This piece has the tone of a story from This American Life. The tone is conversational and authentic. The honesty helps convey the story of life in the Israeli Army. It also gives a good impression of what it is like being a young soldier. It could be stronger with more tape about the emotions felt by Matt. But it was good to hear his reasoning for his actions at the border crossing and to hear his impressions about the reaction to the newspaper article.

The story has a good arc. A few spots where the music made the transition may have helped with some narration and/or continuity. However, unnarrated pieces are difficult to produce and this one is well done. The music does keep the piece flowing. The Kruder and Dorfmeister is appropriate for this piece.

This would work well in a station-curated magazine program or a story-telling program like This American Life.