Outer Voices Podcast One: Water

Overall, the podcast was done well, though there is always room for improvement.

Intro: John spoke a bit too slowly, especially considering it's the beginning- A slow start doesn't grab attention. I liked how John related things in an "us vs them" fashion, it seems as though things are better understood when related to things we already understand.

Ethiopia: Jessica had an ideal voice & solid intonation for the most part. It worked well when discussing the jerry can to relate its cost to "half of their income" instead of just throwing out an amount. Jessica mentioned how a lack of action from the government was having a huge negative impact on accessibility of water, & it would've been really beneficial for her to include more details on the relationship between the people and their government in order to give us a better understanding of the nature of the problem. We can't find a solution without truly knowing the problem first.

India: Hannah's speech was tedious and drawn out, which seemed to rub off on the material. Her voice in the field, however, seemed much more natural (yet still professional) and was much easier to listen to. In the beginning, Hannah mentioned that the portion of India that her podcast was taking place was in North Eastern India, which is a great bit of information. However, because she did not go further than that, it lacked significance. Had she mentioned the climactic/cultural relevance of the geographic location (if it exists) the fact that it was located in North Eastern India would've meant a lot more. Much of the field recordings could have used more editing. I didn't understand why Hannah decided to leave in the "debate" over the size of the boat. I appreciate the emphasis put on the boat's smallness, but much of it was simply unnecessary. I found myself thinking "get to the point". I really enjoyed the water in the background of the (non-field) recordings- much better than silence in the background & not too distracting.

Transitional material: Again John spoke a bit too slowly, though really John's voice is incredibly soothing. The water cycle bit was too long & because I am well acquainted with the water cycle (as many who listen will be) it became almost tedious to listen to. I really really liked the cause + effect presentation of the material, I think it's super effective and easy to apply.

Bolivia: Dans intonation/speed was distracting and detracted from the comprehensibility of the material. I appreciate the news anchor style, but I felt overall it didn't work for this piece. I would've really benefited from some cultural/geographic background for this piece because I found myself confused by the mention of a glacier in an area I assumed to be more tropical/temperate. I thought the field recordings/interviews were done very well & were super effective. I would've liked more information on the relationship between this small area of Bolivia and the rest of the country because in the bit where the national energy grid was mentioned, I felt pretty out of the loop.

Overall: Job well done, cohesive, with only minor rough spots.

Intro: I like John's introduction pace, and his relation of the issues of water to us.

Ethiopia: I like the Jessica's voice and the clear description of the scenery to explain the sounds in the background. The inclusion of the government's negligence and yet also the chance of hope gives a nice final conclusion to a difficult subject. Also, showing the educational and economic costs of lack of water help reinforce that it is much more than just a major inconvenience. Finally, the global warming report gives listeners an obvious way to help, even indirectly, to be part of the water crisis solution.

Segue: It was a little weird to say the source of the Ethiopia segment, go back to the music, then go into the segue. Wonderful analogy of washing machines and American water systems. Nice, soothing voice, good pace. Nice transition.

India: Hannah's in studio voice sounded a different from her field voice, perhaps the acoustics made it echo a bit too much. Her field voice was much easier to follow. @ KATIE - Hannah mentioned she was in Garma Souk, Upper Assam. (I'll admit, unlike Jessica, she doesn't place Assam in any context between famous Indian places.) The fascinating floating clinics definitely intrigued me. The seasonal contrast between water and no water ties it to the Ethiopia section. Once again, the bounty and lack of water damages the economic, educational, and occupational opportunities of the people. The boat "debate' was left in to give the viewer an idea of how dinky, fragile, and primitive most of the boats the people have to use, to explain why they're paralyzed by even minor shifts in the river. I thought a studio description of the boat might have helped.

Segue: Smoother intro than last transition. The analogy was a little long and I started to wonder what the point was, but ultimately connected to the next segment.

Bolivia: @ Katie - Bolivia is in the middle of the Andes, it is mostly cold and high altitude, most people don't live in the jungle valleys. I didn't like how Dan paraphrased the interviewed people instead of simply letting someone translate it directly as the people didn't say exactly what Dan said, for instance the Mantaño mentioned a lot of details about the town, like the fact that it has 152 families. I liked how the glaciers and global warming tied back to the global warming mentioned in the Ethiopia segment. Akward ending, without any ending salutations.

Ending: Well coordinated ending!

It's good, but it needs some work:

Second piece - I felt like she was being somewhat redundant in the beginning, restating what already was being said. The journalist feels a bit inexperienced and I feel like she's talking down to the listener in very basic sentences. I know she's trying to get the image into our heads but I feel like she's not being descriptive enough.

Third piece - Maybe its just me, but the narrator's voice bothers me. He talks a bit too slow and he sounds like he's aggravated.

I would also say with the program host he needs to make his introductions quicker. The longer the introduction, the quicker the listener loses interest. I felt like his introductions went much longer than they were supposed to.

for the first piece, I liked how they connected the topic of water to the U.S, then worldwide, and then to the specific area we were looking at (southern Ethiopia)
here's a basic map of ethiopia: fficial&biw=1218&bih=651&tbs=isch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=920&vpy=324&dur=176&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=205&ty=107&oei=Yf-QTO-AOYm-sAOr7ZB7&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0'>http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ethiopiantraveladventures.com/images/map.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ethiopiantraveladventures.com/travel_northernethiopia.html&usg=__5DD240Ry13_F8PFrlIQrgGCKzo4=&h=350&w=466&sz=54&hl=en&start=0&sig2=-S9-vakYCURJ7GtdyaU-1A&zoom=1&tbnid=Dd_G_094VDbRbM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=175&ei=Yf-QTO-AOYm-sAOr7ZB7&prev=/images?q=southern+ethiopia+map&um=1&hl=en&safe=active&client=firefox-a&hs=RyG&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&biw=1218&bih=651&tbs=isch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=920&vpy=324&dur=176&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=205&ty=107&oei=Yf-QTO-AOYm-sAOr7ZB7&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0


I thought this overall story was pretty engaging, I stayed interested. I could really picture the 44lb Jerry can!

They mentioned all these issues with not having water and thus not having education, money, etc. They also mentioned the deep crater they were using to get water from also had salt reserves. I was curious as to whether or not the salt was a commodity for the people of southern Ethiopia. In the past it has been a huge part of their economy and today it is mined for both is medicinal uses and for culinary purposes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTkm9isUwis