Well, I'm pretty much Dylan-ed out. Hung over from yesterday's four hour feast of radio listening here at prx and then the Scorcese flick last night pn PBS. I feel I have a vague idea of what 'the scene' was like. The only thing missing from the Ingles doc here are the interviews with the man himself. Dylan, not Ingles. Pretty much everything else is covered off with as much artistry and craftmanship as any Dylan tune, like a walk through The Museum - used very effectively in the first hour as both structure and source. And after listening to this piece, I feel much closer to the power of the music of the man - his voice and his lyrics. Watching the tele-film, I felt a little closer to his voice and persona, his social significance. As it was the lyrics and the songwriting - the poetry - that first drew me to Dylan - well after his finger pointing years, long after - this Ingles doc works wonders in revealing some - to me - unheard wonders. A deeper, broader Dylan.

For the general listener - like myself - this is a fine intro to the early years in Bob Dylan's musical life. There is enough balance, between the familar and the never-before-heard, to keep the inattentive and unitiated hooked for two hours while cleaning up around the house. I'm not sure what sort of shelf life this sort of narrow (in a good way) and understated piece will have - I supect little. I am left wanting more, that's for sure. Not a bad thing. As a result of listening, I may tune into the Scorcese doc tonight. Mission accomplished. Sort of.

I disagree with the reviewer above who dislikes the embroidery around the two main stories. The whole package rocks. Well...gently. I listened to this on a Friday evening after a long and arduous week of Much Noise. This show is da balm.

Repurposed Art Bell. A Haunted motel. Contacting aliens. Fun with walkie talkies. All a bit whack, as so little of radio - anywhere - is, genuinely, these days.

I'm glad to see these folks are podcasting and dividing the shows into 'minividual' segments which I assume are available for pds.

This is the sort of thing meant for restless nights or long drives. Nice use of white space. Excellent tone.

Special kudos to J. Coulton: personally I can't stand singer/guitarist/humorists (it a long story, same with mimes and sockpuppeteers) but he won me over with his song about the E-poppin', Red Bull quaffin', rave attendin', news anchor.

The theme of The Romance of Over the Air Radio works well coming through the wires too.

An extremely well produced half hour of light radio. And I don't mean light and fluffy. I mean light as in the absence of weight. I'd want to hear this on a Saturday afternoon, in the house, with the windows open, and a breeze blowing in.

It blows me away that this is essenitally 'community radio'. It's as well put together as anything I've heard on a national level - on the NPR wafting across the lake or on CBC here in Canada. The writing, recording, editing, and voicing are all deft, and self-assured.

The strength of this piece lies in what might be perceived as its weakness, at least judging by the tone and substance of much public radio. This piece is very much about the people making the piece. But somehow it works. It is extremely difficult to pull off this sort of thing without coming off as self-indulgent or self-important. But the crew manages to do it.

It's fun, personal, charming. These are the sort of folks you'd like to have hanging out around your house telling stories over a weekend mid-day tea break.

A slick, comprehensive look at the professional life of the comic genius Peter Sellers. This is a very well paced doc examining the arc of Seller's career, with due emphasis spent on his quality work. Perhaps I'm appreciating this piece because it aligns so closely with my opinion of Sellers and his work. I've always assumed I own or have seen or was, at least, aware of everything Peter Sellers ever did - from the brilliant to the awful. But no. I was unaware of a 1973 English film entitled The Optimists. I'm always shocked when I read shots aimed at the man and his performances - one I read in which the reviewer - well known - claimed that Sellers' three turn performance in Dr. Strangelove ruined the film. Huh? Sellers was mad, no doubt. And this piece does not shy away from that reality. The nuance in his vocal impressions was otherworldy. He was most definitely touched by something. His difficulties in getting on with the practical matters in life - or on a movie set, for that matter - are herein dealt with appropriately. If you only know Sellers from his bumbling as Clousseau, then this should be a real ear opener. Mike Myers, one of the interviewees would have us remember Sellers as a genius, singularly, ignoring or 'walking away' from his flaws. But it's the cracks that make the crack genius.

This piece turns workers rights issues upside down and sideways. Textile workers in Argentina - very articulate ones at that - take over a factory that is being abandoned. For these workers the issue is not working conditions or safety, but the base condition, survival.

The struggle is practical. Ethical as well. About legitmacy (working and feeding your family) and why - despite the inherent contradictions for a group of law abiding realists - that legitimacy trumps the law.

Yes this is the well worn tale of workers triumphing over the evils of capitalism - BUT these workers take over the factory to run it making a profit, in a ruthless marketplace, and fight eviction and rubber bullets from the authorities to make it happen.

More than anything this piece is about human dignity in the face of socalled inevtiability. Global theme with portents for North American manufacturing workers (? - wanna bet we'll be hearing about this real soon) and facilties. Tight, well produced storytelling. My only complaint: I could stand to hear more.

A lovely piece. An elderly man tells his story, of finding love and marriage again late in life. His wife is then hit with Alzheimer's and institutionalized. Personally I really enjoy listening to this sort of intimate, quiet and revealing tale. By the end I certainly want to hear more. A short piece like this and the follow ups or furtherances are the sort of thing I would like to hear over a period of weeks or months even.