CROSSING EAST - Raising Cane

You hear about Driveway Moments, but do you ever hear about Naive Moments? That's when, while listening to a radio program, you face up to the fact that you don't know a whole lot about something all around you. For example, I know nothing very substantial about Hawaii as a place where people have forged a history. This program features so much dedicated scholarship, stories and colorful detail that it has required a multitude of voices, actors mixing gently in with interview material and other sound. And yes, this is one of those projects with lots of people to acknowledge at the end - but the beautiful variety of the names in the credits somehow themselves make up a kind of poem testifying to this important effort.

These moments - of a history hardly mentioned in school or few Hollywood movies - these are the moments that public broadcasting owes its audience, I feel.

PS I also know very little about the history and contributions of Asian Americans in general. How about you? Why is that? Maybe I ought to listen to some other programs in the series.

The range of eloquent interviews with friends and colleagues about the late poet Donald Justice that this team has collected have come together to form a program that is gently passionate but sprawling. I can well understand how very important this artist is, especially to Iowa - but I had the feeling that the (many) producers of this piece just couldn't bear to leave anything out (or perhaps they disagreed!), and that this keeps the program from finding a strong thread to pull the listener along. That, and a rather odd decision to often play classical musical behind the speakers, no matter what they're talking about, very quietly, as though to suggest they're all in the same living room with the stereo playing. Listeners are going to have to be very, very interested in poetry and poets to make it through to the high point, which is the work itself. The time spent on people saying he was brilliant, and talented, and special far outweigh the time we get treated to work itself (which we in fact do, and very nicely at the end) Insiders might think Justice poems are something understood, that they're known everyone who might be listening. If only that were true!

Lovely - the voice of a woman - which the reporter steps back to let us hear -and some well-deliverd thoughts about life down the road - for Edith - and for us all. Quite simply a little gem.

The first time I heard Mark Murphy sing I was a young woman living all alone in a Manhattan apartment in the 70's with a radio that would supply jazz 24/7 with some real discoveries coming out at night - and I went nuts. I bought the vinyl and bought a single ticket to Carnegie Hall, an evening I'll never forget.

Apparently it's a voice that either you appreciate like a Shakespeare monolog and will follow anywhere, or a performance that annoys you subtly in the way it breaks the rules. He discusses all that in this relaxed hour, which I listened to twice. He meanders. She interrupts with bursts of laughter. He's dead honest and brilliant. And she's so confident but sweet, and giving, they're having a ball. He sings. Lord, he sings.

The production is very good - it's not done exactly as I would for example. Maybe I'd bring in the music in different parts, not sneak it in THERE, chose a couple of different cuts maybe, trim this, add what? but SOOO what!

In this program they talk a lot about rhythms, and breaking the rules, in an intriguing, inside-outside kind of way. They're talking about jazz of course, but they could be talking about anything - even radio.

END OF THE ROPE
There IS intelligent life on the radio comedy planet! Lots of it, in fact - and I love this host's sparkling, clear voice and her performances. The sound effects are virtuoso - another "lost" art being recaptured. The segment of a pair of old coots failing to demount their horses is accompanied by an excellent performance by horse and kit. The retro 50's segment is an opportunity to showcase the delicate art of mouth sounds. HOWEVER, the rubrick," the lighter side of women's issues," does not work for me at all. Several marvellous pieces seemed to have been shoe-horned in there - it is not purely a programming issue, which I don't pretend to take on - it's simply making me listen to the thing in the wrong way. I could have missed what they're really doing, as described above. Is it because the word "issue" could be one of the unfunniest words in the English language, so unfunny that it defies parody? All I know is, darlin', you and your crew deserve a SHOW! Just come out and say MY SHOW!

When's the last time you wrote or received a REAL love letter? Long, long before e-mail, people actually pulled out pen and paper and wrote important, life-altering words - and this program has found three very famous and stunnng examples of unique relationships. A refined offering for Valentine's Day.

I have become a podcast listener to the program Open Source, and a fan. Of all the engaging subjects I have heard so far, the discussion on Candy (passion series) was 100% addicting. Start anyone talking about this in the context of memory, hope, dreams and desires, and they will not stop!

So many of these programs deserve a five rating, that's only one. One might say that the internet has no gatekeepers - and then one might contend that gatekeepers always appear anyway. This lyrical, swinging gate called Christopher Lydon (with team) provides a frame that is dilligent, open, focused and curious.

Here is an interview with a WWII veteran that sequ?s from his story during the war into his current passion, his colorful dahlias. A charming idea that intrigued me quite a lot - and in fact, the interview is full of delicate moments and potential juxtapositions. Here is where I feel bound to give the opinion that I wish it were more imaginatively produced. The interview is evenly edited with a kind of generic guitar picking slipped onto the beginning and end - his speech being slow and measured (normal considering his age) this music does little to underscore, and little is done in the production to use the ebb and flow, peaks and valleys of the imagery. There are lovely details here, especially in the end, his comments. (An interview nicely conducted.) I'd be delighted to listen again to this one, re-worked with a compositional mindset.

Lovely collage of music and actuality cuts - Peter's been making this style of piece for a long time - and it's a subtle, enjoyable kind of radio - the kind that stretches out and introduces the listener to surprising music, all the time peppering it with "whazzat?" sound - you know what it is - or do you? A nice programming choice for stations that enjoy mixing music with alitte edge.

The audience sounds like they're having a blast at this anniversary edition of this comedy offering and Liane Hanson, in a guest appearance on this live comedy show, really sounds like she is, too. The show is professionally and confidently done, and I like the performances, including the voice imitations of presidents past and present. Some of the skits made me laugh outloud - such as Gregorian chant versions of sitcom theme songs - some were pretty bold and edgy (a debate about sex with several children's TV characters) and a couple were a bit more folksy-gosh than is my taste.

An idea for radio with potential ? people?s relationship to things. Everything in the production seems done right ? nice mixing, editing of attractive, articulate voices well recorded ? the story carefully told, described in the moment - but quite oddly ? these moments ? a guy stealing a gravestone and a guy stealing a Buddha ? are a bit too laidback and cool to draw me in. The young guy is questioned about his interaction with a gravestone he?s had for ten years. Has he related to it? ?No ? not really ? caretaking of the stone.? He left Banff ? because there was really ?nothing to do but watch television.? But has his life since become more interesting? The next guy lost a thumb but he's pretty matter of fact, too. Although he?s an attractive interview, funny and light about the hospital scene. Was the theft of the Buddha important? No, it was fuelled by booze. He admits it changed him - he realized he shouldn?t steal and he'd like his thumb back. But the host presses on, trying to find significance that doesn?t really seem to be there. Both stories last beyond their pay off. Is it because the people aren't New York-ish and neurotic enough for me? I'd like to hear what someone else thinks!

Pristine, professional production - traditional "trac-and ac" NPR style news reporting at its best. The reporter captures lovely details, from the succinct expression of the homeless man's appreciation of life on the upside - "beautiful. Clean clothes, a place to sleep. Lately I've just been so glad to be alive," to the downside, "I don't know. I don't...know. Around" when asked where he's been. I am as fascinated by the careworkers on the job as I am by the subjects themselves - and being sinside their experience takes us - well (I'll speak for myself) - ME to a basic place where I bottom line place I feel profoundly called to over and over.

A local program containing interesting and valuable information about prenatal hospice care. The producer has gotten really good interviews with parents, nurses and doctors ? these people are impressive. The subject is divided into four segments (which are also available on PRX in segment form). In the first, the section is really carried by an articulate parent ? in the last, the subject of language used in diagnosis and care was very interesting. I don?t understand the concept of the program: ?the interface of life with the human experience.? What is the difference between those two things exactly? Other comments: the producer needs to work on achieving a more natural phrasing and rhythm with his reading. The audio quality also needs to be improved. Recordings are noisy and a bit distorted, while the music is a little too saturated. And I KNOW how hard resolving that is now that we can all work alone!

Sonically beautiful - I tuned in out of interest in the subject - the origins of art and electricity - and stayed happy all the way through with the attention to compositional detail - the program would fit right in with any station combining even a bit of fresh, modern music with spoken ideas. I'm there for episode 2.

The (positive) response to this piece on PRX got my attention - I'm the 7th reviewer - this story about WWI soldiers calling time out in the trenches is a lovely, telling story - but certainly not "little-known" over here - there's even a holiday season film out about it this year. Are we in the US really that unaware of what war is? I will say that I think it's a nice, thoughtful piece for the holidays - and I love the song featured - but I agree with other reviewers that it's too bad the interview is over the phone - but the information is useful.