Comments by Rob Shinnick

Comment for "Detective Stories"


This is my favorite Radiolab episode, and that's sayin' something.

I just had to listen to it again, for at least the third time.

Comment for "Black Box"


Music credits?

How does one find music credits for Radiolab episodes? I was quite taken by the Cuban-sounding piece in Break 2 (and liked the piece in Break 1 as well). Not for the first time, I've wondered about the music in the breaks between segments.

Comment for "Snap Judgment #323: Trust Me"


This was an especially good one

Thanks- keep on snappin', y'all!

Comment for ""Death Be Not Proud: The Execution of Troy Davis""


Good piece, but too much music

I know music can set the mood for a piece, and I don't have a problem with the musical selections used here. They were well chosen. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing", however. I think the music breaks were too long and too many. Instead of setting the scene, they ended up breaking up the narrative and disrupting (or at least slowing down) the flow of the story.

Comment for "A Dance Between Darkness & Light: My Struggle With Bipolar Disorder"


Amen, brother

I happen to share the producer's condition. I thought it was described very aptly here, and creatively too.

Comment for "Snap #210: The Grey Zone"


It's always nice to see some new Snap action...

... it livens up my dull nights @ work.

Enjoyed this episode quite a bit. Thanks.

Comment for "Snap Judgment #212: Fighting Back"


Keep on Snappin'!

I liked #210 a bit more, but this one had its moments. Particularly when Glynn was goin' after "The Poopie Man"- LOL @ that one. Liked the Cuban(?)-sounding music bit in Break A.

Oh- and that thing about frightening a bunch of yahoos by firing blanks at 'em with a muzzle loading rifle? Been there, done that. When I was in college, there was a rowdy frat house next door and they used to party all night. (Typically annoying college frat boys, right?) So one night their partying went out on the lawn and woke me up. Well, at the time I was part of a group doing historical Civil War reenactments (yeah- I'm a nerd), and so I just happened to have this working replica of an 1863 .58 caliber Springfield rifle... with some black powder and caps...

Comment for "Snap Judgment #201: Hungry"


Can I give this one eight stars?

Been away for a while. It was nice to come back and find new episodes of Snap Judgment (and Radiolab) had been posted in my absence! This one was a real grabber! I tuned in for the adventurous aspects promised in the blurbs about "Buried Alive" and "Lost at Sea", and boy, they didn't disappoint! But I also found "The Orange" equally gripping. Glynn's personal tales were enjoyable as always, of course. Keep it up! I'm a big fan!

Comment for "01 - 'Ca de mar ata tu!' (Hello)"


Hope to see more additions to this series!

Leahy I was familiar with- I own a recording of that one. The rest were new to me. I really liked the strange Middle Eastern/Celtic fusion of Green Man. Hollie Smith sounded a tad like Clannad to me. Thanks- I enjoyed it.

Comment for "When All Else Fails"


Rob... 45 years old... bipolar.

Me too. I have the same name, am the same age, and have the same condition, so as you can imagine, this piece really punched me in the gut. Fortunately my case is much milder. Though I haven't yet found any medication or treatment that helped me much, I'm certainly not ready for ECT yet! Yikes! My heart goes out to our narrator, here. I see this piece is six years old and wonder how that other Rob is doing now. I hope he's managing well. It sure sounds like he's had his share of misery.

Comment for "Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair: A Granddaughter's Search for the Truth"


Poignant and powerful

I enjoyed this piece very much.

Comment for "The Retreived Reformation" (deleted)

Thanks! (deleted)

I used to wander Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina, for reasons that are hard to explain. Let's just say I found it a very peaceful place, and I often spent hours there. In one of my favorite parts of the old cemetery is the grave of William Sydney Porter ("O.Henry"). I almost feel a small personal connection to him, which is odd, considering how woefully unacquainted I am with much of his work. I do remember "The Gift of the Magi" and vague bits of other stories, but I definitely need to brush up on my knowledge and read (or listen to) more of them. He really could crank out a fine, concise tale, couldn't he? This year, 2010, is the centenary of his death.

I enjoyed your narration- your voice is warm and American but not too regional-sounding. I'll bet you're good with Mark Twain. I had a peek at your website and might visit there again.

Comment for "Snap Judgment 111: "The Hard Way" LIVE"


Just as great live!

I particularly enjoyed "Graduation Day" and Glynn's story about the family curse.

Comment for "Snap Judgment 110: Magic Doors"


Six stars on this one

This is my favorite SJ I've listened to so far.

Comment for "Snap Judgment 109: Plasticity"


What Rhonda Celester said

Awesome. Enjoyed Glynn's personal vignettes particularly. (Skin whitening cream? Are you kidding us? There's NO artistic license in that tale? It really happened?)

Comment for "Snap Judgment 108: The Man in the White Hat"


Oh, snap!

You mean to tell me there have been new SJ episodes up on PRX for a couple of months, now, and I DIDN'T SEE 'EM? Oh, snap! I gotta play catch-up!

Regarding this episode: I've heard the "Jeff meets Arthur C. Clarke" story somewhere else on PRX before- but certainly didn't mind hearing it again- it's a terrific story.

Comment for "La Llorona: An Evolving Myth"


Interesting

As a Norteamericano, I can't help but thinking of the Susan Smith and Andrea Yates cases when I hear about La Llorona. It almost makes me wonder if there wasn't some historical Llorona who actually lived once, centuries or perhaps millennia ago, and that maybe, just maybe, there is the tiniest real-life grain of fact beneath all the myth and legend? Of course, we'll never know, but it's interesting to speculate on.

Comment for "Hurricane Katrina - Drowning Inside a Locked Cell "


Gripping account

That's one of the more harrowing Katrina stories I've heard.

Comment for "Radiolab, Show 302: Sleep"


Another fascinating episode!

Man, I love Radiolab!

Comment for "Radiolab Show, 603 Parasites"


Yikes. That hypothetical just hit pretty close to home.

So you can pick up blood flukes in a pond Africa and they can live inside you for 40 years, causing unexplained lethargy and other problems?

Hmm. I've had problems with lethargy for years. Is it depression? Thyroid condition? Or... hey... I lived in Africa 38 years ago! I remember swimming in rivers and ponds there. OH NO!!! I'VE GOT BLOOD FLUKES!!! That 'splains a lot! Yeah! That's it!

Gee, thanks, Radiolab, fer making me cringe, haha.

No, but seriously, it's been a gripping and fascinating program, as always. Thanks.

Y'all have now become my favorite series on PRX. (I also said that about The Memory Palace, I think, but those are shorter pieces.) Keep up the good work.

PS- I will be reading some more about blood flukes. Gahh!

Comment for "Robert K. Elder interview, author, Last Words of the Executed"


The interview was fine, but I've got just one small nitpick...

It seems both interviewer and interviewee in this piece rely a little too much on "y'know" as a conversational space-filler at times. Hearing, y'know, the phrase "y'know" repeatedly can get a little, y'know... tiresome. Sometimes I'd rather hear a few "uhhhs" or "hmmms" thrown in than too many, y'know... y'knows.

I'm just trying to be constructive in my criticism, albeit over a tiny and unimportant issue. In some ways I feel like a fraud when I type critiques here, since I personally have never produced anything or done much at all with my writing. I'm always the diner and never the chef... y'know?

Comment for "Radiolab, Show 201: Detective Stories"


Fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable

I really loved this piece. It was, as I've said above, fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. Some of the "cutesier", artsy flourishes like the (stoned? mentally challenged?) young guy reciting "W... N ... Y ... C ..." very slowly are a tad annoying, but I still give this piece five stars for the content. Great stuff.

Comment for "Loose Cannons"


Wise counsel (or it is "council"? Eh, whatever.)

'Twas nice to listen to this piece after dealing with a particularly difficult and childish guest at the resort I work in.

Comment for "Nee Weinberg"


This is probably my favorite series on PRX!

Please- keep 'em coming!

(So we've got a graveyard-shift hotel desk clerk in this one, huh? Excellent! That happens to be my line of work, too. Radio pieces like this liven up my nights.)

Comment for "Snowbird Etiquette"


Thanks!

As a Southerner who works in a resort hotel, it's nice to hear this piece. I hope some of our future guests take heed! Sadly, the oil spill in the Gulf renders this discussion somewhat tragic, though, as many snowbirds will likely be changing their migratory patterns. That could be good news for us here on the Georgia coast, but more bad news for the Gulf coast, which has already had more than its share of misery in the past five years. Here's hoping their snowbirds come back to roost again one day.

Comment for "Black History Month Special - Ruby McCollum"


Excellent

I was impressed with the production values and voice acting in this piece. I think I'll listen to some others in the series.

Comment for "Snap Judgment 104: Something Ain't Right"


Yep, I'm a lazy reviewer- sorry

I left a review of S.J. #102 last night. Four stars. Got a nice message from Glynn Washington in return. He said he'd "work extra hard for that last star", or something like that. Funny, I thought I'd already left five stars on one of these. Hmm. I guess I forgot to. So here's your well-deserved five stars, Glynn (& associates). I think this particular piece was my favorite. Keep up the good work, as previously mentioned.

Comment for "Rebel Yell"


Fascinating

Thanks- I love stuff like this.

Comment for "Snap Judgment 102: Tales from the Library"


Fun stuff- keep up the good work!

Kudos to all involved in making this series. It's hip (which is something I don't care much about, since I am decidedly UNhip), but it's smart and interesting, too.

Oh, BTW, Mr. Washington... I live in GLYNN County, Georgia, for what it's worth. :-)

Comment for "Secession Showdown"


Very interesting

I knew about the black pirates, but I never realized how close a thing the secession of Virginia had been until I listened to this piece.