WPRB News and Culture

WPRB News and Culture pops some popcorn and buys a ticket to an episode at the movies. First up, Sophie Leheny and Navani Rachumallu speak to the folks at the Princeton Garden Theatre to understand their idea of the nonprofit-cinema renaissance. Then, Tommy Goulding breaks down the hubbub around the new Napoleon trailer, and why it has historians in such a tizzy. And finally, in a story from our a...

News and Culture tries to sound fashionable. Natalia Maidique and Navani Rachumallu explore the sounds, style, and usability of shoes. Adam Sanders speaks to Lisa Shepherd-Stewart, the proprietor of Cultured Expressions , an African fabric shop and studio in Rahway. And Clara McWeeny and Helen Heuer give you all the thrifting tips you never knew you needed. Hosted and produced by Adam Sanders. Rep...

As hot days cool into chilly autumn evenings, WPRB News and Culture returns to tell the tales of summer. Sophie Leheny and Natalie Hahn visit Asbury Park to learn about New Jersey's classic Shore boardwalks. Mollika Jai Singh explores what it means for parents to drop off their kids at summer camp. And in a story from our archive, Adam Sanders visits a kitschy summer town to see what makes it...

News and Culture thinks long-term, with three stories about planning, organizing, and the travails in between. Sophie Leheny and Pat Grate visit a tarot card reader and learn the mechanics of learning about the future. Adam Sanders speaks to student labor organizers at Temple University about their plans for unionization. And in a story from our archives, Clara McWeeny and Izzy Jacobson find out w...

WPRB News and Culture takes a look into the artistic experiences and projects happening right here in New Jersey. Ellie Diamond learns about the Trenton Circus Squad, a nonprofit whose afterschool workshops teach kids and tweens the ropes of the circus – literally.  Sophie Leheny and Mira Ho-Chen visit the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey, and explore one of its longest and strangest...

News and Culture starts our Spring season at the very end of some stories. Clara McWeeny and Anna Salvatore visit an estate sale. Natalia Maidique and Navani Rachumallu speak to Anthony Grafton, retiring professor of history at Princeton University. Tommy Goulding and Henry Moses talk about their favorite endings in novels. Mollika Jai Singh explores the lore around the endings of The Bachelor epi...

News and Culture brings you four stories of persistence and resilience. Alan Plotz and Claire Kaneshiro learns about the intricacies of the American asylum system with Gabriel Samcam Vargas, a Princeton student and human rights advocate. Reina Coulibaly explores how fiber arts have woven the lives of Black women together for centuries. Mollika Jai Singh speaks about the importance of persistence i...

On the day after Thanksgiving, News and Culture takes a moment to meditate on gratitude, with three stories that stretch and test the bounds of our comfort with thankfulness. Mollika Jai Singh explores Princeton University's tradition of 'Annual Giving.' Izzy Jacobson looks back on the gratitude journal she keeps. And Natalia Maidique and Navani Rachumallu learn the complex relationship between 'g...

On 11/11, News and Culture thinks about moments in our day: commutes, routines, junction points, stories from years past and new stories alike. From the archives, Elizabeth Shwe interviews an EMT about a day in the life - saving lives. Henry Moses and Luke Carroll bring us a new story of people at a junction, literally, speaking to folks in the midst of their commutes during rush hour at the Princ...

In our first-ever Halloween special, News and Culture tells spooky stories sure to give you a fright. Navani Rachamallu and Natalia Maidique tell a classic Gothic story, 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. Izzy Jacobson and Mira Ho-Chen crowdsource some ghostly tales. Charlie Nuermberger and Henry Moses speak to an expert on the mythical Jersey Devil of the Pine Barrens. Audrey Zhang digs in...

News and Culture dedicates this Very Special Episode® to those in our community who strive to make it a better place for everyone involved – in the radically freeform way we know how. Ashley Olenkiewicz and Julian Hartman-Sigall explore the mechanics of a congressional campaign in Pennsylvania's competitive 1st District, just across the Delaware River from Princeton. Clara McWeeny and Izzy Jacobso...

News and Culture continues its second Fall season by pointing the microphone not at a genesis or an ending, but rather at three stories in the middle of their journeys of transformation. Abani Ahmed and Daniel Yeo speak to the developers and planners seeking to revitalize Trenton, New Jersey's capital city. Natalia Maidique and Navani Rachamallu explore the comeback of vinyl record culture in rece...

News and Culture returns for the Fall season with four stories on beginnings – starts informed by faith, technology, crisis, and community.  Charlie Nuermberger and Henry Moses speak to art critic and writer Dean Kissick about the rise of AI-generated art, and what this new path could mean for artistry and creation in the digital age. Clara McWeeny and Izzy Jacobson explore how activism for r...

In our last Summer Dispatch, we celebrate the end of our radically-freeform summer by tying up some loose ends. Charlie Nuermberger finishes his exploration of an abandoned mansion in western Maryland, purportedly home to an infant poltergeist. Hannah Lee explores what makes a great summer read. And Tommy Goulding muses on melancholic wanderings in the streets of Nuremberg.  This episode was...

In the third summer dispatch, in the wake of a massive heat-wave, News and Culture reporters venture to the limits of possibility. Charlie Nuermberger explores the story of an infant ghost in an abandoned mansion in western Maryland. Henry Moses speaks to New Jersey writer Bud Smith, acclaimed author of the new novel "Teenager." Alan Plotz learns about the threat invasive species pose to our centr...

In our second Summer Dispatch, the day after Independence Day, we hear stories uniquely American in their separation from U.S. soil. Hannah Lee explores the experience of international students and their names in the United States. Alan Plotz learns about a project aiming to catalogue the oral histories of religious refugees. Tommy Goulding shares a day in his own life as an expatriate for a summe...

News and Culture celebrates April Fool's Day... one week late. Reporters do pranks, learn about pranks, talk about cryptocurrency, and discover the secrets of a very special fox.  Reported, recorded, and produced by Adam Sanders, Reina Coulibaly, Izzy Jacobson, Hannah Lee, Alan Plotz, Tommy Goulding, Henry Moses, and Anna Salvatore. 

News and Culture learns about mistakes, happy accidents, mishaps, and major errors. Reporters Izzy Jacobson and Clara McWeeny talk to a self-described "accident." Alan Plotz and Ashley Olenkiewicz do a deep dive into New Jersey's eviction law errors. Kat Ivkovic and Charlie Nuermberger discover the many mistake-makers around the Princeton, New Jersey area. And we all learn a little bit more about...

Rebroadcast - December 16, 2019 This is an episode from the News and Culture archives.  Oliver and Anna caught up with Professor Casey Lew-Williams, one of the directors of Princeton University's Baby Lab. Casey and his fellow researchers study development in children whose ages range from a couple months to 7 years old. We talked to Casey because his work gets right to the question we'v...

News and Culture celebrates Valentine's Day with an episode devoted to professing your love. We hear from couples just starting to date and those who've already tied the knot, at ages different than you might expect. Reporters ask some guests to tell their loved ones *just* how much they care. An archivist lets us know the inside scoop on some historical love letters. And we read your confessions...

News and Culture returns to the airwaves with a show about returns. What happens to your books when they go back to the library? How has a local grocery store managed to keep its workforce despite the "Great Resignation"? What's going on in the returns line at Target? And why have some people returned to using the typewriter?  This episode was directed and hosted by Adam Sanders. Reported, re...

Brittani Telfair wrote a poem about a day in her life. Here it is.

There's a small train, appropriately called the Dinky, that takes people from the Princeton train station to Princeton Junction. Andy Latoni talks with the woman who collects those tickets that get people from P to PJ.

Elizabeth Shwe talks to a professional emergency medical technician (EMT). This is one heck of a day in the life.

Anna Hiltner talks to a local farmer about her day in the life. Here's a word to keep in mind while listening: biodynamics.