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Comment on piece: Joseph Shabalala: the leader of Grammy-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo, In his own words

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Review of Jospeh Shabalala: In his own words

Shabalala's story is told with the same exquisite harmony and rhythm that is at the heart of the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I would especially recommend the five-minute version, where the addition of Shabalala's personal transformation as well as the repressive political situation nudges this work into an even higher, more important level. Here's a story that lives up to all those station mission statements that promise to educate, enlighten and enrich, and manages to do all three in the most delightful way.

Comment on piece: Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill

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Review of Sweet Phil from Sugar Hill

Take that old Temptations rock song "Papa was a rolling stone, Wherever he laid his hat was his home..." (was it the 70's?) and multiply it by 14, and you have an idea what this half hour is all about. Masterfully told, and at once disturbing, honest, and even inspiring, this is a powerful story. And an important one as well, giving real meaning to the words 'family' and 'grace'.

Comment on piece: From Anarchy to the Ballot Box: Punx for Dean

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Review of From Anarchy to the Ballot Box: Punx for Dean

this is awesome, thanx for letting me be a part of it!

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Review of Remembering Jim Crow (deleted)

A thoroughly interesting documentary on the Jim Crow era in American history beginning with the origins of the term "Jim Crow." While it's not an exhaustive history of the time, it's a very good overview containing compelling stories and interviews with people who experienced segregation and who enforced it. There are interesting Ken Burns-esque interstitials between segments, in this case voices reading from official laws and statues codifying the subordination and disenfranchisement of African Americans in society. These American Radio Works documentaries reported and produced by Steve Smith and presented by Deborah Amos are first rate. This is a worthwhile hour during Black History month or any other time.

Comment on piece: Meaning of Life Show: Episode 1 - Music

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Review of Meaning of Life Show: Episode 1 - Music

Solid production and very well-meaning. As for critique: Two hosts didn't seem necessary and they repeated themselves in introing the segments, holding our hands too much; the segments were solid enough to speak for themselves. Sometimes, the packaging felt a bit teacherly, and the writing theme-papery. Mainly, I wanted to hear more MUSIC. The TALK about music was often illuminating, but I wished to hear what they were talking about. I realize that an hour format lets the stories bounce off each other, but there wasn't a cumulative progression, building forward. A modular version might be worth considering, as some of the stories were very strong. I realize this is a pilot and that the series will develop as it continues. -JA

Comment on piece: "Being Photographed"

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Review of "Being Photographed"

A while back, Jake mentioned he'd done this piece (we put up a lot of Jake's early work on Transom.org and this piece is tied to that fact), but I just now got around to listening to it. It has a nice curve -- movement through time and space, a full outing, with commentary and revelations along the way. It's just self-deprecating enough to keep you from feeling that unfair potshots are taken, but it does look coldly at what passes for journalism. It made me think of doing an hour at our station on backstage media stories. I bet there are some other good ones here at PRX. Now, to find them...

Comment on piece: A Cook's Notebook: Deep-Fried Turkey

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Review of A Cook's Notebook: Deep-Fried Turkey

Pegged to Thanksgiving, so time-sensitive and has limited shelf-life. Nice writing, and pleasant delivery, tho a bit quick. I wanted to hear her slow down some, stretch it out, and talk to me more directly...not sound like she was reading from a script. The format -- 3:40 -- and fresh personality could be a nice fit for those looking for new material to drop into local programming as an interstitial or a magazine segment.

Comment on piece: Radio Fights Jim Crow

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Review of Radio Fights Jim Crow

This documentary is impeccable: evocative story, detailed research, exemplary writing, and seamless production. It would make an excellent special on most any station that provides news programming and, thanks to the provided promo, stations can use this type of programming to enhance their image with all their listeners.

The program follows the evolution of several pioneering radio programs in the 1930s and 40s. These programs (developed, oddly enough, by the federal government) were meant to address concerns about racial prejudice and tension in America during the rise of European fascism and WWII. These programs presented African Americans as patriotic, hard-working citizens that contributed to America's successes and, therefore, deserved a rightful share of its benefits. Despite reinforcing some unfortunate stereotypes, the programs were truly groundbreaking in their views towards black equality. Many featured--or were produced with the help of--black artists, educators, writers, and activists.

The story itself is so simple yet so laden with context and historical relevance that it can be enjoyed on multiple levels. Listening to this program has a similar effect as eating a fine meal: something that offers far more than simple satisfaction, offering enjoyment long after the experience ends.

The program's faultless production allows the storytelling to smoothly segue between narration, interviews, archival recordings, and even a reenactment of an old program. Even by the high standards usually offered by American Radio Works pieces, this is an exemplary effort.

Another great element of this program's writing and production is that it is segmented well, so listeners who join in part way through are able to get up to speed quickly and get a lot out of their encounter with the program, whether they hear five minutes or the entire program.

A fascinating story, well told.

Comment on piece: Last Day in Florence: A Walk

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Review of Last Day in Florence: A Walk

This would be a nice addition to Valentine's day programming as it's a love letter to Florence.

Listening to this leaves you with a sense of going somewhere, being somewhere and having to leave, which is quite an accomplishment for such a short piece.

This would be perfect for The Savvy Traveler or any show about travel and/or the bittersweet sensation of saying farewell.

Comment on piece: War and Conflict in the Post-Cold War, Post-9/11 Era

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Review of War and Conflict in the Post-Cold War, Post-9/11 Era

What is sadly missing from much of what passes for war reportage and commentary is context. Anchormen have big floor maps where Uzbekistan lights up with the tap of a pointer, but what this kind of weather report journalism does not afford us is deeper perspective into the ideas and motives behind war. “War and Conflict” attempts to go past the play-by-play score-keeping to supply some analysis, and it tries to do so in a democratic manner. By speaking with many thinkers and journalists who espouse many different philosophies, “War and Conflict” asks whether the “War on Terror” is, among other things, an idealistic war of liberation, a war for oil, a war of civilizations, a show of power in the Middle East, a blue print for further wars, or a war of revenge. We are supplied with diverse insights that penetrate beyond the clichés and inflated language of a lot of war-speak, and Christopher Lydon does a good job of giving everyone their say while keeping things moving along.

Rather than neatly packaging everything up into a simple and clear picture, the show leaves us feeling like we do not know very much at all. One even feels that the people talking are wrestling with the subject; they are wrestling with their own role in it. It is not a manner of speech that we have come to identify as “expert-talk,” but it is a more compelling way to discuss the war, and it does not shy away from the obvious emotional level of the subject. I think “War and Conflict” would be an excellent, even necessary, part of any station’s war coverage.

Comment on piece: I, Flagpole

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Review of I, Flagpole

Clever mixing of voices from the last millennium that feels timely right this minute. This has an Alice in Wonderland feel...whoa, what’s all this? The words and phrases batting around felt oddly comforting to me. Being reminded of the flag’s connection to our beautiful right to opine in a time of “homeland security,” is a good thing. Not standard fare, this tickled my brain and left the phrase "free speech" sounding loud and proud in my ears. sl

Comment on piece: Squirrel Duels. . . Offramp

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Review of Squirrel Duels

Improvisations on chivalry and honor in the rodent world is the producer's description and silly is the result. In a good way. The piece is out there, it made me giggle. Henceforth I shall see squirrels, imagine them stentorian-voiced, and be glad for the perceptual change. And if I heard this in the middle of ATC or ME, I'd be pleased. sl

Comment on piece: Earned Income Kitty Credit

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Review of Earned Income Kitty Credit

Cat people can speak endlessly about their felines. I know, I am a cat person. This commentary is mostly for such folk, but there's lots of us out there. Amusing, though not a laugh riot. Nice, quick, tax-time commentary. sl

Comment on piece: Alzheimer's: Losing a Mind

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Review of Alzheimer's: Losing a Mind

Part one is a mix of authoritative interviews, the most gripping of course is a close encounter with Alzheimer's ( a Mother and daughter), but really there was only the one subject. There were some odd production choices, embedding a relevent piece with no segues where breaks for news and id's would be. The second part on diagnosing early Alzheimer's feels a little alarmist and unscientific - using one example of early diagnosis which could quite feasibly turn out to be wrong ! As we are told, even full-blown Alzheimer's cannot ever be 100% diagnosed without autopsy. So the focus was a puzzling choice. A fair portion of the content was an interview with David Shenk author of The Forgetting - his research is extensive and he is considered now an authority. But I sometimes felt some of his pronouncements a little irresponsible.
We are all living longer, there are many more cases of varying types of senility, early and otherwise. People are so very much more vulnerable to and desperate for any kind of information about Alzheimer's, and I left this piece feeling it somewhat alarmist.
In spite of this, there were many engaging moments. A particularly moving theme was about the caretakers, the syndromes of their stress and the wear of heartbreak.
vm

Comment on piece: Queer Youth Valentine

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Review of Queer Youth Valentine

It is so important that we hear the voices of youth who don't fit the hetero mold. It is impressive to hear these kids being confident about who they are (not victimized outcasts) and having the same mix of sincerity and sarcasm common to all teens. This program would be most useful in pointing out the sameness of all kids rather than the differentness of gay kids. For many audiences, that might be the more important message.

Comment on piece: Dangling Woman

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Review of Dangling Woman

Nice story-telling, rather poetic, made all the richer by avoiding a chronological structure, the parallel between the jungle experience and the rest of life insightful, yet not pedantic or overplayed. I can just see her, dangling there...

Comment on piece: X-Town

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Review of X-Town

i lived in western massachusetts for a number of years and read, saw and listened to a number of pieces about the "lost towns of the quabbin." this was one of the best. it has a great mix of voices, and i did like sean's reflection on the price that folks out there had to pay so he can drink his tap water today so many miles away. one thing i did find lacking was a journey to the place - would have loved to hear a tour of one of the "dirt holes" with a former resident or a walk down one of the old roads. but perhaps that's to come in one of the longer pieces now in the works. looking forward to them.

Comment on piece: Fort Hood Check In

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Review of Fort Hood Check In

Good sound snapshots of the atmosphere around Fort Hood these days. A series of brief interviews that serve as pointed reminders of the home-front effects of war for those who don’t have friends or family overseas. sl

Comment on piece: Of A Piece

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Review of Of A Piece

Clever but not contrived, sweet but not sappy.

A nicely crafted story that is all about everything its producers say it is: family, commitment, obsession, and even a glimpse of what makes these two genuinely likeable people tick. And for me, that glimpse is how it passes the "so what?" test. The metaphor of putting together puzzles and putting together lives is an apt one, and the producer was ever so wise in keeping it subtle. And the touches of music were masterful.

This piece is a good argument in favor of stations setting aside some regular program schedule time for documentaries and features meant for close listening by folks gathered around a radio.