Amazon.com is one-stop shopping for Kindle downloads, on demand movies, and illegal prescription drugs? Today on Word of Mouth: steroids, painkillers, and antibiotics delivered right to your door. Then, if you’re bored by life in your cubicle, why not watch someone else’s…in Russia? A look at Opentopia, a curiously popular website that provides access to webcams across the world. Plus, we get the history behind a beloved New England trademark: the summer home.
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
The Amazon Drug Trade
Atlanta-based physician and journalist Ford Vox found a report citing one big American retailer that is profiting from the sale of prescription and illicit drugs, Amazon. He wrote the article “Amazon’s Illegal Drug Dealing” for Slate.
Worldwide Webcam
Hannah Mcbride wrote about Opentopia for Narratively.com, and explains why people are watching other people…not doing much of anything at all.
Understanding Creepypasta
Online phenomena, like the live-cam communities or specialized forums, have a way of sounding strange and alien to those of us who don’t use them. That cultural chasm deepens when online trends suddenly leap into the real world – like this past weekend, when two pre-teen girls nearly stabbed one of their peers to death, a terrible crime that was allegedly inspired by an internet urban legend which is part of the online genre ‘creepypasta’. In January, we spoke to writer Will Wiles, who investigated creepypasta for Aeon magazine.
For the full interview, click here.
The History Of New England's Summer Houses
W. Tad Pfeffer is a geophysicist, teacher, and photographer at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of The Hand of the Small-Town Builder: Summer Houses in Northern New England, 1876–1930.
Tiny Homes
Rebecca Williams, producer and host of the Environment Report, explores the world of tiny houses, a growing movement focused on scaling back.
