Scrolling through my list of "Tones," here, I find them to be too understated for my feelings about this piece.
Certainly, it's "Amusing" - and the humor builds upon itself. Brussell's patience in letting the story grow is outstanding. What begins as an odd little story that brings me back to my youth (perhaps misspent listening to my own "Hooked on Classics" album) becomes a great comic romp as the elements repeat themselves to great effect. I found myself frowning, then smiling, then chuckling, then laughing by the time the story ended.
This is "Unusual" in several ways. Primarily, the music played sounds amateurish at first, as an audible tape click of the "Hooked on Classics" recording cues it in without any engineered fade. This happens again, and again, until I realized that it's part of the fun. By the end, hearing the tape player click on just adds to the swirl of silliness. The tale itself is more than unusual. It's bizarre. Beautifully so... except, perhaps, for Bob.
What's "Surprising" to me is that I enjoyed this story as much as I did. I like how raw it is, and how it comes across as a stream-of-consciousness recollection. The content is pretty basic - it's right there in the title of the piece. The genius is how Brussell is able to take these absurdist elements and weave them together to make a solid piece of comedy.
Wonderful sound throughout the story. Nice, patient job of taking the milk through the step-by-step process of transformation to cheese. The repeat emphasis on handwashing makes it clear how easy it could be for bad bacteria to get through.
This would be a great evergreen piece to set up a discussion about what's going on right now.
Great voice. I'm totally drawn in by that, right from the start, but when music comes in, it felt a little out of place. I dig the tune, but not the placement. That guy's voice is music on its own.
Fun idea for there to have been vegetable farming in the city. This does a nice job of building the scene of receding agrarian land. I could see this playing as an historical piece that gives a look back at how land has been used.
I kind of lose the speaker during one of his tangents. While I'm completely drawn in from the start of the story, I lose the story as the point fades out.
Certainly, beautiful music used, and it's nice that the producer let it go long at the end of the piece.
Nice use of sound at the top. Good quick introduction of subject. Raw feel, and the ambience brings me right into NYC. There's a nice drop out of the voice to allow the ambience to shine through. Well done.
This is constructed nicely, with the guy IDing himself after a scene-setting introduction. Interesting touch with the difference between a "sweat shine" and a "spit shine".
This piece could certainly run shorter - at 2:45, I'm wondering where this is going to go with the next couple of minutes. This would work nicely as a piece profiling NYC - the people of NYC. If the piece producer would allow it, I think cutting this down would increase its usability.
Straight stand-up comedy about the job-holder's worst nightmare. In this case, though, pretty funny.
The sketches are hit and miss, but some had me laughing out loud, and that's pretty good for radio stand-up. This is two hours long... if there were a way to condense it to one-hour of the best pieces, it would be more consistently funny. But each of the pieces is amusing in its own way.
At the end of this, the announcer discusses a contest for listeners in which they can share their own stories of being fired. I'd be interested to hear the 2nd version of this, presumably being released in 2006, that includes at least one of those. In this case, these were all told by performers, and I like the stories about real people best.
A 12-minute piece that moves along FAST. I enjoyed listening to this vaildation of conscious consumption, and I think others who think about what they eat would as well. Certainly, it's clear that the producer feels strongly about the value of sustainable farming and avoiding GMOs. I think that's both a strength and a weakness of this carefully constructed piece.
An effort was made to get the "big ag" perspective into this, with in-person quotes from a "corn-fed cattle" guy. But it gets buried under an avalanche of contrary perspectives, and that leaves the story feeling a bit imblanced to me. The perspectives of economics and mass-marketing are touched on but ultimately glossed over. I already sympathize more with the family farmer going into the story, and I don't learn too much about why that's so great, other than the understanding that I already had before listening. I expect lots of public radio listeners are something like me in that regard.
Still, this is a well-produced piece, there's no phone tape, lots of farm tape, and I enjoyed listening to it.
This story does a great job of showing a working man's struggle. From the very beginning of this story, when the producer chooses to use the sound of the central character's car refusing to start, this piece draws the listener in. The recordings here are beautiful, the stories the man tells are very personal and telling, the blend of sounds are really nice. Even though it's obviously an uphill battle for this man, and that comes through well in the storytelling, there is hope in the piece. The end is really cool, and unexpected. Beautiful stuff.
Beautifully made. I had a lot of hope before listening to this piece - blacksmithing just seems right for radio. And, happily, my hopes were well met.
The subject of this story is a good storyteller, and the producer did a nice job of recording both his tales as well as the sounds of his shop. There is nice use of accent music as well, helping the piece flow.
Though the stories in this series are fairly long, particularly for profiles, they move fast, and this is no exception. It's a nice portrait of a time-honored profession, and that sense of history and significance comes through well in this piece.
It's interesting to hear a labor piece set in Colorado, particularly a memorialization of an historic event. This story does a nice job of representing the event, and drawing the necessary links between past and present, that the labor movement tries to establish. The producer does a nice job of bringing the listener there, to the site.
That is both a benefit to the piece, and an issue I have with it. The rawness of some of the tape - like overblown discussions through loudspeakers - is not the easiest to listen to. Also, like at any rally, there is some long-windedness, and I think that this piece would benefit from a little tightening, particularly when points about remembering history are repeated.
I think that if producers are airing national broadcasts on work issues, this can be a decent representative piece of some of Colorado's labor history. I would ideally want it recut a little shorter, and the end redone (because it dates the piece.) But with a good lede, it would work.
It's a pleasure to hear profiles of working-people's lives... when you can get past the obvious, avoid the drudgery, and reveal the beautiful things that show humanity. This story does a nice job of that, personifying the toll-booth money collector - a person who we usually hardly even glance at in our rush from here to there.
The producer uses sound nicely - my favorite parts are hearing the jazz interspersed with the voices of people driving up and then by in their cars. The sounds is excellent, and it's fun to hear it from the other side of the rolled-down window.
The story doesn't seem to go much beyond that to me - it doesn't get into wistfulness or what-might-have-been's or problems or anything like that. Just a mention near the end of how other people deal with issues in their everyday lives, and this guy tries to just help them along - albeit in five second intervals. As such, I think I would have been more satisfied if the story were shorter.
This is a beautifully produced piece giving a brief glimpse at the remarkable change in the American workplace. Using "Mother Warren's" mill as an example, this shows how "cradle-to-grave" blue collar jobs have become expendable ina globalized economy. Would be a nice piece to touch off a larger conversation on issues of unionization, corporatization, globalization, or the history of the workplace. This producer has also made a longer documentary, from which this is excerpted, and it's really well done, too.
It's one thing to think of the terms "drug addict" or "prostitute" or "homeless person", but to hear the stories of people living on the streets... to understand their backstories, their reasons, is something entirely different. Borten's documentary gives that insight. I truly appreciate pieces that give that three-dimensional sense of a person, because listening to such stories help me to better understand a greater world around me. I recommend this piece for producers who have half-an-hour to air pieces that give a more holistic perspective to how and why people suffer, and what it can take to overcome personal demons.
Jackman has a nice voice and delivery. This story took a little while to catch my interest, but the eloquent descriptions of the workplace eventually drew me into the story. This work reminds me somewhat of comedian Josh Kornbluth, who draws attention to the inanities of dull labor. I think some change-ups in pacing... perhaps a moment here... an elongated word there... would help this piece along. In the end, I feel it's a nice little meditation on temp labor.
This is a fun exploration of the roots of a song. I feel that in this age of disposable entertainment, it's really nice to hear something that reflects upon the stories that built up modern culture. Casey Jones is one of those.
The piece is carried along nicely by music and storytelling. I've got to say that anything that features Mississippi John Hurt is always worth listening to, and this has Hurt. The story didn't always hold my attention, but as a light piece, it's nicely made and it brings some truth to the mythology.
One note for producers: the end says "For NPR News..." so that should be struck before broadcast.
This is the kind of feature that reaches through your ears to grab your heart. The Long Haul Pros did a beautiful job recording the people involved with this story and also, evidently, of training the principals to use the mics in intimate situations. Listening to this piece really reinforces the amazing power of good storytelling and the importance of finding the right characters to bring issues to life.
I've been impressed with all the work I have heard from Long Haul Productions, and this documentary is a great example of the company's talents at blending intimate interviews with perfect music.
The story of Port Chicago is extraordinary in American history, because it brings so many compelling topics together - race relations, military mobilization, World War II, labor... The fact that it is not a more widely known incident is a shame, because I think it gives great lessons in all of the above topics, as well as the importance of integrity in life.
Told exclusively through the words of survivors of the blasts that killed more than 300, this radio piece is a wonderful way to learn about history - first hand through a great diversity of voices. Long Haul Productions mixes the story together with top-notch production values. It's a pleasure to listen to.
As senior producer at KALW News in San Francisco, I'm very glad we had a chance to run this story on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. And I think it would be an excellent story for listeners to hear anytime.
Comments by Ben Trefny
Comment for "'The Story of Bob', A Man Who Only Listened to "Hooked on Classics" and said "Super""
Ben Trefny
Posted on February 01, 2007 at 12:18 PM | Permalink
Review of 'The Story of Bob', A Man Who Only Listened to "Hooked on Classics" and said "Super"
Scrolling through my list of "Tones," here, I find them to be too understated for my feelings about this piece.
Certainly, it's "Amusing" - and the humor builds upon itself. Brussell's patience in letting the story grow is outstanding. What begins as an odd little story that brings me back to my youth (perhaps misspent listening to my own "Hooked on Classics" album) becomes a great comic romp as the elements repeat themselves to great effect. I found myself frowning, then smiling, then chuckling, then laughing by the time the story ended.
This is "Unusual" in several ways. Primarily, the music played sounds amateurish at first, as an audible tape click of the "Hooked on Classics" recording cues it in without any engineered fade. This happens again, and again, until I realized that it's part of the fun. By the end, hearing the tape player click on just adds to the swirl of silliness. The tale itself is more than unusual. It's bizarre. Beautifully so... except, perhaps, for Bob.
What's "Surprising" to me is that I enjoyed this story as much as I did. I like how raw it is, and how it comes across as a stream-of-consciousness recollection. The content is pretty basic - it's right there in the title of the piece. The genius is how Brussell is able to take these absurdist elements and weave them together to make a solid piece of comedy.
Comment for "Food Technicians Battling EColi"
Ben Trefny
Posted on September 29, 2006 at 09:19 AM | Permalink
Review of Food Technicians Battling EColi
Great topical piece for the ongoing concern.
Wonderful sound throughout the story. Nice, patient job of taking the milk through the step-by-step process of transformation to cheese. The repeat emphasis on handwashing makes it clear how easy it could be for bad bacteria to get through.
This would be a great evergreen piece to set up a discussion about what's going on right now.
Comment for "Rocco from the Bronx"
Ben Trefny
Posted on January 15, 2006 at 01:34 PM | Permalink
Review of Rocco from the Bronx
Great voice. I'm totally drawn in by that, right from the start, but when music comes in, it felt a little out of place. I dig the tune, but not the placement. That guy's voice is music on its own.
Fun idea for there to have been vegetable farming in the city. This does a nice job of building the scene of receding agrarian land. I could see this playing as an historical piece that gives a look back at how land has been used.
I kind of lose the speaker during one of his tangents. While I'm completely drawn in from the start of the story, I lose the story as the point fades out.
Certainly, beautiful music used, and it's nice that the producer let it go long at the end of the piece.
Comment for "The Shine"
Ben Trefny
Posted on January 15, 2006 at 12:24 PM | Permalink
Review of The Shine
Nice use of sound at the top. Good quick introduction of subject. Raw feel, and the ambience brings me right into NYC. There's a nice drop out of the voice to allow the ambience to shine through. Well done.
This is constructed nicely, with the guy IDing himself after a scene-setting introduction. Interesting touch with the difference between a "sweat shine" and a "spit shine".
This piece could certainly run shorter - at 2:45, I'm wondering where this is going to go with the next couple of minutes. This would work nicely as a piece profiling NYC - the people of NYC. If the piece producer would allow it, I think cutting this down would increase its usability.
Nice job, overall. I enjoyed listening to it.
Comment for "Fired!" (deleted)
Ben Trefny
Posted on December 26, 2005 at 09:12 AM
Review of Fired! (deleted)
Straight stand-up comedy about the job-holder's worst nightmare. In this case, though, pretty funny.
The sketches are hit and miss, but some had me laughing out loud, and that's pretty good for radio stand-up. This is two hours long... if there were a way to condense it to one-hour of the best pieces, it would be more consistently funny. But each of the pieces is amusing in its own way.
At the end of this, the announcer discusses a contest for listeners in which they can share their own stories of being fired. I'd be interested to hear the 2nd version of this, presumably being released in 2006, that includes at least one of those. In this case, these were all told by performers, and I like the stories about real people best.
The grave-digger's story had me rolling...
Great concept... could be a great tradition.
Comment for "Grass Fed Beef"
Ben Trefny
Posted on December 22, 2005 at 08:22 PM | Permalink
Review of Grass Fed Beef
A 12-minute piece that moves along FAST. I enjoyed listening to this vaildation of conscious consumption, and I think others who think about what they eat would as well. Certainly, it's clear that the producer feels strongly about the value of sustainable farming and avoiding GMOs. I think that's both a strength and a weakness of this carefully constructed piece.
An effort was made to get the "big ag" perspective into this, with in-person quotes from a "corn-fed cattle" guy. But it gets buried under an avalanche of contrary perspectives, and that leaves the story feeling a bit imblanced to me. The perspectives of economics and mass-marketing are touched on but ultimately glossed over. I already sympathize more with the family farmer going into the story, and I don't learn too much about why that's so great, other than the understanding that I already had before listening. I expect lots of public radio listeners are something like me in that regard.
Still, this is a well-produced piece, there's no phone tape, lots of farm tape, and I enjoyed listening to it.
Comment for "Entrepreneur"
Ben Trefny
Posted on December 18, 2005 at 08:44 PM | Permalink
Review of Entrepreneur
This story does a great job of showing a working man's struggle. From the very beginning of this story, when the producer chooses to use the sound of the central character's car refusing to start, this piece draws the listener in. The recordings here are beautiful, the stories the man tells are very personal and telling, the blend of sounds are really nice. Even though it's obviously an uphill battle for this man, and that comes through well in the storytelling, there is hope in the piece. The end is really cool, and unexpected. Beautiful stuff.
Comment for "The Art and Craft of Blacksmithing with Lewis Meyer"
Ben Trefny
Posted on December 13, 2005 at 08:39 AM | Permalink
Review of The Art and Craft of Blacksmithing with Lewis Meyer
Beautifully made. I had a lot of hope before listening to this piece - blacksmithing just seems right for radio. And, happily, my hopes were well met.
The subject of this story is a good storyteller, and the producer did a nice job of recording both his tales as well as the sounds of his shop. There is nice use of accent music as well, helping the piece flow.
Though the stories in this series are fairly long, particularly for profiles, they move fast, and this is no exception. It's a nice portrait of a time-honored profession, and that sense of history and significance comes through well in this piece.
Comment for "Remembering Ludlow"
Ben Trefny
Posted on December 13, 2005 at 07:55 AM | Permalink
Review of Remembering Ludlow
It's interesting to hear a labor piece set in Colorado, particularly a memorialization of an historic event. This story does a nice job of representing the event, and drawing the necessary links between past and present, that the labor movement tries to establish. The producer does a nice job of bringing the listener there, to the site.
That is both a benefit to the piece, and an issue I have with it. The rawness of some of the tape - like overblown discussions through loudspeakers - is not the easiest to listen to. Also, like at any rally, there is some long-windedness, and I think that this piece would benefit from a little tightening, particularly when points about remembering history are repeated.
I think that if producers are airing national broadcasts on work issues, this can be a decent representative piece of some of Colorado's labor history. I would ideally want it recut a little shorter, and the end redone (because it dates the piece.) But with a good lede, it would work.
Comment for "Roadway Renaissance Man"
Ben Trefny
Posted on December 07, 2005 at 08:01 AM | Permalink
Review of Roadway Renaissance Man
It's a pleasure to hear profiles of working-people's lives... when you can get past the obvious, avoid the drudgery, and reveal the beautiful things that show humanity. This story does a nice job of that, personifying the toll-booth money collector - a person who we usually hardly even glance at in our rush from here to there.
The producer uses sound nicely - my favorite parts are hearing the jazz interspersed with the voices of people driving up and then by in their cars. The sounds is excellent, and it's fun to hear it from the other side of the rolled-down window.
The story doesn't seem to go much beyond that to me - it doesn't get into wistfulness or what-might-have-been's or problems or anything like that. Just a mention near the end of how other people deal with issues in their everyday lives, and this guy tries to just help them along - albeit in five second intervals. As such, I think I would have been more satisfied if the story were shorter.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to it.
Comment for "Working in a Paper Mill"
Ben Trefny
Posted on December 03, 2005 at 09:19 AM | Permalink
Review of Working in a Paper Mill
This is a beautifully produced piece giving a brief glimpse at the remarkable change in the American workplace. Using "Mother Warren's" mill as an example, this shows how "cradle-to-grave" blue collar jobs have become expendable ina globalized economy. Would be a nice piece to touch off a larger conversation on issues of unionization, corporatization, globalization, or the history of the workplace. This producer has also made a longer documentary, from which this is excerpted, and it's really well done, too.
Comment for "Lost in America"
Ben Trefny
Posted on November 19, 2005 at 09:54 AM | Permalink
Review of Lost in America
It's one thing to think of the terms "drug addict" or "prostitute" or "homeless person", but to hear the stories of people living on the streets... to understand their backstories, their reasons, is something entirely different. Borten's documentary gives that insight. I truly appreciate pieces that give that three-dimensional sense of a person, because listening to such stories help me to better understand a greater world around me. I recommend this piece for producers who have half-an-hour to air pieces that give a more holistic perspective to how and why people suffer, and what it can take to overcome personal demons.
Comment for "Need income? Take temp assignments. Yeah, right."
Ben Trefny
Posted on November 15, 2005 at 10:27 AM | Permalink
Review of Need income? Take temp assignments. Yeah, right.
Jackman has a nice voice and delivery. This story took a little while to catch my interest, but the eloquent descriptions of the workplace eventually drew me into the story. This work reminds me somewhat of comedian Josh Kornbluth, who draws attention to the inanities of dull labor. I think some change-ups in pacing... perhaps a moment here... an elongated word there... would help this piece along. In the end, I feel it's a nice little meditation on temp labor.
Comment for "Casey Jones"
Ben Trefny
Posted on October 04, 2005 at 10:42 PM | Permalink
Review of Casey Jones
This is a fun exploration of the roots of a song. I feel that in this age of disposable entertainment, it's really nice to hear something that reflects upon the stories that built up modern culture. Casey Jones is one of those.
The piece is carried along nicely by music and storytelling. I've got to say that anything that features Mississippi John Hurt is always worth listening to, and this has Hurt. The story didn't always hold my attention, but as a light piece, it's nicely made and it brings some truth to the mythology.
One note for producers: the end says "For NPR News..." so that should be struck before broadcast.
Comment for "Dear Birth Mother"
Ben Trefny
Posted on October 04, 2005 at 10:13 PM | Permalink
Review of Dear Birth Mother
This is the kind of feature that reaches through your ears to grab your heart. The Long Haul Pros did a beautiful job recording the people involved with this story and also, evidently, of training the principals to use the mics in intimate situations. Listening to this piece really reinforces the amazing power of good storytelling and the importance of finding the right characters to bring issues to life.
Comment for "The Port Chicago 50: An Oral History"
Ben Trefny
Posted on August 19, 2005 at 08:30 AM | Permalink
Review of The Port Chicago 50: An Oral History
I've been impressed with all the work I have heard from Long Haul Productions, and this documentary is a great example of the company's talents at blending intimate interviews with perfect music.
The story of Port Chicago is extraordinary in American history, because it brings so many compelling topics together - race relations, military mobilization, World War II, labor... The fact that it is not a more widely known incident is a shame, because I think it gives great lessons in all of the above topics, as well as the importance of integrity in life.
Told exclusively through the words of survivors of the blasts that killed more than 300, this radio piece is a wonderful way to learn about history - first hand through a great diversity of voices. Long Haul Productions mixes the story together with top-notch production values. It's a pleasure to listen to.
As senior producer at KALW News in San Francisco, I'm very glad we had a chance to run this story on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. And I think it would be an excellent story for listeners to hear anytime.