Story Archives of 'Poverty'

Architecture For Public Good

By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, September 4, 2008.

Today on Word of Mouth, we begin with a growing trend in architecture. Not more titanium siding or stunning art museums, but "free architecture," for clients with real needs, but no money. In a field dazzled by “starchitects,” John Peterson launched the nonprofit design firm Public Architecture. He’s leading the charge to get firms to donate one percent of billable hours designing spaces that bring inspiration and dignity to society’s most vulnerable people.

The 1% program is making its pitch, asking professionals to consider this question: "You could have been anything. You chose to be an architect. Why? Doctors save lives. Architects _______."

John Peterson, founder of Public Architecture and principal of Peterson Architecture, joins Word of Mouth on the line from San Francisco.

See examples of pro bono design projects from the 1% program

(Photo of Public Architecture's Community Learning Space)

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Memory and the Mind, Iraq's Heavy Metal, Bananas

By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, August 20, 2008.

Wednesday on Word of Mouth, we’re stepping away from the live microphone to broadcast some of our favorite interviews from the past few months. Here’s a list of the segments in today’s show. Click on the links to listen to them and to find more information:

Memory, Poverty, and the Brain - What happens when a word is on the tip of your tongue, and how poverty affects brain development

Pick Your City, Story of Stuff, Anxiety, Boutique Medicine

By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, August 19, 2008.

Tuesday on Word of Mouth, we’re stepping away from the live microphone to broadcast some of our favorite interviews from the past few months. Here’s a list of the segments in today’s show. Click on the links to listen to them and to find more information:

Innovative Designs for Impoverished Communities

By Virginia Prescott on Monday, August 11, 2008.

Monday on Word of Mouth, we take a look at improving life on the ground for the 2.7 billion people in the world living on less than $2 a day.

Bicycle wheels that can thresh millet, Lego-like bricks created from soil, and electric generators hooked-up to irrigation pumps are simple projects that could go a long way toward improving the lives of millions of people in developing countries. That's the guiding principle behind a month-long summer workshop that just wrapped up at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The International Development Design Summit was initiated by Amy Smith, a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at MIT and the recipient of a 2004 MacArthur "Genius Grant." Smith joins Word of Mouth to talk about the ideas that came out of the summit.

(Photo by Niall Walsh)

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The State Prepares for Increased Heating Costs

By Katie Ahern on Tuesday, July 15, 2008.

Consumers, oil companies, and state officials are bracing for the upcoming heating season.
Last year was the busiest ever for the state’s fuel assistance program.
Federal money has helped thousands of families in New Hampshire, but fuel prices have doubled what they were a year ago
Those same funds are not going to be enough.
NHPR’s Katie Ahern has the story.

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Memory, Poverty, and the Brain

By Virginia Prescott on Monday, June 16, 2008.

On today's show, we take a look at your brain. Specifically, your brain at that maddening moment when you run into an old acquaintance, but just can’t place their name. Ben? Bob? Brian? You’ve got the “b” part, but the rest just seems to stick on the tip of your tongue. Science editor and writer Jonah Lehrer, became fascinated with this phenomenon, and he stopped by our studio to tell us more.

We also look at the possible links between childhood poverty and brain development. Dr. Martha Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, studies how the stress of growing up in a lower socio-economic status may be damaging to how the brain develops, and is providing new insight into the age-old question of why poverty persists.

And we hear a story from public radio station KQED's QUEST about researchers at Stanford University using complex brain imaging to study how we make financial decisions. They’re finding that emotions play a pretty big role in everyday purchases. Andrea Kissic visited the lab to see what the scientists are coming up with.

(Photo by Piper Falk)

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Girl Power

By Andrew Walsh on Monday, June 9, 2008.

The world faces a lot of big problems -- poverty, AIDS, hunger, war, just to name a few. And the folks at the Nike Foundation say all of these problems can be fixed by girls.

Remember the Homeless Vets

By Ellen Grimm on Friday, May 23, 2008.

On Memorial Day, America has set aside a day to remember the men and women who died fighting its wars.

A group in Manchester hopes Americans will remember those vets who are fighting homelessness.

NHPR Correspondent Ellen Grimm has more.

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NH Food Bank Really Gets Cooking

By Jon Greenberg on Tuesday, May 6, 2008.

The nation’s food banks are under a lot of pressure these days. They are caught between food prices going up and levels of government aid that are either flat or falling.

In a couple of weeks, the New Hampshire Food Bank will unveil its latest effort to feed those in need. It is a full service kitchen that will let the Food Bank build on a new stream of donations – fresh food.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg has more.

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Banks Take Second Look at Mobile Homes

By Dan Gorenstein on Monday, May 5, 2008.

Homeowners who live in mobile home parks are paying anywhere from 8-15% interest on their mortgages- way more than people who own other types of housing.

That only makes it harder to pay the bills for those homeowners who often live on moderate or fixed incomes.

But home mortgage giant Fannie Mae and local banks are starting to look at some of these communities in a new way.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.

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