This witty piece gives insight to one school's standards of "popularity." The structure of the podcast was solid: questions posed in the beginning and answered in the second half of the piece. The background music was not distracting, but could have been varied a bit throughout the piece. I enjoyed this social commentary on popularity, as it is something that everyone in high school always wonders but never receives an answer to, and this piece shared one school's views on popularity. The interviewers also did a good job getting a variety of voices for this piece; it would have been easy to go talk to two or three friends, but they went the extra mile and got many people, and the quality and diversity was noticed--and appreciated--as a listener.

I love Jazz, I live for Jazz. Jazz music is something I love and I love sharing it with people. So seeing a title with the word "Jazz" in it caught my eye and had me hooked. The background music was splendid and didn't distract me as i listened to the piece. The description was a nice supplement to the audio, as it gave me something to read and process visually while listening. Hearing about jazz's influence during the Cold War was cool because I sometimes forget about jazz within the context of a certain decade or period of time, and this was nice to make me think about how history and jazz relate. While this piece is intended to be a hook to a larger piece, a link to the full one would be nice, because it is taking some hunting to find the full episode. But overall, I really liked this short and sweet segment about jazz.

"Chatting with Bill" recounts the intriguing experiences of Bill Dewberry's time in Marine Corps Boot Camp. My grandfather was a Marine as well, and it is interesting to hear similar stories from someone completely unrelated. I enjoyed all of Bill's anecdotes, but a bit of narration would have been nice, even as just an intro or outro. Furthermore, some background music or ambient "military sounds" would have amped up the mood, since this is not a somber subject and has leeway for creative additions. Other than those tips, this was a cool story and nicely edited. I really enjoyed hearing the stories recounted by Bill and I think that taking it further by collecting more stories from other veterans and compiling them could be an awesome piece.

Most kids feel cramped when there are a few extra kids on a bus. Imagine a bus filled nearly 40 over capacity. These kids in Ghana are experiencing this on the way to day care. This piece was nicely arranged, and it had a good balance of narration, interview, and ambient sound. The ambient sounds of the children produce a schoolyard environment, placing me right in the middle of the group of jolly kids. The segment about the food was really eye-opening and highlighted the morals these kids exhibit in difficult conditions. The outro was just great, I love that song (don't want to spoil it for potential listeners) and it was a pleasant conclusion to a quality piece.

As a guy with two younger sisters, I understand the difficulty of building the relationship, even if not to the degree of the narrator. "Really, I'm Trying." is a brilliant portrayal of a distanced brother-sister relationship and the struggles undergone by the sister to rebuild it. The piece starts off with a great, eloquent description of the relationship, and the story arc had me gripped by about two-thirds through. There was never too much or too little information, it was just right. The narration was fine, although at times I noticed that there were some awkward pauses or breaths, which could lead to awesome flow once remedied. The music segments and vivid scene descriptions--diners, rest stops, the bedroom--gave the piece a reinforced tone, one that is very contemplative and sympathetic to the fact that everyone has something they want hidden. Overall, the piece left me with an impression of how some sibling relationships must be truly reconstructed from scratch after long periods of time, making me thankful for the strong relationships I have and making me aware of what my peers could be experiencing.

America’s poor economy is something that everyone knows about but no one wants to discuss—a taboo of sorts. In “My Family, Foreclosed,” Makele White shares the story of her experience with the economy and reveals a life that many teens can’t imagine. The dynamic of the piece is quite interesting: narration by Makele but also interview clips with her parents. This format allows for multiple opinions and unique lenses through which listeners can experience her story. To really perfect this format, record the narration in a sound setting similar to that in which the interview was recorded, thus easing the transitions between the noticeably different portions. Aside from this, the style was great. The narration was quite informative; however, the emotions evoked from the story are melancholic, sad, and pensive, and the narration doesn’t quite reflect that. Slowing it down just a bit and really contemplating what is being said would drastically improve the narration. When her mom begins crying, the emotional curtain has been lifted, and listeners can now truly connect and empathize with the tragedies discussed in the piece. As far as the music goes, it was all appropriate and really quite interesting. Her dad’s song was a cool intro and outro, and the song in the middle matched the vibe of the piece. The storm sounds were so cool! As someone who has been to Oregon a lot, I know about the weather, and that totally set the scene for that segment. Additional sound bytes—when appropriate—would really fill out the piece. Overall, it’s a gripping, intriguing take on today’s economy that left me appreciating what I have and contemplating what families across America are experiencing today.