Is this piece good for the Jews? The doctor (a very Jewish profession) is out on this, but it is good for the goyim who may or may not be familiar with this minor holiday. Secular Jews like myself who know about the oil and Maccabees, but nothing about the struggle within Jewish society at the time, also have something to learn. Whatever your opinion of this piece, Jewish history, or what Orthodox Jews may or may not get up to on the sabbath, I think we can all agree that this piece is a solid piece of infotainment and that latkes are little ovals of greasy goodness. Recommended to PDs on the night of the 21st.

America Abroad's programs are not experimental, not technically inspiring and have no groundbreaking narrative storytelling. They're just old fashioned, straightforward, solid journalism. "After Castro..." does what excellent informational radio needs to do: teach. There is also novel information on a topic that that has been revisited time and again. I, for example, did not know that Fidel was called "the heart" and his brother Raul "the fist".

There are a few hitches. The title suggests that the program is an in- depth examination of US/Cuban relations after Fidel kicks the bucket. This is there, but only after a good 30 minutes of history first.
Also, it must be said, the theme music is really, really cheesy. This is the 21st century guys. Update your sound a little. Otherwise, well done!

Voices of Our World has taken on the admirable task of giving voice to those figures considered too incendiary by the mainstream media. I first saw the British spitfire George Galloway speak at the European Social Forum a few years ago and he falls deeply into the category of "those who should be avoided". So hats off to those who dare. However...
Any interview is more interesting, any interviewer more credible when they ask challenging questions. And any interviewee is more articulate, if actually challenged. Shouldn't Mr. Galloway have been asked if he was at all concerned about the terrible human rights violations committed by the very Fidel Castro he so admires?
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad someone is interviewing George Galloway. I'm just saddened that there was no actual journalism involved.

An intelligent program with many interesting speakers taking on one of the great questions of our day in an erudite and articulate manner. A shame no one will actually listen to it. This is because the top is marred by a self indulgent essay so long the first interview doesn't start until well after the five minute mark. Patient listeners will be rewarded with 50 minutes of intellectuals with insights and, really, that's the problem.

Overall, I can't help but feel that his program, while self consciously well-researched, well-written and presented, somehow misses a down to earth touch that would grant relevancy to the listener. It's hard to find any real fault with this show, but there's nothing to really recommend it either.

This program has no dynamism, no darkness, no light, no real drama, no real emotion and, after all, creating emotion and narrative is what radio is all about.

Return to Sarajevo bears all of the best characteristics of BBC documentaries, excellent writing, solid journalism and gravitas. It also avoids some of the BBC's pitfalls. Instead of quick and sloppy cuts with bizarrely short clips, this has good production values and with clips long enough to allow the interviewees to emerge in three dimensions. This a short and solid piece perfect for any weekend magazine. Bravo. Can't wait for part 2.

5 Stars if you're a fan of Klezmer clarinet or bluegrass mandolin. Jon Kalish has produced an expertly knitted, rich, tersely woven and well presented journey into the heart of the virtuoso musician and Jewish mystic Andy Statman.

This is excellent radio that hits all the right beats in terms of pacing and uses the form to create a three dimensional person from his early success to his inexplicable contemporary obscurity.

Highly recommended to anyone. Excellent programming for the weekends or Jewish holidays or pairing with programs on Klezmer.

Haunting nostalgic miner music, good production and (overly) earnest intentions cannot save this program from massive run on essays and deeply stilited presentation. There are no spontaneous moments and an assuption upon the producers that listeners should care about the subject because it's "important" and does little to draw one into an engaging narrative. A missed opportunity.

I like a good lecture given by a strong and authoritative speaker. I even like to listen to lectures on the radio, on my ipod and in the car. I also know that I am weird. The overwhelming majority of lectures, even very good ones like this, make bad radio.
Clifford Gaddy is an economist who knows Russia and is an excellent speaker and he deserves a hearing.

If I were reviewing a lecture series for sale or for mp3 download, I would give this 5 stars. For direct broadcast, I recommend this only to University based stations for whom this might have a built in academic audience of future economists and/or Slavisticians.

If you're a jazz lover and a Coltrane fan in particular, you will groove as two jazz initiates rif verbal-like to the genius that is "A Love Supreme" note by note. And this, unfortunately, is also this program's weakness. No concessions whatsoever have been made to the non jazz/ non Coltrane audience. There are also a few genuine technical issues, such as the innumerable moments when orgasmic blasts of sax threaten to drown out large tracts of spoken word. I know you don't want the listeners to miss a beat, but it's just too loud guys!
If you have a music format with dyed in the wool jazz listeners who turn up the radio loud as cigarette clouds break on your beret, this is the program for you. Everybody else can better steer clear. Four stars to Coltrane fans, two for everyone else, so I've settled on a three.

This piece is lovely and delicate. The title is misleading. This is less a story of a wandering Jew than an intimate portrait of a community ending, with all the tragedy and pathos that brings with it. For such a short piece, Philip Graitcer manages to take his time. Although, for such a short piece, it strangely takes 2 minutes before we actually hear the rabbi herself interviewed. Nevertheless this is nicely done and an excellent addition to any weekend magazine program.

What is good radio? I think good radio is when you take a story from an individual who, ostensibly, has nothing in common with most listeners and you dissect the details down to the human level, the place to which we can all relate. Outright Radio, and subsequently this program, does just that. These stories are compelling not because of, or despite of the subject matter, but simply because these are in depth, adult stories well told and well produced. Listen to Outright Radio not because it's about gay subjects, but because these are simply interesting stories compellingly told.
The fact that most of the speakers are bourgeois, dead average Joes and Janes makes the program accessible to even the most land's most conservative regions. As the first interviewee says "I'm normal and this happened to me!"

The guests, Jonathan Goldstein and Jonathan Katz are typically public radio. But stylistically our host is all slick baritone Clear Channel morning zoo. Without being intentionally offensive, how old is the program host? He sounds like someone older trying to be young. He looks young in the picture.

To give this program as fair a review as possible, I closed my eyes and filtered the contents from the wrapper and chewed on a fairly light hearted interview program that wouldn't be out of place on, say, Air America.

The "America's Radio Sweetheart" is as cheeky a conceit as the program title, but as there is a real lack of any of the groundbreaking chaos the name suggests, I'm not sure if our Jessie Thorn pulls it off. I found myself wanting to like this program and simultaneously put off by the kind of forced spontaneity one hears on AM talk radio towards the end of a four hour shift.

All in all, TSOYA is a promising format that would benefit greatly from a little self restraint. Among the highlights is a Jonathan Katz anecdote about his band on a good night and Jonathan Goldstein's spontaneous Internet word search. And yes, the fact that I'm a Jonathan is not coincidental.

More a polished magazine on a single theme than an actual documentary, "Rise and Influence of Arab Media" deftly and comprehensively looks at how competing interests are vying for the Arab eye with varying degrees of success. This program's strength is its balance, timeliness, excellent technical quality and (almost too slick) professionalism.

However despite a careful journalistic approach, this program's only real flaw is its total reliance on production by Western journalists. While great care was taken to include every conceivable Middle Eastern interviewee, it seems remiss to not have a report from an Arab journalist. As this program shows, there are many capable journalists frrom and working in the Middle East. A potential Arab audience would surely miss this.

Nevertheless, PDs pay attention. This is a solid piece of quality journalism on a hot button issue that is recommended listening and licensing.

Is this one documentary? There is no doubt that this program is an exercise in integrity and engaged radio making. However, it has a somewhat confusing format. The first part recounts a Guatemalan village's bloody history of war and fear, ostensibly to set up the larger report about its present in part two. Pero no...

Part two, after the 20-minute mark, is produced by another journalist who has a totally different philosphy of reportage. The stylistic differences are somewhat jarring. Part 1 comes off as slow and overly earnest when juxtaposed with part 2's quicker edits, more energetic story telling and richer sound use.

In part three we finally return to our Guatemalan village for another stylistic shift and the most successful segment. Here the program focuses on one young girl's personal story as she takes on life after a devastating war. And it is here the program is most effective at giving Guatemala's plight a human face.

Despite the high-quality writing, presentation and content, I'm left with a nagging feeling that these are actually two programs, segments 1 and 3 together, that would have been stronger if separated from segment 2.

Highly recommended for any discussion on the history of American foreign policy, Hispanic months and/or celebrations. Also part two is totally self contained and could be potentially used as a stand-alone piece as a segment in a magazine program.

Interesting personal insights by Koreans from Koreans and not only for Koreans, into a place so unknown to, well, all the world really. Former Northerners transplanted to America return to their homeland and are reunited with family members for the first time in decades. In this program they describe these experiences.

One assumes North Korean restrictions prevented the recording of the actual meeting, which is a shame. The program is a well-edited blend of interview and music that, after the first 10 minutes, becomes rather monotonal. The interviewees seem to have been recorded quickly or even over rehearsed because, while their words suggest an emotional reunion, their tones are measured and somewhat flat.

However, this program has the benefit of being novel during a dearth of information about North Korea. It humanizes a people often painted as slavish pions of the axis of evil and attempts to show the tragedy and triumph of their lives. This alone merits a listen, if not an actual broadcast.