Radio Drama: The Case of The Nervous Bicycle Rider

by Irwin Gonshak

AAA New York has partnered with Transportation Alternatives, the New York Bicycling Coalition, the NYC DOT, and other organizations in a public-education campaign to encourage drivers and cyclists to share the road safely.

I am a member of the AAA and I ride a bicycle every day in Queens– and its getting scary out there.  Drivers don’t obey the rules and it’s getting worse.  So I thought I’d do my part to help the campaign. I’d write a short-short radio drama on the subject and send it to AAA New York Car&Travel and other magazines.

I’ve written hundreds of educational radio dramas on a great variety of subjectives; from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to Drug Abuse.  Radio drama can teach anything, and entertain as well.

Therefore: THE CASE OF THE NERVOUS BICYCLE RIDER… AND THE COOOL BICYCLE SONG.

INSOMNIA: The Billy Senese Radio Drama Now on iTunes

Billy talked about writing Insomnia in this blog last year. He has a new Midnight Radio Theater page on MySpace as well as a podcast on iTunes.

Click here to subscribe to podcast

Short Radio Drama Podcast on iTunes - Free Subscription

Selected radio dramas produced by Hassberry Theatre Company from the 2005 Big Apple Short Radio Drama Festival on WNYE FM 91.5.

Coming in August, brand new short radio dramas. Stay tuned.

Click image to subscribe to the radio drama podcast on iTunes. Free.

PRX Review - Generation Next: Child vs Adult

 producer: BBC

 Reviewed by: Taki Telonidis for PRX (April 26, 2007)

 ”Delightful. That?s the first word that comes to mind after hearing this installment of a BBC series about adolescence. Initially I was doubtful that a 20-minute radio story would be able to bring focus to such a broad topic, but I was pleasantly surprised throughout this piece. It unfolds in a very logical manner, beginning with an engaging introduction, then a series of topics illuminated by the personal experiences of teens (as well as of the reporter, now an adult) plus a sprinkling of experts. The narration is cleverly written and delivered with sparkle and humor. He relates very well to the young people he interviews, and in the course of the story takes us all over the world?from the UK, to Zambia, to America, to India & Bangladesh. Music and sound are used effectively to create a sense of place and pacing. This piece prompts me to ask questions of myself, and to appreciate how much Westerners could learn from other cultures, particularly traditional cultures, who seem to do a better job of preparing their children for adulthood. I could go on, but best to listen for yourself.”

Listen to: Generation Next: Child vs Adult

Tying the ‘Not’?: Saying I Do Before Iraq

Producer: Rebecca Sheir  (07:56)

Review by Traci Tong for PRX (March 20, 2007)

“Absolutely loved listening to this story told in the “When Harry Met Sally” style.

I kept envisioning this couple sitting on the couch talking to the camera about their experience of having their wedding day pushed up because of military demands.

There are appropriate and fun music interludes to help this story along and it only makes it cuter.

I only ask that we hear a follow-up of this charming coulple when Greg returns from his duty in Baghdad.”

 

LISTEN TO THE PIECE HERE 

A Conversation with Shimon Peres

Producer: WEOS (58:57)

Review by Chris Chambers for PRX

Is it possible to broadcast an hour long live speech followed by a Q&A session? My instinct would be to say no not really. However, I was fascinated with this piece. I was absorbed from beginning to end. Shimon Peres is a wonderful speaker. Thoughtful, precise and engaging. I was surprised. I’ve always thought of him as lacking charisma and of being the ‘also man’ - even though he’s been around longer than any other Israeli politician and has held practically every important post in the government there. One wonders though, if someone of his sensibilities (as it comes across here anyway)and his stature isn’t able to bring peace to the region, then who can?
This is a programme of two halves. The first half an hour is a speech. His main thrust is that the economy and business are the most important aspects of a society. “Governments have budgets and not money,” he says cynically. Modernising is important and that the current clashes are with those who’re afraid of losing their way of life.
Also, the questions put to him were thoughtful and intelligent. This can sometimes be the trouble with Q&As. Questions can be trite and boring.
There are some very powerful moments especially when he describes as prime minister seeing the first suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem and the chants of traitor directed to him fom his own people.
The only problem with this is that of course it is one sided. Israel comes across as a country that is just defending itself from outside aggression and is reacting to circumstance. Isn’t it a bit more complicated than that!
However, pushing that aside, it’s worth listening to just to hear the views of a man steeped in history.

 

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM HERE

Listen: Jason Peacemaker

from PRX 

Producer: Teresa Goff (5 mins)

PRX Description:

“According to a report by the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, the number of Canadians living with HIV/AIDS increased 40 per cent between 1996 and 2002.
One group is over-represented in those statistics: aboriginal people.
First Nations people are at increased risk for HIV infections for several reasons. Social, economic, and behavioural factors such as poverty, substance use, including injection drug use, sexually transmitted diseases, and limited access to health services, have increased their vulnerability.
Jason Peacemaker tells his own personal story about HIV and addiction”

LISTEN TO THE PIECE HERE

PRX Review: Ghada Kanafani, Palestinian Poet in Exile

Producer:  Claudia Cragg (20:00)

Reviewed by David Swatling for PRX (March 4, 2007)

“Some strong emotion surfaces in this straightforward interview with exiled Palestinian poet Ghada Kanafani. Born in Lebanon in 1948 - the year creation of the state of Israel displaced her family; grew up reading Arabic poetry which brought tears to her eyes; wrote her first poem in 1967 - “the end of everything,” she says.

“I’m not the one who’s suffering,” she says. But her deep sighs and moving description of entire lives spent in refugee camps tell another story. As does the heartfelt reading of her poem at the end of the interview.

The first time I listened to this with my professional radio ears, I was put off by a shakey start and off-miked questions which sometimes interrupted the poet. But I was drawn into her story and when I listened again, these technical flaws seemed less important. I would still prefer a more artful framework for this thoughtful poet’s words and ideas. But they come through in the interview anyway, so perhaps I’m being too critical.

Might be a strong topical offering for April Poetry Month.”

LISTEN TO THE PIECE HERE 

PRX Review: RN Documentary: Seamus Heaney: Bogging In Again

Producer: Radio Netherlands (29:30)

Review by John Biewen for PRX (February 10, 2007)

“You can’t go too far wrong with this material: Seamus Heaney’s closely-mic’d voice in conversation–a voice that takes hold of words with an unusually strong grip before letting them go. Seamus Heaney reading his own achingly beautiful, soul-disturbing poems in a reverberating hall in Rotterdam. Stir in atmospheric music and intelligent narration by the interviewer. I suppose you could go wrong with any material, but the folks at Radio Netherlands, as usual, get it right. 

This is not just any old piece about any old poet. Heaney’s talk and his poetry are not *about* poetry but about the world–the world of spit and dust and cast iron but also of falling Twin Towers and our “virtual city.” One of the most important poets of our time, an Irishman who came of age writing about the Troubles as “time out of joint” in his own small country, now reflects on a whole world out of joint. A world of “deep, deep, deep unease” where “war is waged almost casually.”

Listen to the program here




PRX Review: ED BELL’S SWEEETGUN BOTTOM BLUES

Producer: Tanya Ott-Fulmore

Reviewed by John Hingsbergen for PRX (Feb 2, 2007)

“This is a music-rich studio piece offering something a little different for Black History Month. Tanya Ott is a good interviewer who keeps the piece moving between conversation and performance.
Tanya and her guests, Ansel Strickland and musician Sam Pointer, have a friendly and informative conversation as the listeners get a chance to sample the music of Alabama bluesman Ed Bell.
Well recorded and nicely edited. There were apparently some risque lyrics in one of the musical pieces (can you imagine that in a blues piece?) but they seem to have been edited out.
This would work nicely in a locally-produced magazine show or even as a drop-in during a AAA or eclectic music show. It’s a good alternative to the historical profiles and informational pieces that crop up at this time of the year.”

Listen to the program here.