Comments by Sarah Elzas

Comment for "Kicking Ass and Changing Names"

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Review of Kicking Ass and Changing Names

Amanda is a woman wrestler in Maine, the "queen of pain" but she is also known as Alexandra Wykoff to her husband and to her day job as a truck driver. We hear sounds from the ring--lots of screaming and throws--and we hear Alexandra in her truck. The piece is a pretty straight-forward profile. Towards the end it delves a little into the position of women wrestlers, how they often play up their sexuality. Amanda says that a few years ago she decided to not do so much of the "sex stuff". This piece could work as a profile, dropped in anywhere, or maybe in a segment looking at women in traditionally male-dominated jobs.

Comment for "Just Another Fish Story"

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Review of Just Another Fish Story

The whole town seems to talk about this big fish--the whale that washed up on shore. It was big. Each person tells a slightly different version of the story. This artfully produced piece is actually simple: layers voices mix with music. But the simple story reveals a portrait of a small town in Maine: how people deal with death, how they get together to solve a problem. In the production, the producer also effectively tells us something about good storytelling. I'd like to hear this anywhere on the radio, where there is an 8-minute slot for a good story.

Comment for "Welcome Baby Max"

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Review of Welcome Baby Max

I really like "before and after" pieces, where you hear from someone before an experience, and then find out what actually happens. Not much reflecting back after the fact. You get the real thing: waiting for labor, anxiety, etc. This piece is a pretty straight-forward documentation of the build-up to and the birth of a baby by emergency c-section, from mom's point of view. It's a diary format, with sounds from the hospital. For those of us who have never given birth or been present at a birth, it's a really interesting portrait of the process. And 'wacky mom' at the end, coming out of the c-section is just priceless. This piece could be dropped into a magazine type show, as a slice of life, anytime.

Comment for "Buffalo Turkey Butt"

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Review of Buffalo Turkey Butt

This piece starts out with a "wild turkey butt chase" and ends with a lesson on not judging people, told adeptly by Mr. Raskin and Hollister, a San Francisco panhandler who may have played congas with Bob Marley. As a vegetarian, all the talk of animal parts made me slightly woozy, but that's the nature of the Thanksgiving holiday. I whole-heartedly agree with the previous review that this should be on the air this Thanksgiving.

Comment for "The Bell of Roussillon"

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Review of The Bell of Roussillon

A great little 'investigation' into why clock towers in France strike the hour twice within the space of three minutes. This in contrast with the British and American use of four bells to do the same thing. Lots of bell ringing (of course) in this piece. It would be nice to run at the top of the hour sometime.

Comment for "Chile's September 11th: Chilean Musicians Reflect on the 30th Anniverary of Allende's Coup"

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Review of Chile's September 11th: Chilean Musicians Reflect on the 30t

I thought I would learn about Chile's September 11 with this piece. The introduction is strong and sound-rich, with someone talking about being in "concentration camps" and how September 11 is still not resolved today. However, as the piece goes on, Chile's September 11 is not really explained. Instead, this piece is an interesting introduction to Groupo Raiz, a musical group from Chile who started playing music in jail in the 1970s, as a result of Chile's September 11.
The compelling story here is that the group members started playing to entertain other prisoners. Group members talk about how playing music kept their imaginations alive, and kept political beliefs strong. The role of the US in promoting the coup in Chile on September 11 is mentioned in the last 45 seconds of the piece, and I wanted to hear more about that.
This piece seems to be trying to do two things: explain Chile's September 11 and give us a portrait of Groupo Raiz. It succeeds better with the latter than the former.
I would like to hear this on the radio, more as a profile of the group than as an explanation of the political coup in Chile.

Comment for "Early Morning Delivery"

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Review of Early Morning Delivery

Marty Smith tells us about delivering for McDonalds--his company delivers everything, from toilet paper to the fries. He talks clearly (not bleary-eyed at all, I found), with sounds of the his truck loading and unloading behind him. This is a straight-forward, non-narrated profile of a man who tells us about his job.

Comment for "Take the 'A' Train"

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Review of Take the 'A' Train

This piece has some great ambient sound, but not enough of the actual subway sounds! Where is the ring of the doors opening? Where is the conductor saying 'stand clear of the doors'?
This trip on the A train is very recognizable to me, a New Yorker who lives on the A line, but I wonder if someone who has never taken the train, or the NYC subway, would recognize the characters that we encounter. And as such, I would have liked to hear more from them--more from the conductor who was interviewed, more from the woman preaching, more from the boys doing flips on the train.
In general I enjoyed listening to this piece, and I could see it fit as an audio poscard from New york somewhere on a national show.

Comment for "Connecticut"

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Review of Connecticut

I am not sure where this would fit on the radio, though I found it entertaining, mostly because of the song. Connecticut's state song is Yankee Doodle. Aparently there are over 200 verses have been written for the tune! I would like to hear more about the origins of those 200 lyrics, and maybe less of the list of facts about the state in the beginning of the piece.
It could stand on its own only with an introduction of what the series, the State Song Songbook is all about. Perhaps this could be played on an anniversary of the song (it became the State song in 1978), or to introduce a guest from Connecticut on a talk show.

Comment for "Kathleen McDonough: A Directors Take on Making An Historical Documentary"

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Review of McDonough on Historical Documentaries

As a documentarian working on a history documentary, I found this piece to be interesting, though I found that it wasn't long enough to delve into the subject enough. McDonough makes one point and uses an audio clip from her documentary. She makes a second point and describes a shot (she's basing this on a film documentary). Then the piece ends. Also, she sounds very scripted, which put me off at first, though I stopped being bothered by it when she got into her examples. I can imagine this on the radio played before or after a history documentary, or as part of a "behind the scenes" type of show. But ultimately, it doesn't spend enough time to get into real depth.

Comment for "God is Talking to Me"

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Review of God is Talking to Me

This piece is exhausting to listen to, but in a good way. I didn't catch every word, but that is part of the point, and the important (and very funny) parts were clear and made for a very amusing, well-written and well-presented piece of storytelling. If I had to describe what this is 'about', I am not sure I would be able to do so. I'd just say, listen to it and find out yourself. I would love to hear this on the radio, anytime.

Comment for "Melissa's Diary, Part 1: Teen Mom"

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Review of Melissa in New Haven: Teen Mom

Melissa's story is unique, but it also brings out universal aspects of teenaged motherood: I listened to this piece with a teenaged mom and the instructor at her school, a high school for teenaged moms, and they both recognized a lot in this piece.
The story is well told and sound-rich with parts of Melissa's life, including even the birth of her child. Melissa is realistic about her situation, but it is clear that she is determined to be a great mother. This is a great piece to stand on its own, or in a series on youth or motherhood.

Comment for "Katie Becomes a Mom"

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Review of Katie Becomes a Mom

This story itself is very powerful and very moving. But Katie tells it in one fell swoop. I was waiting for a break, even just a pause in her story so the sad, poignant parts would stand out and I could process them. The story is told very clearly, one thing happened after the other. I just wanted some pauses so it could sink in.