A straightforward story about a tribe of reindeer herders in northern Mongolia and the worry that they may not be ablwe to continue in a post-Communist world. Good information, clear and concise. Far more than a typical"who knew?" kind of piece -- touching but not sentimental. A good drop-in during the weekend.

Slow food is a subject dear to my heart, so when I saw this pop up, I was more than willing to bank the hour to hear what's being said. And sad to say, what I missed in this program was enthusiasm: enthusiasm for taste and tasting, anticipation of flavors, the joy of preparation. So much on the niceties of regional food stuffs -- the peculiarities and challenges of local produce -- so little on the joy of eating and consuming. The Supersize Me segment reveals nothing about slow food. Missing here are the quality-of-life issues at the heart of slow food. And where are the sounds of food??!! Cooking, slurping, crunching -- this program should have been popping out of my speakers. Sounded, in the end, more wholistic than thou.

An intriguing series of questions about gambling offered here: an essay on the regressive nature of the lottery, for example, or an interview with an addiction specialist, stuff about risk-taking -- all in all, mixed media in a pubrad talk/thinkfest format. Invisible Ink offers itself as a radio zine -- to my ears: a radio equivalent of a blog with the host as filter.

There's good stuff here, but listeners will have to find the host a compelling figure to listen through the full program. Personally, I wanted less host, especially when I learned he had been reading someone else's words for some five minutes without letting me know. Part of hosting is knowing boundaries -- I haven't gotten a sense yet of that happening here.

From Francis Ford Coppola clearly reading from a script to the wonders of answering machines -- English real estate agents in the San Fernando Valley!! -- to Jay Allison's classic wrap-up for a thing that simply will not lay down and sleep, this is wonderful stuff. L&F Sound was brilliant in its conception; it proved to be genial at its birth. No doubt Harvard has already set aside scholarship monies to see it through college.

Whether offered as an entire hour or as a series of short bits, L&F Sound was a fabulous enterprise. PDs: celebrate this stuff with your listeners.

This is a wonderfully good-natured piece about a woman and her car. Listening to it, I realize how few happy pieces hit the air -- pieces that aren't carrying the boulder of a message on their small miserable backs. Would be a lovely little drop-in during the news shows -- ME, ATC, WESAT or WESUN, though a pic of the Fiat 500 would be nice for a web site.

What an intriguing mix: the combination of a truly visual artist and the some of the most listening-est tape assembled for radio. What's more, this extraordinary series, aired on Fridays on ATC during 2000, has been amplified and expanded upon with the likes of FF Coppola's family tapes.

An obvious drop-in for any PD needing to fill an hour -- in fact, stations should add an hour to the broadcast day to make room for work like this.

Would it be possible to make the individual stories available for drop ins with Mr. Coppola narrating? Let's bring back some surprise to the air! These are beautiful stories listeners should stumble against at unexpected times -- like break in with Glen Campbell during a time block typically devoted to classical. A shock, but a really good one...

Terrific, concise, to the point. Cultural analysis little short of brilliant, light years beyond what passes for much of the political reporting from American sources.

In the weeks leading up to the election, these would be wonderful drop-ins at any point in the day, above and beyond typical news blocks.

Good character, good ambience. The story is okay as it stands, but while I appreciate all the different things that seem to deserve explanation in the world of the pipe organ, the piece could be trimmed down to 5 mins or less without much damage.

I think Mueller invented the short-list radio; I know she's perfecting it. An intriguingly different -- and successful -- music bed, the things she observes so well. I know we tend to target ME, ATC, etc. modules, but hear me, PDs: Just drop this in a couple of moments in your regular broadcast days as a little gift and surprise for your listeners.

What's not to love? High-altitude polkas complete with yodels. Absolutely wonderful. Can run as is, but would suggest a little less talk -- for instance: when the guy says "We have ways of making you play German music," we don't need to hear anything more.

There is great stuff in this story -- Morris is a wonderfully articulate man and he does not fail to be so here.

Yet between the technical issues -- over 20 minutes on a phoner -- and the lack of set-up in the piece itself, it takes three or four minutes to grasp what's happening, this is work to listen to. Tape should be pure, of course, but a little EQ would take the edge off Morris's tracks.