Virginia Prescott

A 2007 study by Harvard University found that the rank and file of “Generation Y” is consistently less engaged and less knowledgeable about current events than their elders. Former New York Times editor and entrepreneur, Holly Ojalvo, is looking to staunch the growing tide of current events ignorance.  She’s the founder and editor-in-chief of GoKicker.com, a website that’s adapting the news cycle for the 35-and-younger set.

Some employers are willing to try anything to incentivize employees to work harder and increase productivity. But what exactly are employees looking for in a job these days, aside from the pay?  Business NH Magazine's annual competition identifies the top ten best New Hampshire companies to work for and what makes them so great. Matthew Mowry is editor for Business NH Magazine and he joins us to talk about who came out on top.

Dating sites like E-Harmony and Match.com use complex math to bring people together. Now, a project funded by the Michael J. Fox foundation is leveraging similar matchmaking algorithms to link people with Parkinson’s disease to appropriate clinical trials. 

Journalist Neal Ungerleider wrote about the Fox Trial Finder tool for Fast Company. 

2012 has been a fantastic year for funny ladies on television. Comedians Chelsea Handler, Whitney Cummings, Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler and Joan Rivers all star in their own shows. A number of lesser known laugh-out-loud women are reaching new audiences with self-produced podcasts, and networks are paying attention. 

Jean Railla, a writer and cultural observer based in New York City tells us more.

We spoke with Linda Rodriguez McRobbie about the history of boredom. Not surprisingly, scientists avoided studying the subject until the last century.  Studies suggest that boredom can lead to depression and other adverse health conditions, even death.  

To keep the doctors away, we've curated a motley assortment of "boring" film and television clips.

A number of recent psychological studies on gifting have been published, debunking some popular gift-giving myths. Sumathi Reddy, health columnist for the Wall Street Journal, compiled a few, spoke with us about how to avoid common pitfalls this holiday season.

Word of Mouth's weekly program. This week's show features an art blog that uses Google Earth images to show the battlefields of drones, a radio show produced in an an insane asylum, Ty Burr's "Gods Like Us," and history's badass-iest nuns. Plus, webcast funerals!

Part 1:

As more and more students head to American colleges and universities to advance their education and economic prospects, there is dwindling faith in the quality of a four-year degree, especially given the high price tag. Meanwhile, a whole new model of learning is quickly gaining ground. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer education to anybody with a reliable internet connection, often for free.  MOOCs are attracting massive amounts of students, investment capital, and accolades.

It’s not terribly surprising that for the second year running, the national retail federation claims the hottest holiday present is a gift card. But are we losing something when we focus on the material aspects of gift-giving? With us to rundown some alternative ideas for experiential gifts you can’t fit under the tree is Rick Broussard, editor of New Hampshire Magazine.

The 1995 film “Hackers”, a young Angelina Jolie and baby-faced Johnny Lee Miller star as digital rebels dressed in a punk aesthetic with the power to takeover anything that dares to exist on the internet.  Nearly two decades later, it’s clear that that hackers can’t be identified by dress, ethnicity, or any other one specific trait, but evidence of their presence and power in our increasingly digital world is everywhere. 

We recently talked with psychologist  Amelia Rachel Hokule’a Borofsky about Radio La Colifata, the world’s first and largest radio station broadcast from a psychiatric facility. She made several visits to El Borda National Psychiatric Hospital in Buenos Aires to see, and hear Radio La Colifata for herself. 

It got us thinking about other unique places with radio broadcast frequencies. Here's our top five.

 Jonathan Harris is working to make the internet, or at least his corner of it, a more human experience by giving regular people the tools to become storytellers. As creator of Cowbird, he has built an online haven for vulnerable human thoughts, ideas, emotions, and stories.

This week the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRDP) was narrowly rejected on the Senate floor.  The treaty, negotiated during the Bush administration, has already been ratified by126 other nations—including China, Russia, and Iran. 

Richard Tango-Lowy is a physicist turned chocolatier who melds a zen-like appreciation for the process with exacting standards for experimentation. Virginia Prescott visited Dancing Lion Chocolate in Manchester, New Hampshire to learn the art of making (and tasting) chocolate.

David Brooks, writer for the Nashua Telegraph, walks us through current and future threats that global warming poses to the ski industry.