Word of Mouth

Sting and Trudie have the rainforest, George Clooney has Sudanese refugees, and Alan Alda has… well, science contests for kids.

Mike Doughty’s 2005 album Haughty Melodic was a breakthrough for the singer-songwriter…before going solo, Doughty had founded and fronted the 90’s band Soul Coughing…which he disbanded in 2000, much to the chagrin of die-hard fans. But  there was a reason beyond the typical story of egos and bad record deals for that band’s demise…one that Doughty hints at in haughty melodic’s biggest hit, "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well.”

Part 1: Drones in the U.S. and Snapstagram

Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you? Well, you may want to get used to it. While the US government has been putting un-manned drones to heavy use in war zones in recent years, the flying robots will soon be soaring American skies.

Now that The Hunger Games has killed off the competition for spring box office, Hollywood is gearing up for summer. We’ll get the Batman finale, a Spiderman re-boot, new animated heroes from Pixar and Disney, and comedies from Will Ferrell, and Adam Sandler.  Garen Daly is film consultant for Zeotrope Media is here to preview of some films that won’t break box office records.

Student loan debt as a campaign issue: this week, President Obama visited college students in Colorado, North Carolina and Iowa and made urgent appeals to keep interest rates low for current and future college students.  The house will vote Friday (4/27/12) on legislation that could keep the interest rate on government-subsidized undergraduate student loans from doubling in July.

Here at Word of Mouth, we frequently crack wise about bizarre stories by imitating that ubiquitous announcer voice from movie and video game trailers…the one who always beginning with “In a world where…"

New tactics for the 99%... Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators descended on San Francisco yesterday in an attempt to crash banking giant Wells Fargo's annual shareholders meeting. Dozens of shareholder- protestors were ejected from the meeting for shouting about lofty executive pay, demanding the company pays a fair share of corporate taxes, and calling for a moratorium on home foreclosures.

Produced by Jonathan Lynch

If there are any certainties in marketing, it’s that men like beer and barbecued meat and women enjoy fruit-filled cups of pro-biotic-laden yogurt.

These days, there’s a reality TV show for every hobby, lifestyle, income bracket, family situation, and even religious persuasion.

A pair of new studies indicates that depression could be detectable by a blood test. So far, depression has primarily been diagnosed through non-medical means and descriptions of common symptoms. Here with more on the recently discovered connection between the brain and blood is Jennifer Welsh, staff writer for Live Science who  wrote about the research.  

Every parent hopes to foster a healthy and safe environment for bright and gifted babies…  but no amount of exposure to classical music, sign language, or Baby Einstein videos can guarantee your kid will be a genius on the level of Heidi Hankins. 

Today, we celebrate National Poetry Month with a mix of audio craft and spoken word.  Poetry Out Loud was a band of poets which experimented with spoken word forms in the 1970s.

Produced by Jonathan Lynch

Produced by Jonathan Lynch

Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you? Well, you may want to get used to it. While the US government has been putting un-manned drones to heavy use in war zones in recent years, the flying robots will soon be soaring American skies.

If you find a little bit of ironic poetry in the rise of the retro photo-app Instagram, bought by Facebook for one billion dollars, you have to appreciate the story of Snapstagram:  a new kickstarter-funded startup that takes the digital transformation of photography full circle.  Jared Gibbons is co-founder of