What are your favorite pieces for group listening?

[Jones Franzel]

When you're teaching radio, organizing a listening session or simply seeking inspiration, what's the audio you reach for?

A few of the recommendations we've heard:

1. From Longhaul Productions, "The Lord God Bird."
2. From Youth Radio, "Why We Love Bass."
3. Using Ratatouille, yes, Ratatouille, the Disney movie, as a sound assignment. Come to think of it, Wall-E, which is almost without dialogue, would be a great sound piece to analyze...

[charlotte mcdonald]

I love to play Thembi's Diary for people who aren't used to listening to the radio. If All Things Considered is one end of the spectrum, Thembi Ngubane is the other end. A young South African woman afflicted with AIDS, Thembi chronicled the small and large events of her life over the course of a year. The website calls this Radio Diaries project "an audio diary of her struggle to live with AIDS". It's not just about AIDS, though. Thembi brings a slice of South Africa to an audience that is (probably) mostly white, middle-class, and American. Her piece is reminiscient of This American Life in voice, but stands alone in honesty and integrity. As a girl, I find Thembi's account inspiring. As a reporter, I find it incredibly brave. Check it out sometime: www.aidsdiary.org.

[Colleen]

Here are two pieces I like to share during listening sessions:

Rabbit hunt Feb 2003 All Things Considered -- there is such great sound, it places the listener in the field, it's short and there is a twist at the end.
Radio Diaries: Josh in New York City: Growing Up with Tourette's