Comments by Muriel Murch

Comment for "In Praise of Nurses"


The everyday RN

Take this little gem and do one of two - or both - things with it:
Download it for a reflection on what 'health care' really entails during a heated political debate
AND save it for rebroadcast in May, Nurse's month.
With the use of touch, cheer and patience the floor nurse brings the art of nursing to healing and recovery. Robbins shares her view of health care from the dark of night to the new morning light. It is good to remember in whose hands we rest. MAM

Comment for "Meeting & Greeting in Oaxaca"


Felt your footsheps

This light look at Oaxaca took me through the streets and around the block.
A tender look at a tender town.
MAM

Comment for "Turkeys"


Review of Turkeys

Turkey time and I just had to listen to this one. Produced in 1990 I would like to thing that it could give something of a historical perspective on the raising of turkeys for the Thanksgiving and Christmas table. Wrong, I am naive in that. A very good piece, sickeningly 'fun' to listen to. I would love to see it used in conjunction with a farming discussion.

Comment for "Tony Schwartz: 30,000 Recordings Later"


Review of Tony Schwartz: 30,000 Recordings Later

For those of us who love the medium of radio and love what can be done with and by sound this piece is a Gem.
I remember hearing about Tony Schwartz as an odd duck swimming upstream in the audio waves of early recording and radio but I was never conscious of actually listening to any of his producitons. This piece, rebroadcast because of his passing, shows the incredibly breadth of his work. Just by gathering and sharing his recordings he enriched lives and brought personal happiness to his subjects. He also informed and educated a public that was, and remains, in need of such insightful information.
As always the harvest that the Kitchen Sisters gather and bring to the table is bountiful. Under the masterful hands of Jim McKee it is then prepared, sliced and stewed into the delicious mix that is the signature of their collaboration.
Listening to work like this, from Tony Schwartz through to Nicki Silva, Davia Nelson and Jim McKee inspires me. As long as work like this airs it gives me hope that information radio can truly still find room to engage the heart as well as inform the mind.

Comment for "My Sister's Brain Cancer"


Review of My Sister's Brain Cancer

Embracing the Brain and the body it lives in.
A diagnosis of any cancer in this organ or that system is scary. But nothing chills the heart or instils a panic kind of fear as much as the diagnosis of a brain tumour. It is the unknown, unseen territory that the tumour covers that scares us. It is like trying to read a map with only the pencil beam of the light at the end of a key chain. Nancy and her family enter this unknown territory with the hopes and fears of a loving family. She leads us into their darkness with her own questions and concerns.
All brain tumour families struggle to find ways to express their fears and summon their courage. Nancy's insightful and emotionally spoken essay will bring empathy from and strength to all family members who listen.

Comment for "America's National Pastime: My Love Affair with Baseball"


Review of America's National Pastime: My Love Affair with Baseball

I have heard this piece on kwmr radio and loved it. As another Brit who has never been to a baseball game and couldn't understand New York taxi drivers and patients holding their transistor radio close to their ears to listen to the ball game Robbins brings 'going to a baseball game' alive for me.
She takes us on the adventure of going, being at the game and coming home again. Along the way with her acute observations she shows us her fellow travelers and the San Francisco Bay. I can image the day. It must have been beautiful.
I love narration that is well written, well spoken and well produced. This has all three for me as well as just a little ambient sound. Some American audiences might find this piece long. I found it right, lingering as a Saturday afternoon should.
A wonderful end of the summer season remembrance.
Where and when to play it? A weekend slot geared to sharing what is good and beloved by all Americans.

Comment for "Mother's Day Diary"


Review of Mother's Day Diary

Where is the Tone that says, "hilariously funny." This is a great piece. The best I have heard on prx for a long time. I loved it. It is personal, quirky, and upbeat. Music choice was perfect and moved the piece along at a perfect rate. Very very sweet. I wish more npr work was like this!

Comment for "Bells"


Review of Bells

"The Bell Story," Is also a fish story. A remembrance of home for the teller. A beautiful description of the fish market and the church bells that announce it. For those who remember such bells it is easy to hear them in the voice tones of the story teller.