Comments by Catherine Stifter

Comment for "The View from Room 205"

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Thank you for this impressive work of great importance

Just listened to The View From Room 205. Ironically, I direct a doc series called The View From Here. LOVED this program, the tone, the analysis, the uncompromising reporting, the personal sensitivity, the voices, many voices from the school. Linda you are tough and fierce. Great job! Marianne and Cate powerful editing on this one. My series is in the midst of a year at an extremely diverse suburban school in Sacramento where the students are failing their tests miserably for so many reasons including poverty, lack of language skills, refugee status and all that brings, homelessness, hunger, crime and neglect. Ours is a visual documentary. I hope we can do our school justice the way you did with Penn's 4th grade. Congratulations. PS I'm recommending that CapRadio run this show!

Comment for "Bridging the Shores: The Hmong-American Experience"

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Review of Bridging the Shores: The Hmong-American Experience

"Bridging the Shores" is a primer to the Hmong-American experience perfect for public radio listeners. Wisconsin Public Radio Executive Producer Brian Bull says that any one of the stories in this program could have been an hour-long documentary, but that his goal was to give non-Hmong listeners a taste of the many issues faced by these newcomers to the United States. The program dives right into the heart of the immigration conflict, giving voice to the Hmong-American side of the debate through interviews with the first Hmong state senator, community and spiritual leaders, families, and musicians. It also illuminates the rich, rural Hmong culture and how it is being integrated, across the generations, into American life. Five producers contribute stories to the program from the three states with the largest Hmong populations--Minnesota, Wisconsin and California. This hosted, magazine-style program will fit seamlessly into any public radio program schedule, bringing listeners the stories of the nearly 250,000 Hmong refugees who now call the United States home. These kinds of programs provide a key community service for both immigrants and the receiving communities involved in the process of cultural integration. As we hear the voices of everyone in our diverse American communities, including often invisible immigrant experiences, we can gain a better understanding of how to live and work together.

Comment for "The Story of Lata"

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Review of The Story of Lata

Producer Stephanie Guyer-Stevens has sailed halfway around the world to bring us a beautifully produced story just in time for Asian Pacific Heritage Month. "The Story of Lata" explores the cultural traditions and contemporary challenges of Solomon Islanders in a remote corner of the South Pacific. Here, the tides of modern life have steadily eroded away knowledge of the ancient arts of sailing and navigation that once defined this culture. And it's Polynesian women who remember the old ways. Learning again, from the story of their cultural hero, Lata, to build te puke (canoes). Guyer-Stevens weaves a wonderful watery tale with just the right amount of culture, a taste of technology, and good old storytelling: perfect summer listening.

"The Story of Lata" is the next in the Outer Voices series, featuring little known stories and seldom heard voices of Asian Pacific Island women. It's a gem of a sound-rich story about intriguing, out of the way places that your listeners haven't heard about. But, if you still need a hook, consider this: May 16 was the first International Day for Sharing Life Stories. Organizers say that sharing our life stories with each other is a critical process in democratizing culture and promoting social change. Do your listeners a favor, and share this documentary of a place on earth that many of us will never see, but whose lessons about the value of returning to Earth-based, cultural traditions are relevant for sustaining communities everywhere.