Piece Comment

Review of Democracy, American-Style: "Athens to Now: Why Democracy Matters"


I listened to a few of the installments in this series and think the idea has a lot of potential: setting up a cider stand and interviewing the people who visit about democracy. It's a creative spin on the old "Interviews 50 cents" concept.
These pieces would make for an interesting drop-in during most types of news/info/call-in/discussion programs to stimulate conversation, reaction, or to provide a perspective that’s honest and markedly different from punditry.
The only problem is the open and close of these pieces, which all identify the two producers (twice—and often more often than the interview subject is introduced). There is a lot of information in those opens and closes, most of it completely unnecessary. They cause verbal overload—in the first few seconds!
This piece in particular also illustrates another occasional concern with this series—often the sound clip lacks sufficient punch or drags on too long. Several (this one especially) go on too long, really diluting the impact of what he says. If this piece was half as long, it would have twice the power.
Also, I think these segments would sound great if several were mixed together. As soon as you hear one, you want to hear the reaction of others.It isn't fair to an interested listener to expect them to catch them elsewhere. If you have their interest--deliver! Don't make them wait.