CYOA: Captive Audience

Emily Guzman and I chose a radio piece for this week's CYOA (yay, radio!).  We'd like you to listen to the first act of a This American Life episode called Held Hostage.  You can access it here.  Click on the play button next to Act One Captive Audience.  The segment we want to focus on is about 15 minutes long; the link will start playing it at the right point, and then it goes until about 21 min.  


The piece focuses on political kidnappings in Colombia and the way in which families contact their loved ones through radio.  Since we're going to be doing audio pieces this quarter, think about how the elements of this piece work.  How do the different voices enhance the story?  Also:

1. If you don't know Spanish, how did you feel about the non-translated parts of the piece at the start?  Did they enhance the piece, or were they distracting?

2. Do Viviana's story and the reporter's story work well together?  Would you consider this one narrative or two different narratives?

3. The reporter leaves Viviana's story unresolved in this segment.  Is that okay with you?

Enjoy!