Dying cotton is extremely water intensive. In this episode we interview Graham Stewart, Founder and EVP of Fibre52 about his long history in the textile industry and his passion to make it more sustainable.  He takes us through the complete process of dying clothes and tells us about the different types of dyes and colorants used to color fabrics. Graham started Fibre 52, a company that uses special dying technology to reduce time, energy and water usage of typical cotton dying processes in textile mills.

Ep 30: Interview with Graham Stewart, Founder and EVP of Fibre52, on textile dying

Liam from San Francisco, California, is wondering about woo-woo. How did this term come to be an adjective describing beliefs or practices considered unscientific or irrational? Woo-woo likely imitates otherworldly sounds or ghostly moans. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Caller-Liam-Woo-Woo

A listener reports that in and around his hometown of Le Mars, Iowa, the kind of loose-meat  sandwich that others might call a sloppy joe is known as a Tavern or a Tavern sandwich, a name that likely goes back to a restaurant in nearby Sioux City called Ye Olde Tavern. Other names for such sandwiches include Maid-Rite, Big T, Charlie Boy, and Tastee. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Caller-Mike-Tavern-Sandwich

In Newfoundland the word bridge, also spelled brudge, can mean “a deck” or “a porch,” while the word porch refers to an additional room, usually attached at the back of a house, and used as a storage space or  mud room. If a Newfoundlander says it’s duckish out, they’re indicating the skies are dark.. The three daily meals are breakfast, midday dinner,  and evening supper, while any snack outside these is referred to as a lunch, and a bed lunch is a snack eaten just before bed. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Intro-Newfoundland-Language

What’s the common bond that links the names Vanessa, Cedric, and Pamela? They’re all names coined by famous authors. Vanessa was invented by Jonathan Swift as a pet name for his lover Esther Van Homrigh.The 16th-century poet Sir Phillp Sidney coined the name Pamela for his pastoral romance, “Arcadia,” possibly from a combination of Greek words meaning “all honey.” And Sir Walter Scott, in his novel Ivanhoe, introduced the character of Cedric the Saxon—either a misunderstanding or an alteration of the much older Anglo-Saxon name Cerdic. http://waywordradio.org

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A woman from Newfoundland notes that in her part of the world, dunch denotes numbness caused by a limited blood circulation, as in how one’s rear end feels after sitting too long. Dumplings made with only flour and water or bread that is heavy or soggy can also be described as dunch. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Newfoundland-Dunch

Oenophiles are known for their evocative writing about wine, but that’s also true for sophisticated bourbon lovers. Some sensuous tasting notes from bourbon expert Susan Reigler from American Whiskey magazine serve as a case in point. http://waywordradio.org

1668-Whiskey-Language

Someone bitten by a werewolf becomes a werewolf, but what does a werewolf bitten by a nurse practitioner become? In Quiz Guy John Chaneski's punny puzzle, the first syllable of each answer to a question like this rhymes with the were- in werewolf. http://waywordradio.org

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One means of hazing newbies in the Army: send them to get a hundred feet of chow line. http://waywordradio.org

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Worry seems like something most people do from time to time, but for some people, severe worry can become an overwhelming sensation, and for older adults later in life, severe worry has been associated with an increased risk of stroke and coronary heart disease. Carmen Andreescu is a professor of psychiatry and bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She says mild worry is useful evolutionarily, to help us make plans or adapt behavior.

Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-025-02193-1

Older and wiser? The neural correlates of worry induction and reappraisal in older adults

We often hear that invasive species are bad for the ecosystems they invade, but the consequences can seem remote and hard to grasp. In this episode we hear from Nitin Ravikanthachari and Carol Boggs about their study system where an invasive plant has very tangible effects for a native butterfly.

The consequences of invasion

Talk Green to Me is a monthly podcast brought to you by materials scientists and engineers discussing the science behind sustainability and recycling of different materials. Dr. Nasreen Khan and Dr. Manali Banerjee interview people from the industries that create or recycle each of the material types we'll explore in this podcast! Paper, plastic, glass, textiles and much much more!

Ep 30: Interview with Graham Stewart, Founder and EVP of Fibre52, on textile dying

Talk Green to Me Podcast