My first thought of this is a kind of shaggy-dog story, but this is straight from Mr. Poe. Well-written and compelling. Anderson has a good crisp voice for this kind of thing. And for 11:38, there is nothing but that voice: no efx, no music.

The issue in our timeblock world is the length. Anderson, in some dark-humor corner of his mind, suggests this as a possible fundraiser. He might be right. Knowing the waywardness of the pledge clock, the piece could, without too much damage, be broken into three or four segments.

But do pledge arteests have the courage to say "help me" in a hingey sort of way? It would be great if they tried.

A wonderful occasion for a story -- German POWs return to visit the Maine town where they were imprisoned. Okay as is, but a little scattershot, trying to cover too much ground in one story. There are probably three or four stories actually lurking in this piece.

It's hard to stop someone when he/she has hit the mother lode. There isn't a moment in this story I would go, "Hey, what's happening? -- and yet there are dozens of moments in this recording when I, as listener, could (should?) have said, no.

An incredible rant, dead on. Thank god there are other avenues in really odd places!

I love much of this story. Jewel's voice is great. I think there are other voices to discover in English (sp?) -- I wonder what your mother would say? Where are all the wagging tongues? There is more to this story. Did the Viagra have a doctor's prescription? What does he have to say for himself?

There is much love in this story and for that alone it deserves our attention. A few tucks and trims, and there is not a program I would not recommend this story to.

This is a really fascinating effort: three authorities, no narrator, all talking about a singular painter about whom we know almost nothing. Engaging, smart, enthusiastic commentators. The best bits are the intense descriptions of various paintings -- for example, the description of the pearl in "The Girl with the Pearl Earring." The program covers the gamut of Vermeer's art as well as the mystique surrounding Vermeer. Instead of playing that third repeat of the first hour of WESUN, this, bundled with a set of shorter PRX pieces to fill out the other half hour would be surprisingly engaging radio.

All of the Radio Netherlands pieces coming out of Zimbabwe courtesy of producer Eric Beauchemin are solid, down-to-earth reporting. There is so much godawfulness going on in Zimbabwe right now, but thanks to the governmental expulsion of all foreign reporters, Beauchemin's pieces are doubly startling. PDs could do far worse than drop a repeated hour and drop in a pair of these compelling stories.

All of the Radio Netherlands pieces coming out of Zimbabwe courtesy of producer Eric Beauchemin are solid, down-to-earth reporting. There is so much godawfulness going on in Zimbabwe right now, but thanks to the governmental expulsion of all foreign reporters, Beauchemin's pieces are doubly startling. PDs could do far worse than drop a repeated hour and drop in a pair of these compelling stories.

Yo-Yo Ma is possibly the most congenial human being on the planet and it shows on this episode of In Their Own Words. I would urge classical stations in particular to find the three and a half minutes in their otherwise relentless walls of music to drop this in.

A perfectly good piece of reporting for stations in NYC. To make it of interest to PDs beyond the tristate area, it might be matched with other stories about traffic, highway, and transportation mayhem.

A really interesting subject, a good story. Could be shorter. One troubling element is the shifting back and forth of voice from first person to more traditional reporter. Maybe there are really two stories here: What does it feel like, as a vegetarian, to shoot a gun? And then there are lying lies telling us guns make life safer and the streets more crime-free.

There is nothing not to like here. The interviews are fun and insightful, great characters everywhere. Intriguing settings -- I'm particularly fond of the slightly out-of-tune piano and the behind-the-scenes at the Met stuff. My only complaint is that the program itself is Wagnerian as defined at the end: knowing the task is impossible, the Valiant Producers still pursued this particular grail (oops! wrong opera!). In sum, Bravo!

A good subject, thoughtfully presented. Several problems as the piece now stands: curious shifts in the script -- dense, multi-claused paragraphs in some places; nice, succinct phrasing in others. Outside elements -- the music and the interview -- are very slow in coming. Needs editing, down to perhaps 7 mins tops. Would be willing to listen again.

A piece that needs an environment where it would be balanced with its political dark side -- Ann Coulter in a leather mini-skirt immediately leaps to mind.

Readers of Andrea Barrett's novel The Forms of Water will know the story of rural Massachusetts towns in the '30s sacrificed for vast reservoirs to keep greater Boston swimming. Ancient loss remembered is often the loss most keenly described and there are wonderful interviews here. But seeing as how this is clearly a piece in progress with different versions in the offing, I will apologize if I see this as an opportunity to nip certain production problems in the bud. First and foremost, the music selections convey neither place nor time. The music here has nothing to do with the 1930s; it has nothing to do with Massachusetts. This is a story from the era of the WPA, not This American Life.

Which leads me to another point: the voices documented are great already. They are all perfectly capable of saying what they feel and, more important, feeling what they say. There's no need to paraphrase when they can speak for themselves.

Finally, the story is too sparing with water itself. Zap Mama once used filling glasses of water as a rhythm track for an entire song. Toilet flushes, gurgling pipes, spitting radiators: water is noisy. I would lose the narration by the bathroom sink near the top. Get the running water, sure, but keep the narrator in the studio.

This is a good story as is, but why shouldn't it be great?

A lot of fun. Not sure where this goes -- that's why there are PDs -- but given the fact that there are 24 hours in a day and there are 7 days in a week, there should be a space on numerous stations for something like this.

A clear, discernable voice. A refreshing and surprising piece that will provoke listener calls. Some may not be so willing to wallow quite in the dark side.