Hannah Montana is a lighthearted fun gal, and I'd love to hear more with her character. She's straight-shooting and not a sellout. Producer Shabbir Hassan shows a great deal of promise in these series of radio theatre he's produced on PRX. They are fun drop-ins of short theatre that could break up a humdrum day especially during the summer. This one is a bit more successful than some of the other pieces though it's still more presentational in acting style than I'd like. But it's got good production values for the most part. Some of the sound effects are too abstract but in general the sound design is pretty darn good. I liked the antismoking and anti-selliing out theme of this radio play. I'm pretty tough on radio theatre and these short films for the radio are intriguing and not the usual hokey stuff you often hear as radio plays. I'd recommend a listen. Might take some creativity in programming but they will definitely catch listeners' ears.

There's no question that obesity is a national problem. This piece adresses this problem by taking a look at one family's efforts to help their son lose weight by making it a family project and goal. Often families don't understand that the entire family has to change its lifestyle in order for effective weight loss. Not an easy undertaking but this piece does offer positive information that families across the country would find useful. This piece would play well in any state for any station's news magazine.

Veteran Producer Jill Hoyt has created a memorable and thorough examination of the legacies of Lewis and Clark. In four different sections of this well-produced one-hour documentary, we hear about the effects the expedition had on Western expansion and the resulting conquest and exploitation of Native Americans. None of this is preachy or accusatory. In fact, there is a gentle strength to this production that brings together poignant and intriguing stories from scholars and historians. Especially poignant is the last section that asks the question, "What would Lewis and Clark have thought about the resulting actions of their famed expedition?" The answers are revealing and thought-provoking. This documentary is a welcome counterpoint to many Lewis and Clark celebration pieces and one that is highly recommended by this reviewer. Jill Hoyt is one of our best producers who has been doing national work out of Idaho for lo these many years. Her work in this documentary is exceptional.

I'm very surprised that this is being distributed by PRI. First off there's the funding credit from Clinique. It has the appearance of a conflict of interest that a skin care and cosmetic company is the sole funder of this program. The funding credit is mentioned with a promotional tag line that might sound too much like a commercial for many stations. I know that stations agonize over the wording of their own underwriting so this might be a problem for distribution. That aside the production and technical style of this one-hour is inconsistent. While there is good info and some interesting ways to think about what our skin means to us, I found the phone interview tape quite often distorted. In fact much of the program is distorted. That in of itself should be looked at. Perhaps there was a problem uploading it onto PRX. It was quite clear that the host wasn't in fact doing many of the interviews on the show and his questions were added in a later studio session. That's just too much manipulation for me. I would have preferred a documentary approach to this one hour rather than a magazine style. Just doesn't work as is with two hosts and all the phone interviews and the bad technical quality. This program sadly is not recommended.

Too bad this piece didn't come out before the holiday. I think this would work for Flag Day or 4th of July as well. The beauty of PRX is that it is accessible to a wide variety of producers from all over the world. Sometimes you get crap but more often you find potential gems like this piece. In all its simplicity this piece works like a series of still frames. The producer and narrator is as natural as they come describing what he sees around him and capturing the sounds around him. There are some technical problems that could easily be cleaned up. The narration has a buzz that should be eq'ed out. And the ambiences need to be crossfaded rather than edited. Ambience should also be kept under the narration to smooth out the transitions. Some of the field recordings have touches of distortion. Not quite but enough to alert the ear. I'd encourage the producer to rework this piece and smooth it out more. Still I found this a moving and compelling piece. I'd like to hear more from this producer.

I really like these modules. Who wouldn't want to have mind-bending conversations with a scientist? It's like dropping into the professor's study to chat about the natural world. The two converationalists draw you in and the effect is thoughtful and fun. I could hear these pieces for Earth Day drop-ins or for June 5th's World Environment Day or anytime during the summer when we're out and about in the outdoors. It would be great to hear these pieces while gardening or on the way to a hiking trail. A couple things would make these pieces better technically. The announcer at the top and end is mixed at a higher level than the conversationalists. Also, the bird sounds don't work for me throughout the whole piece. Ideally it would be good to use them as a sonic id with the anouncer and then fade them out when the discussion starts. You could bring them back up again for the end credits. I don't know what the intent is for the bird sfx. Is it to make us think they're outside talking about this? If so, it doesn't work. They are clearly in the studio. If you want that sound then you need to record discussions out in the natural world. And getting rid of the ums, uhs, and uh-huhs would be a good idea. That's just too relaxed sounding to my ear. Still I think these pieces are wonderful drop-ins and I encourage stations to check them out especially as the summer approaches

A slick, well produced, light-hearted and deep hour magazine show that puts a face on mom activism. This show is for stay at home, working and friends of moms everywhere. Host Nancy Olesen is like one of the long lost Satellite Sister. Articulate, warm and a great conversationalist. To discount this show as just a special for Mother's Day would not do this show justice. Important issues are discussed here. No it's not the earth shattering news of the day but the real trials and tribulations of everyday listeners who have committed to child rearing and could use some help, support and recognition. I do wish there was less poetry and commentary but more of Olesen's compelling interviews or some produced feature stories. Now the problem for stations to air these shows. There are only five of these shows on PRX. I don't know if there are more. MOMbo is structured as a weekly show. The only thing I can think is to schedule a whole week long tribute to parenthood (cos these shows celebrate childcare which can be about both parents) or weekly special month. I think it's harder to do schedule these magazine shows the way they are structured rather than the documentary one-time special. So if there are plans to do more of these in the works, then there needs to be info about it on the description page. Stations also need some inventive ideas about how they can frame these shows otherwise they will be relegated to a once-a-year airing on (of course) Mother's Day. I think these can be used for much more than that.

I wish this piece had been done by a radio producer with the sound capturing this moment. There is no sound except the music, bells and the Pope speaking -- all recorded on a CD library somewhere -- which was intended to make the piece emotional rather than the writer's words or delivery. This commentary is by a print writer who isn't quite comfortable with the mic yet or with short emotive description. At least that's the way it sounds. The writer needs work adapting to radio still. And for goodness sake if he's on a regular beat, let's give him a mic and MD recorder to travel with him so he can capture the fabulous moments that such as the one he witnessed The Night Karol Died.

This is a great feature piece for the PR Collaboration. The universal themes of small business up against global market forces are something that every American business person could relate to. The corner Tofu shop is dwindling in Japan as much as the independent bookstore. Western influence has changed the tastes of Japanese young people as much as McDonald's has changed the eating habits of Americans. This is a well-produced, sound rich feature and would work well in any news magazine show especially if a station could make the connection to the struggles of American independent businesses.

This is a informative and much-needed hour discussing what many of us are going through or have gone through dealing with aging parents and managing our work and family lives. The show is broken into two half hours. The first talks about workplace flexibility (or unflexibility in many cases) to enable workers to care for their parents. Legislation and policies need to be in place to prepare for the 2010 when one-third of the workers will be 50 or over. The second half focuses on the difficulties of taking care of aging parents especially if we haven't had good relationships. The author of "Doing The Right Thing" - Roberta Satow- give several scenarios to help people in this situation to better manage their anger and guilt while being a caregiver. Very sensible and practical advice is given here. Stations could easily run this has a one hour anytime. Certainly the public radio audience is graying by the minute and I would safely assume a great bulk of the audience is going through the elder caregiving experience now.

A solid series about how NAFTA is affecting Mexico and its residents. This particular piece deals with pharamaceutical companies in conflict with Mexican healers and their knowledge of indigenous plants. This is a classic example of cultural consumerism. Pharmaceutical companies think nothing about taking a plant in a country that isn't theirs and patenting it to make a profit. How the Mexican healers are battling this is the crux of this piece. The producers are to be commended for these sound rich and varied pieces. I think they are a must for American stations to air. The only criticism I have is a mild technical one. There are soft p-puffs (not full pops) on the narration voicing. I'd soften those a little for future pieces. Other than that, I say station check out these pieces!

I like these pieces from Monika Mueller's series a lot. Another reviewer called them haikus. That seems appropo. Her voice is dream-like with an edge that draws you in. I'm not sure what she's talking about but it isn't the words. It's the feeling you get listening to her. I'd say run these during April poetry month. But run a bunch of them with some dreamy cool music in-between. Remember Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and listening to it late at night when you're half asleep and getting all these fantastic mind movies in your head. With the right music in between, these dream poems could really work. Of course what station would do this? A college or community station definitely. Anyone running Echoes late at night would be drawn to this as well. I do think it would make Mueller's work more marketable if she could string her series together herself with music and have it ready to go as a half hour or even an hour....in the meantime, stations, give it a try...

This piece is part of a series on Beat Poets and it would work well if a station ran several of these pieces as part of a special during April poetry month. I don't always like writers reading their own work but Bobbie Louise Hawkins' voice as well as her writing really draws you in. She's a good storyteller with a textured voice. This is also a live reading and a couple times you hear the audience responding. That could be distracting to listeners. I don't know if this is something that a station can run as a standalone without some prep. She's not as well known as Allen Ginsberg but with the proper intro and as part of a series, it could be a real plus.

Reporter Steve Herman doesn't quite have an NPR-style voice but that's a plus. He's old school voice of authority and the report is solid news. Whether an American station would want to air a piece about hay fever in Japan is another question. I would think that stations are more likely to pair this with it's own pollen count reports. Perhaps Pacific Rim stations might be interested in giving this piece a lesson. I hope Herman files more pieces from Japan though and keeps them coming.

A lovely piece about street music in Bart stations in the Bay Area. I love the ambience and the recordings of people singing and playing. The comments are not as effective though as the musicians describing their music and then playing. The first musician and the ltter part with the guitarist and singer is the best cut. I'd say cut some of the comments in the middle and get the piece down to five minutes and get to the middle part faster....to that singer/guitarist. That's just great tape. With a proper lead any station in any city with street musicians could use this piece in local shows.