This piece is of exceptional interest to me, as I've been quite curious lately how job hunting through Myspace or Facebook pays off in the real world. I was out of college just a smidge before the Facebook craze hit, but I have been working on setting up a Myspace page so I ended up listening to this one as almost a "do's and dont's" guide to online networking. If you listen from this perspective, then I think the interviews and commentary are quite insightful, but if it's played as simply a story, then it might feel a bit dated. Maybe Mr. Terrell can re-edit it to be spun from the former angle. If the target audience for the piece is college aged youths, then I think it would be more beneficial to them in that context.
Speaking as somebody who knows absolutely nothing about Russian cuisine, the first word that pops to mind is 'educational'. I liked this piece alot because it not only taught me a thing or two about Russian food, but also because it reminded me of how lucky we are to be a nation that has so many flares and flavors to it, even in the most far flung places like Alaska.
The bit of Russian music at the end was a nice touch as well and the woman who owns the restaurant (Ms. Fefelov) seems quite energetic about sharing her experience with Ms. Sheir.
This would be a good piece to have on during the afternoon drive daypart. When I'm on the way home I'm constantly warring with myself over what to have for dinner so this could act as a nice suggestion and the listener could easily find themself curious and ready to dive into their first bowl of borscht.
Too bad there isn't a tone for "BBC Radio 4ish", because that is the perfect way to describe this piece.
It is certainly a comfort to know that the peaceful and beautiful aspects of the Islamic faith are being taught to young people who may feel confused about their Muslim identities. I enjoy hearing that the true teachings of the Koran are being taught to Muslim-American youth before they might be led astray by dangerous extremists. Ms. Smolenski has chosen an excellent topic that does a wonderful job of tempering the constant negativity that we see regarding Islam with a hopeful feeling that the religion might find leaders in the young Americans that follow it and lift the distorted image that has sadly become its main connotation.
This would be a good piece to have on during a homeland security segment, as it would show that Americans on both sides of cultural fences are doing their part to ensure a safe future for our nation.
The only suggestion that I make to Ms. Smolenski is to pronounce the Arabic names a bit slower and with less of an accent as it made them difficult to catch and kind of interrupted the flow of the piece.
Comments by Rich Greene
Comment for "Facebook"
Rich Greene
Posted on December 14, 2006 at 06:57 PM | Permalink
Review of Facebook
This piece is of exceptional interest to me, as I've been quite curious lately how job hunting through Myspace or Facebook pays off in the real world. I was out of college just a smidge before the Facebook craze hit, but I have been working on setting up a Myspace page so I ended up listening to this one as almost a "do's and dont's" guide to online networking. If you listen from this perspective, then I think the interviews and commentary are quite insightful, but if it's played as simply a story, then it might feel a bit dated. Maybe Mr. Terrell can re-edit it to be spun from the former angle. If the target audience for the piece is college aged youths, then I think it would be more beneficial to them in that context.
Comment for "Love & Borscht in Alaska"
Rich Greene
Posted on December 14, 2006 at 06:25 PM | Permalink
Review of Love & Borscht in Alaska
Speaking as somebody who knows absolutely nothing about Russian cuisine, the first word that pops to mind is 'educational'. I liked this piece alot because it not only taught me a thing or two about Russian food, but also because it reminded me of how lucky we are to be a nation that has so many flares and flavors to it, even in the most far flung places like Alaska.
The bit of Russian music at the end was a nice touch as well and the woman who owns the restaurant (Ms. Fefelov) seems quite energetic about sharing her experience with Ms. Sheir.
This would be a good piece to have on during the afternoon drive daypart. When I'm on the way home I'm constantly warring with myself over what to have for dinner so this could act as a nice suggestion and the listener could easily find themself curious and ready to dive into their first bowl of borscht.
Comment for "Islamic Education"
Rich Greene
Posted on December 13, 2006 at 02:07 PM | Permalink
Review of Islamic Education
Too bad there isn't a tone for "BBC Radio 4ish", because that is the perfect way to describe this piece.
It is certainly a comfort to know that the peaceful and beautiful aspects of the Islamic faith are being taught to young people who may feel confused about their Muslim identities. I enjoy hearing that the true teachings of the Koran are being taught to Muslim-American youth before they might be led astray by dangerous extremists. Ms. Smolenski has chosen an excellent topic that does a wonderful job of tempering the constant negativity that we see regarding Islam with a hopeful feeling that the religion might find leaders in the young Americans that follow it and lift the distorted image that has sadly become its main connotation.
This would be a good piece to have on during a homeland security segment, as it would show that Americans on both sides of cultural fences are doing their part to ensure a safe future for our nation.
The only suggestion that I make to Ms. Smolenski is to pronounce the Arabic names a bit slower and with less of an accent as it made them difficult to catch and kind of interrupted the flow of the piece.