Interesting Audio Piece:

NPR: Training for War
Link: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=125351537&m=125379995

This piece works, in my mind, for two reasons: its content and its delivery. The story focuses on the U.S. Army training in a fake Afghan town constructed in Louisiana. The Afghan war is perpetually in the media, and this detailed look into the preparation soldiers undertake is not the usual angle. While the piece is heavily interview-based, the reporter does an excellent job of using sound to really make the audio more memorable than a printed feature story would be. In identifying two ways to tell that the fake Afghan town is indeed fake, for example, the reporter describes two differences in sound, not appearance. He first notes that what appear to be concrete walls are actually styrofoam, something that becomes clear if you run your finger along it and hear it squeak. He then points out that the Afghan guard, upon closer inspection, doesn't SOUND Afghan. I found that in efficiently employing these simple bits of audio, the reporter really showed you the difference without requiring you to see it.