Taylor Quimby

Forget Dogs...How About Therapy Llamas?

Taylor Quimby — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:46:48 +0000

There are many ways to ease the pangs of loneliness, illness, and old age –among them, spending time with a friendly animal companion. More than ten thousand animals are currently registered as care workers in the United States - only fourteen of them however, are llamas. I recently spoke with llama trainer Niki Kuklenski of J.N.K. Llamas about how this unusual animal is playing a role in human therapy.

Check out a video from Colors Magazine that shows Niki's llamas in action.

Pipe Trouble: A Controversial Video Game

Taylor Quimby — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:52:34 +0000

A major spill of heavy crude oil in Arkansas couldn’t come at a worse time for the Canadian tar sands industry - though President Obama has hinted he’s preparing to green-light the much-debated Keystone XL pipeline, any push in the wrong direction could finish the project before it even begins. Meanwhile a new report from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce says that, without new pipelines to help ease production bottlenecks, Canada will be missing out on an estimated 15 billion dollars annually.

We're On A Break

Rebecca Lavoie, Virginia Prescott, Taylor Quimby and Zach Nugent — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:19:52 +0000

Word of Mouth is on break this week, but fret not, there's still plenty of compelling stories to enjoy. We've lined up some of our favorite shows to entertain you in our absence.

Monday, March 25th: A rebroadcast of Word of Mouth from January 5th, 2013.

A Rose By Any Other Name: Changing Your Name When You Marry

Taylor Quimby — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:30:10 +0000

Suffragette Lucy Stone is remembered as the first modern woman who decided to keep her maiden name after marriage – that was back in the 1850s. The trend took more than a century to peak in the 1990s, when nearly a quarter of women bucked the tradition of taking on their husband’s name. Since then, that number has been in steady decline. According to the wedding website theknot.com, today a mere eight percent of women stick with their given name. Of course, that doesn’t mean the decision has gotten any easier to make. Word of Mouth’s Taylor Quimby reports on the reasoning, and occasional regret, behind the decision to keep or leave behind a name.

Word of Mouth's "End of the World" Playlist

Virginia Prescott, Rebecca Lavoie and Taylor Quimby — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:06:18 +0000

Like any major life event, the annihilation of life as we know it deserves a soundtrack. It’s easy to decide what to listen to when the four horsemen of the apocalypse are coming around the bend…So, for everybody hosting an “end of the world party” in the next 48 hours, we compiled a few suggestions to help you kick out the jams one final time.

"The Hobbit": A Scholar's Perspective

Taylor Quimby — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:24:37 +0000

Corey Olsen, English Professor at Washington College and author of the book “Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit”, discusses the lasting appeal and tonal evolution of the classic children’s novel.

The End of the Alpine Lodge?

Taylor Quimby — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:17:19 +0000

In winter sports communities out west, ski lodges are shedding their antlers for a more contemporary decor. But does the cocoa taste as sweet? And will New England ever give up its slopeside a-frame aesthetic?

Tweeting Responsibly

Virginia Prescott and Taylor Quimby — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 15:02:39 +0000

Super-storm Sandy once again has journalists talking about social media’s evolving role in breaking news coverage. Using laptops and smartphones, many Americans on the eastern seaboard contributed to national coverage of the storm via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Apple vs Samsung, An Ad-war Brewing?

Taylor Quimby and Virginia Prescott — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:38:11 +0000

In 2010, Ad Week declared the “Get a Mac” campaign to be the the best campaign of the first decade of the 20^th century. The beloved series of ads pitted John Hodgman as a stodgy stand-in for PC’s trading barbs with Justin Long and a cast of hip-looking, unflappable surrogates for Macs. Samsung took a page from that ad, rolling out a new commercial; its Galaxy s-3 that takes a stab at Apple true believers, waiting in a long line for the new iPhone 5.

What do you think?

The Discovery of Singing Mice

Taylor Quimby — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:01:10 +0000

Recent studies out of Duke University have discovered that everyone’s favorite lab rat, the humble mouse, has a penchant for singing – and more importantly, singing in tune...in a way. Producer Taylor Quimby is Word of Mouth’s always willing investigator of strange science, and he has the story.

Check out Cinderella's singing mice. They are true heroes:

But is Poe still scary?

Taylor Quimby — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:38:16 +0000

We asked a variety of people, including Laura Knoy, Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, and some adorable kids whether they think Edgar Allan Poe's work still stands up as "scary." Here's the full version of what they had to say about that...

Beer Politics

Taylor Quimby — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:51:06 +0000

Here at home, both campaigns are working hard to brand their candidate as more relatable, more quintessentially American. It’s a mission that involves lots of visits to diners, burger joints, and county fairs. But when it comes to looking folksy, the President has one advantage that GOP nominee Mitt Romney just can’t swallow. Producer Taylor Quimby reports.

Check out the White House Beer brewing process and the recipe for the beer here:

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jackie Cilley Concedes

Taylor Quimby — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 02:09:36 +0000

Cilley thanked supporters and spoke candidly throughout her speech. "We moved the needle on pledge politics." Not enough to win, but Cilley vowed to continue her fight against the pledge.

Fine Dining...at Hardees

Taylor Quimby — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:37:18 +0000

Since spring of this year, our Shifting the Balance series has explored how environmental and social factors affect the way people eat…and how those factors play in to America’s obesity epidemic. A recently published study in Pyschology reports demonstrates how setting the right mood at meal time can help diners cap their calories.

The Business of Nostalgia: Contoocook Photographer Builds a DIY Photobooth

Taylor Quimby — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:58:35 +0000

No matter what the economy throws our way, the wedding industry churns on, now topping seventy billion dollars a year. Here's the story of one photographer vying for a slice of that cake by building his own version of the latest wedding trend…a “new-timey” photobooth.