While me may not remember classmates’ names, or the books we read, there’s something about school lunch that stays with us long after graduation. Today, Word of Mouth investigates the content of children’s brown bag lunches, and discovers they’re not always healthier than cafeteria fare. Then: a growing number of young Americans are lowering their vocal registers. We’ll look at the speech pattern known as vocal fry, and find out why women who speak with a creak have worse job prospects than their higher-register peers.
Listen to the full show and Read more for individual segments.
The Secret of Brown Bag Lunches
- Researchers recently took a peek inside brown bag lunches to find out what the average parent is packing their kids for lunch, and the truth isn’t exactly appetizing. Boston Globe features writer Beth Teitell wrote about the study and the struggle parents face when preparing school lunches at home.
Lunchtime Memories
- The conversation about what kids get in their lunches these days also brought back vivid memories for the Word of Mouth team. And then we asked a few people at the station if they remember the lunches of their youth. It turns out most people have a strong memory tied with school lunches.
Capitalist Cuisine
- Monica Kim is a contributing writer to Modern Farmer, where she posted the article “4 Delicious Foods Banned Because of Capitalism.” She spoke with us about the foods that have suffered in the name of politics.
Pizza Hut Design
- Roman Mars of the podcast 99% Invisible brings us the story of the everlasting architecture of Pizza Hut.
Does Vocal Fry Damage Job Prospects?
- What do Katy Perry, Zooey Deschanel, James Franco, and pretty much all of the Kardashian clan have in common? They all tend to speak with something called a vocal fry. Vocal fry is when you lower your pitch until your words start to take one a throaty, creaking sound and a new study shows that women who speak with a vocal fry may have worse job prospects than their higher-register peers. Olga Khazan, staff writer for The Atlantic, wrote about study.
The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance
- Many of the laws we abide by have their roots in solid legal precedence and seem pretty basic. But some laws are just plain bizarre. Did you know that in the state of Georgia, you can’t sell kids under the age of twelve to a clown? Kevin Underhill is a lawyer in San Francisco and also author of the legal humor blog “Lowering the Bar.” His new book, “The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance” is a collection of real laws, historical and modern, that sound a little crazy.
Life of the Law
- While California may top the list when it comes to odd laws, Alabama holds the crown for oddest constitution. With more than 300,000 words and over 800 amendments, Alabama’s constitution is 40 times longer than the US constitution, and holds the record for being the longest active constitution in the world. So how the heck did it get that way? This story comes to us from the podcast Life of the Law.