. We want to hear from you.
Search us
Podcast
Word of Mouth is on the move! Sign up for our podcast and take the show wherever you go.
Support From
is supported by
committed to clean energy solutions
