"It's not differences that divide us, it's our judgments about each other that do" is a quote by Margaret Wheatley which is used as the thesis statement for Dolna Smithback's piece about peace. She uses tape from a New Mexico Peaceworks Conference to illustrate her point that people can get along. The majority of the piece uses a light-hearted anecdote from a speech given at the conference that tells a story of trying to communicate with fruit flies. The story is told by Ocean Robbins (a peace activist since age 7), the point of his story is that if he can communicate with fruit flies there's no reason that humans can't communicate with each other.
The piece is a little choppy in the flow; especially when it moves away from the point to ask what some of the conference members want to do to change the world. Despite that, the overall point gets through that humans need to get along. This peace would be good for a show about communication or peace.

Fights at school happen and most people can't help but watch. That is a truth the Megan Haller doesn't try to deny in her piece, Fights at School. In fact she uses an interview with a school police officer to warn fellow students that everyone involved in the fight (even the watchers) can be suspended. Megan Haller uses layered audio that intros the topic of school fighting by combining different people's observations of fights they saw at school. It was really interesting to listen to and got my attention right away. Fights at School is a good piece for a show about issues at school or weird school rules like getting suspended for watching a fight.

My Dad's Private Diet is a very interesting piece told in the 2nd
person. It's written like a scene narration with side notes from Berenice Garcia to her dad and I thought it was really cute. This piece is a story told from Berenice?s kitchen with some snatches of her dad eating forbidden ice cream. The audio has a bilingual aspect, since her father talks to her in Spanish and she translates it, which gives the piece some interesting diversity.
My Dad?s Private Diet would perfect for Father's Day which is fast
approaching in June or perhaps show about bad eating habits since her dad eats junk food despite his high cholesterol.

Fashion Obsession takes a look at the world of a high school girl where fashion means identity. This feature is a really great story about Shakima, who is what I would a fashion snob. After listening to the piece, which explains her reasons for seeing fashion as a status symbol, I could perhaps think of her more as really obsessed with fashion and the attention it brings her.
The narration is really engaging and has plenty of genuine attitude.
It felt like she was talking to me one-on-one and not just reading a script. The piece uses interviews with her family to help give the background of her story and peer interviews to emphasize her point that clothes do matter. This piece would be a good addition to a show about fashion or teen issues.

Teen reporter recounts 1918 Alaska shipwreck is a very informative piece about the worst shipwreck in the Pacific Northwest. Sam Holley-Kline tells the story of the Princess Sophia by using an interesting combination of reenacted historical letters and messages from the ship, and an interview with a man whose father worked for the Canadian Pacific railway at the time of the shipwreck. The feature actually has the elements often used in a History Channel special but it?s condensed into just over 5 minutes. The narration and production were so professional sounding I was surprised to find upon reading the description that the author is 17.
This piece would be good for anyone wanting a brief history of The Princess Sophia's crash on October 24, 1918. It could also be more broadly applied to show about shipwrecks, accidents or a show with a nautical theme.

While looking for an answer to one of life's great questions "Why do people have to die?" Krystle Murray ends up talking to her mother, a funeral home director and a teacher to try to make sense of the death of her cousin. I liked the piece because it was real. It made me remember the pain of losing people and how it doesn't ever really make sense. The topic of death and grief is an always relevant topic since people die every minute.
The feature itself could use some tweaking on the reading of her commentary, though there weren't any major issues. She had audio from a funeral home which I thought was a very original place to look for answers when talking about death. She also used a great combination of personal narration, interviews and music to bring the listener though her journey to find answers.
The piece is overall worth a listen for anyone wanting to hear about dealing with loss.

If I could talk to a presidential candidate is a great example of a youth radio piece and show that teens want a voice in politics as well. Living in Maine I have an idea of what it's like to live in a not-so-hot-spot politically.
It was short, sweet and informative. I liked this piece because it was an honest evaluation of how the country and political parties view Alaska and youth's opinion.
The piece was humorous but got the point across: presidential candidates don't really focus their campaigns on what teens want in a candidate (especially in Alaska).
With the upcoming presidential elections this is a good piece for a show about Election '08 especially for a youth perspective. As this election does more than ever depend on the youth vote Tonei's piece is a very relevant piece and worth a listen.