World War II vet and narrator Vaughn Short
shares the memories of war that still haunt him and how, all these years later, he has made efforts to reconcile what he wrote about a dead Japanese soldier and left on his grave.
The piece is sparse, just Short's voice and an intermittent flute for pause and punctutation.
The writing is clear and brings narrator and listener through the WWII experience to the present.
It's insightful and thought-provoking.
Short's writing and delivery bring us images of his experiences.

Darrell Harvey takes us for a fun ride in search of alternative tranportation. Along the way we learn why people make certain transportation choices. Darrell sets a good pace for the piece, covering six types of transportation in just over three and a half minutes. He skips the preachy approach and offers information and perspectives, sprinkled with a good variety of ambient sound.
He also highlights a strong element of alternative transportation - economy. He doesn't spend a dime getting around town!
Happy Earth Day Darrell.

It seems every month is poetry month for Andrei
Codrescu and this piece shows us why.
Poet and New Orleans citizen Codrescu takes us around town to meet local characters who just happen to be poets. This provides the listener with great enjoyment and insight into poetry
and how Codrescu approaches the craft.
Then he has students write a poem about the poets they met.
Codrescu and Larry Masset make it a fun way to learn about poets and their work as well as the
unique town of New Orleans.

These 90 second pieces give us a glimpse into the heroics of otherwise ordinary people. It inspires the listeners to learn how the people profiled made a difference in helping or saving others' lives. It could happen to us. The writing is clear, with a good narrative element. I would prefer to hear related information (about the Hero Fund) only at the end. This would allow the story to be told without interruption.
In terms of airing the piece, I would need a local or timely hook. I hope the Carnegie Hero Fund contacts stations when a local hero is profiled.

Way to go, WFIU! It's clear that a lot of hard work went into these Fundraising Funnies.
They should inspire listeners to pledge and inspire those of us at other public radio to produce our own pitches - as well as make good use of WFIU's.
A couple fell short for me, especially Andy Rooney and Clint Eastwood. Since those guys are alive and kicking, let's get *their voices to help us!
Many of the pieces are so far-fetched they bring a smile while others find a smooth way to get to the pitch. Overall, Fundraising Funnies should help bring in some serious cash.

I found it interesting to learn about CAFTA. It seems to live mainly in the shadow of NAFTA, but with similar goals and potential consequences.
The introduction got off to a great start with descriptions of waiting for the bus in Guatemala...but no audio...no ambient sound!
It moved the piece from produced to interview. Once past that, I was definitely drawn into the interview for the information presented.
I was confused as I tried to figure out how many roles Maryknoll played in this story.
Host. Expert. And?
Also, one question lasted the better part of 40 seconds and offered up four or five possibilities before the guest had a chance to answer.

The first sound in this piece drew me in an puzzled me at the same time. Turned out to be a drill screwing parts of the art together, but I couldn't tell at first. So I'm now intrigued.
It took us a bit to get to Jane, the featured artist, but from then on she is the central figure and reporter Amy Jeffries, through her choice of actualities, gives Jane the role of
co-narrator.
The piece shows how the worlds of art and industry collide AND collaborate. Trial and error, problem solving.
By keeping an ambient sound bed under the whole story, Amy keeps us in the factory where it all takes place anyway. While I often tend away from all ambience all the time, it works here.
I am still trying to decipher if Amy said Jane "rolls" or "roams" through the factory, so a little better enunciation would have helped me follow the story.
The piece generates listener interest through elements of excitement and forward momentum.

"The Sentence" gives us insight from inside.
But twice I wrote "who are these people?".
I had a notion from the introductory notes, but some of their experience and perspective were lost on me because I didn't know who was speaking.
The music seemed appropriate to represent the young age of those who had been sentenced. And the fact that the same riff was repeated gave me a sense of the impending possiblity these kids would do MORE time. The sound of recidivism.

This piece immediately takes us into the lives and experiences of teen moms. But, mostly we hear directly from the teachers, not the mothers.
Good explanations of what personal and family circumstances leads these girls becoming teen moms - and how this class helps them with life and parenting.