Word of Mouth

Some Facts About New Hampshire’s Infrastructure:New Hampshire has approximately 17,000 miles of state and town roads, turnpikes and interstate highways. There are 3,795 bridges in the state. As of 2010, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation plowed more than 800 lane miles of roads and put down 180,000 tons of salt for snow and ice control annually.The state was given a “C” grade by the American Society of Civil Engineers for the condition of its roads and bridges. New Hampshire was rated among the worst in the country for the poor condition of its bridges by Transportation For America. On average, bridges are older in New Hampshire than those in the rest of the country. There are hundreds of bridges on the so-called “red list,” which means that the bridges have major structural problems and need to be repaired or replaced.The state also has a poor record when it comes to public transportation. New Hampshire has no comprehensive rail system and is rated 42nd in terms of investment in public transportation according to the State Department of Transportation.The majority of New Hampshire’s infrastructure funding comes from vehicle registration fees and gas taxes. The state takes out fewer bond loans than other states and considers its funding a “pay as you go” system. The gas tax, the lowest in New England, has not been raised since 1991. The 2011 Legislature did away with a motor vehicle fee increase. That change has meant more $30 million a year in cuts to DOT.The $800 million expansion of I-93 from Salem to Manchester began in 2006, but has been delayed several times because of a lack of funding. Supporters of the expansion say it will update one of the country’s most congested highways and bring needed tourism revenue to the more isolated and less economically robust northern part of the state. Traffic on I-93 has increased 600 percent since the highway was built in the 1960s and approximately 80,000 cars now drive on it each day.Summary provided by StateImpact NH

5.23.16: Gender Reveal Parties, Ping Pong Tables, & Hyperloop

New Hampshire Public Radio | By Word of Mouth

Published May 23, 2016 at 1:42 PM EDT

Rifles or ruffles? Guns or glitter? Today, themed gender reveal parties are a growing trend among expectant parents...how does all the fanfare over proclaiming an unborn child's sex fit into the evolving conversation about gender identity?

Then, a new surprisingly accurate metric emerges for determining if a tech company's bubble is about to burst. It has nothing to do with stocks or quarterly earnings reports - the answer might be in your basement.

Listen to the full show.

The Dark Side of Gender Reveal Parties

In the past few weeks, North Carolina's so-called “bathroom law” has put gender identity and trans rights into the national spotlight. A quick primer here: biological sex is what's on your birth certificate - gender identity, which may or may not correspond, doesn't develop for years. For people who have had little to no exposure to the trans experience, this issue has come out of nowhere - but Jessica Winter, features writer at Slate, isn't too surprised. She says society is re-enforcing gender norms - incorrectly - before babies are even born.

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The Dark Side of Gender Reveal Parties

Related: Are You a Boy or a Girl?

Ping Pong Tables: The Cassandras of the Tech World

If you want to know how the technology sector is faring, follow its ebbs and flows on the stock market. If you want to know what lies ahead for the industry, you have to get on the inside, and take a careful look at ping-pong table sales in Silicon Valley. Zusha Elinson covers the West Coast for the Wall Street Journal where he wrote about the connection between ping pong and tech companies.

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Ping Pong Tables: The Cassandras of the Tech World

When Will We Get Hyperloop

At a 2012 live event in Silicon Valley, Elon Musk, founder of Space-X and Tesla Motors, proposed an idea for a supersonic form of ground travel called "the hyperloop". Cheaper and way faster than high-speed rail, Musk said this so-called "fifth mode of travel" could travel from LA to San Francisco in just 30 minutes. Flash forward four years, and this technology is starting to look more like a reality than science fiction - but what the heck is it? And can the promise pay off?

Rob Fleischman is principal architect at Akamai, and the guy we invite on the show when we don't understand new tech.

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When Will We Get Hyperloop?

The Great Red Car Conspiracy

When it comes to cars, commuters, and congestion, the Los Angeles freeways are legendary. Some say those traffic jams aren’t just a source of consternation, but a result of a conspiracy. This story comes to us from Roman Mars, Eric Molinsky and the podcast 99% Invisible.

You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.

5.23.16: Gender Reveal Parties, Ping Pong Tables, & Hyperloop

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