Slug & Lede

In the New York Times audio slideshow titled “Two Paths Toward Death, One Voice of Comfort,” a narrator walks the audience through two lives: one already deceased and another close to the end.

The introduction starts with a quote from the spouse of the deceased woman, generalizing the process of death. This choice of audio at the beginning successfully captures the meaning of the entire piece and acts as the thesis.

However, the piece contains more than one story. The listener does not find out that another subject will enter the piece until halfway through the audio slideshow. The 95-year-old man enters the narration abruptly and without proper transition.

The audio describes the religious paths many take while dying, then it jumps into the elderly man seeing the monk without using dialogue to connect the two thoughts.

Overall, the piece maintains a lot of excellent qualities. The producers chose clips that articulate the thought without faltering. In addition, the variety of voices and flawless transitions from one sound bite to another make a crisp, compelling story.

Although the producers structured the piece much like a written article, a few things could have been done differently to make it more comprehendible.

After the initial quote, the narrator should have said something about the two lives rather than diving into the life of the deceased woman. A couple sentences about both lives would have provided a context for the whole piece. As is, the piece seems disjointed.

Also, at times it was difficult to recognize the speakers. That could have been easily cleared up by introducing each person through the narration.

Finally, the end could have had more of a kicker. The elderly man talked about the upcoming debate, which seemed off-topic, then the piece ended. Perhaps a sentence or two about both stories, a conclusion, would have done the trick.

Claire has been my best friend since freshman year of college. I first met her in grade school, where we auditioned for the same parts in choir. Our paths crossed several times throughout high school as well: writing for our school’s newspaper, singing in choir and taking music lessons from the same private instructor. Despite the frequent encounters, we hadn’t become close friends until college. Today, we are inseparable. Claire and I share an apartment, have gone on double dates together and will be friends until we are old and wrinkly. 

Claire and I at a friend's house this fall.