The Fresh Air Fund

ed.voicethread.com/share/2418628

Investor's Business Daily Analysis

http://voicethread.com/?#u1915621.b2434835.i12888704

FreeSamples.com Analysis

https://ed.voicethread.com/?#u1915597.b2411349.i12759823

https://ed.voicethread.com/?#u1915662.b2418258.i12798523

Voice thread

Link to Lee Stretch Khakis Ad Podcast

ed.voicethread.com/share/2411340/

VoiceThread | Neosporin

Neosporin Advertisement Analysis

K-Sentials Media Analysis

http://ed.voicethread.com/?#u1915546.b2429712.i12858730

Rhetorical Analysis - Nestle Juicy Juice

http://ed.voicethread.com/?#u1915624.b2428415.i12852306

This American Life on a Local Story

This week's show on This American Life is about a man from Schenectady, New York.

http://www.radiolab.org/2011/mar/08/

I listened to an episode of Radiolab, titled “Help”. This episode is fascinating, talking about strangeness of the struggle between two sides of your desire. This year in Nonfiction and Media we have already talked about procrastination and this episode talks about things even more serious than procrastination and how people combated them. This episode talks about the smoker that can’t quit and the author that can’t write. The main theme is self-enemy and how to stop yourself from ruining what it is you want to do. Though I wish there was a deeper scientific view on this topic. For this episode the name Radiolab was not the best fit, because it implies going to a certain level of science, which this episode did not.

This American Life: Auto Show

I'm not a big fan of cars. They are good for driving from place to place, getting where I need to go and whatnot. I do not, however, spend hours of my time admiring the paint jobs of cars on the street. When I listened to the radio show called "Auto Show," I didn't know what to expect. I picked it because I remember listening to the program called "Car Talk" in the car with my dad. I listened to a part of it about a man who had his car stolen when he was on vacation. He did not expect to see it again, but one day, when visiting a friend's house, he did. He followed the car until the thieves lost him, but the police later found them. No details were given to the man on the identity of the criminals who stole his car. However, he was able to deduce characteristics of the thieves, as objects like applications for a job at Red Lobster, toys for children, tubes of silly putty, and football helmet stickers were left behind. I think this was the most interesting part of this radio show. The fact that car thieves would be driving their children to school while looking for a new job, one without stealing, is fascinating to me. A purple rattle in a stolen car just seems so abnormal to me. The picture painted by the speakers gives a glimpse beyond the story of a stolen car and looks at the society pictured behind it. The use of the overlap of voices was very effective in this radio show, but at some points, in between the story he had in his mind and the next question asked of him, the discussion seemed to fade and become less relevant. At the end of this radio show, I found that I received a much different story than I thought I would. Instead of comparing the paint jobs of two nearly identical cars, I had a little story about a seemingly normal parent doing a very abnormal thing: stealing a car. Like the food essays our Nonfiction and Media class made, this show used a relevant topic to tell a deeper story.

Works Cited:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/279/auto-show

Middle School | This American Life

The episode that I listened to on This American Life was titled "Middle School." I was immediately drawn to this particular podcast because I knew that it was a topic that would be highly relatable. Everyone remembers middle school: going through the awkward stages of puberty, the pressures of wearing the right clothes and saying the right things, and mostly, just trying to fit in. The episode was an interesting mix of scientific fact and anecdotes from several middle school students, which I thought worked well for the episode. It was particularly interesting to learn that most of your brain development occurs during this period, aside from infancy. The narrator described how the overproduction of your brain cells causes you to develop mentally into the person you will become, thus "growing up." This neurological aspect was a different approach to the story, however it made sense and helped the listener further understand what is actually goes on in a middle schooler's mind. The host then introduces several narratives that include interviews and recaps of middle school dances, cafeteria situations, and changing outward appearances to be accepted. Overall I enjoyed the podcast, and found it entertaining yet informative at the same time.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/449/middle-school

This American Life - BREAK UP

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/339/break-up

I listened to “Break up” of This American Life. The title itself attracted me because break up is a very common topic, and it happens to a lot of people, so I was wondering, how could they make it interesting? I like how the speaker who went through a break up showed her emotions; audiences can hear her cry, and even the pauses help us distinguish her emotions and feelings. Also, when she was talking about how she has never gone back to places where she and her boyfriend had been, it seems like the speaker and the host are actually there at the place, which dragged me in. After this story, a narrator was telling a different break up story. This is very different, because it is obvious that she is not the one who went through the break up. Then, songs related to the story was played while the story was told, and there is a strong connection between the story and the song because she was talking about how she felt listening to sad songs after breaking up.

The Psychopath Test | This American Life

"The Psychopath Test" episode of This American Life is centered largely around the staff of the radio show; after learning of a test that determines whether or not someone is a psychopath, the staff decided that they wanted to know if they themselves were, in fact, psychopaths. While this episode is comedic for the most part, the host does give thorough and easy-to-understand information regarding psychopathy. The history of the "The Psychopath Test" is explained clearly and efficiently--interesting examples of questions on the test itself are expertly woven into the more factual information. Though the topic of this episode was quite engaging, the fact that the staff is featured so much could alienate more casual listeners who are not familiar with every member of the radio show. On the other hand, loyal listeners would most likely find this episode to be extremely fun since they would already have a good knowledge of the personalities of the individual staff members.

This American Life

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/play_full.php?play=279&act=1

The episode I listened to of This American Life was called "Auto Show." I wasn't actually 100% sure that I wanted to listen to this episode, as it was all about cars. I listened to the segment about "DB Dragracing"-- a competition about making stereos so loud that you can't even sit in the car when the stereo in it is blasting. This report does a good job of describing two main competitors, though I was annoyed when, at the beginning of the report, the interviewee began with accusing a competitor of taking advantage of a technical mishap in order to win. In the middle, the technology rundown got sort of dry, but then the report began to talk about the competition itself, as one point building the suspense by playing a track of car doors slowly slamming shut in order to countdown to the start of the competition. Overall, the tone of this report was different from past This American Life reports because it was more geared toward a certain part of the population, though it was still accessible and interesting--even to a teenage girl.

Gossip on the Radio

I listened to This American Life's radio show on the topic of gossip. The host had an usual approach to discussing gossip: she introduced the show with a personal story from a male guest about how he got caught up in gossip and went on to an interview with an African woman about the serious dangers of gossip. The different perspectives made for a compelling show. The introduction hooked me in with a typical story of gossip from a man's perspective, but then went on to delve into gossip in Africa and how it connects to the knowledge of HIV. The structure flowed from the first story to the next. Though there was an element of seriousness, especially in the interview, but the casual tone made it easy to listen to.