Rebecca Sheir has a real knack for finding interesting characters and weaving a tapestry of voices and sound elements that works perfectly for me. She is expert at extracting the very best from her subjects, taking human interest to a new level. The editing, mixing and pacing of the piece are just right, truly an example of good radio that engages the listener.

Producer Sara Archambault has crafted an excellent piece that will satisfy the curiosity most of us have in what goes on behind the scenes in a funeral home. The husband and wife team of morticians come across as compassionate and professional. There is a very human element of "death care" which permeates the graphic descriptions of preparing a body for burial. The production values are a good example of "less is more"...sound elements and music are sparingly used but highly effective. There is a tendency when creating a piece like this to "over-produce" it with a barrage of sound that would not be appropriate for this piece. The high production values are even more impressive when you realize that this is part of a series produced by graduate and undergraduate students from the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. My only criticism of this piece, and the only reason I did not rate it five stars, is that the minute or so section about how the funeral director couple met near the end sounds a bit out of context to me; it sounds like it has been superimposed over the rest of the piece and breaks up the way the piece had been flowing so nicely. It is interesting information, but the relationship between the couple is more effectively conveyed implicitly in the rest of the piece, in my opinion. But overall, the piece is superbly produced and effectively draws the listener in, just as good radio should. Well done!

This piece is very well produced technically with lots of sound elements, and it's fun to listen to, but very difficult to follow if you haven't read the written description. I understand that this is part of a podcast series, and if you had been listening to the series you might be more familiar with the characters...otherwise it just sort of washes over you, and you wish you could go back and listen to parts of it over again. Which you can do with a podcast, but (usually) not with a radio. It is a nice, well-mixed audio piece, but it might not translate so well for radio.

This is a fantastic first-person essay from producer Kristina Lund reminiscing about when she was four years old receiving cassette tapes from her father featuring him singing along with recordings of popular recordings of the day. What sounds like the actual cassettes of her father singing along (badly) with Richard Harris on "MacArthur Park" is hysterically funny and poignant at the same time. It's heartwarming and cute in the best sense of the word, and I absolutely loved it. The only flaw is that the music is mixed too high at about 4:15 into the piece and distracts from the narration. Nevertheless, I have to give it five stars because it is one of the most imaginative and endearing pieces of radio I have heard in a long time.

This is standard BBC fare, with the usual high quality production values. It's part of the BBC's "Generation Next" series of documentary programs about what "youth" means in different societies and cultures worldwide. This program deals with youth citizenship and the ability to vote by people under age 18. I couldn't help but think the program would have been better if we had heard more voices from people under age 18. Host Robin Lustig does a fine and professional job, but I wanted to hear more from the perspective of the subjects of the piece.

This is an interesting arts feature about A Cappella singing groups who dissect songs into individual parts and instruments and put them back together with just voices. The production values are high, with location sound, vox pops, interviews, and of course, the music. Producer Catie Talarski delivers the well-written narration, and the piece is nicely edited and well mixed. A minor suggestion would be to give the listener a taste of the finished music product near the front of the piece, instead of waiting until the end, so the individual instrument vocals are put into context. Overall, it is an interesting and well-produced feature that would work well in any magazine program.

Tight editing and crisp delivery characterize these daily 90-second modules that are part of the Isla Earth Radio Series produced by Catalina Island Conservancy. This module talks about e-waste, the lead, mercury, and cadmium byproducts of discarded computers, and how these elements are contaminating the environment. It is very well written and highly listenable; there is a lot of information in 90 seconds, and not a word is wasted. These would be excellent high quality drop-ins for magazine formats or as interstitials between programs or program elements. These are about as good as any short format informational series I have heard.

Producer Jake Warga has created a highly produced and exquisitely mixed feature about the person he admires most, a medical researcher working in Ethiopia. It was good enough to be on NPR's "All Things Considered", and it clearly deserves a national audience. His visit to his best friend in Ethiopia is captured well in less than six minutes, and the piece really makes you feel like you have gotten to know the person and the place in that time. The many sound elements create a rich and liquid sound tapestry, weaving itself in and out of the well-edited narration and voice cuts, making it a pleasure to listen to. If you missed it the first time around, you owe it to yourself to give it a listen. Warga also has an excellent web site documenting his aural and visual accomplishments at www.jakewarga.com...check it out.

The Kitchen Sisters have triumphed again with this highly listenable piece about a celebration in Vienna of the 250th birthday of Mozart through food. It's a delightful smorgasbord of sound, impeccably mixed and perfectly edited. Music, narration, and interviews with celebrity festival goers, including Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panise restaurant in Berkeley, combine to create a magical medley of food and music. Bravo!

Producer Amelia Shaw presents a well-written, well-produced human-interest feature for the World Vision Report, a weekend newsmagazine and daily feature show "capturing the human drama behind global issues and events affecting the world's poorest children and families". This piece tells the story of St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Haiti, which takes over an orphanage where a boy with cerebral palsy learns to dance, and...well, you'll have to listen to the piece. There is a lot of information, perhaps too much, but the piece makes good use of live sound and is nicely mixed, and captures the flavor of a dance troupe in Haiti.

This is a straight 29-minute interview over the phone with Greg Palast. It's hard to go wrong with Palast, as he always gives good interview, and interviewer Dr. Shamaan Eagle does a fine job of moving the interview along. The program suffers from very poor audio quality, though, both from the phone line and from the studio microphone. It's difficult to go too far off track with a good guest and a good topic, but an investment in ISDN lines would make this a more listenable half hour live interview, and some judicious editing would make it even better.

This is a nicely edited piece about high interest "Pay Stub Loans" that are targeted to low income individuals as a way to get cash for holiday shopping. The narration and actualities are well done, and the piece flows well right up to the end, which is rather abrupt. If a closing could be added to this piece, it would fit well into a news magazine program.

Producer Philip Graitcer has formal training in medicine and public health, and it shows in how well his features on health issues are produced. This piece covers a lot of ground in three and a half minutes, about the decline in urban cases of AIDS, with a surge in new cases in rural Georgia. The piece is a nice mix of interviews and narration, and Graitcer's delivery is spot on. He is a skillful editor, and presents a lot of information in a very listenable style. This piece would work well in any magazine program.

I had not heard of "War News Radio" until I reviewed this piece, and I must say that I am very impressed. This weekly half-hour magazine program is produced by students at Swarthmore College and distributed via the internet, but it sounds very professional and is certainly broadcast quality. The stated goal of the series is to produce news and features on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and "fill the gaps in the media's coverage by airing new perspectives, both personal and historical, in a balanced and in-depth manner". I think the program succeeds very well in fulfilling this goal, with a nice mix of music, interviews, a newscast, and well-delivered hosting by Elizabeth Threlkeld and Wren Elhai. Production values are high, and the program is well edited and moves along nicely. Is it balanced? Surprisingly so, in my opinion, or at least it plausibly strives to be. But I think that the most impressive aspect of this series is the fresh perspective it provides from a younger demographic. Frankly, it's a breath of fresh air, and one that public radio truly needs.

Humor is a very personal thing, and unfortunately this piece from the archives of veteran radio producer Joe Bevilacqua does not work for me. The slapstick humor sounds dated and amateurish, which is disappointing coming from this talented producer. The piece may have some historical significance, but Bevilacqua's current work is more appropriate for radio, in my opinion.