Independent journalist Nancy Solomon does a great job with this hour-long feature about the achievement gap. Right off the bat, she's in a New Jersey high school with a history teacher, and he's cynically playing "guess the level" of classes based on their racial makeup. Some of her first-person comments about her own observations help listeners discover and explore the gap at the same pace she does. She gives us great access to students' and teachers' attitudes.

This piece came out of Solomon's year as a Spencer Fellow in Education Reporting. It was produced in September 2009, and feels fresh and relevant. A shorter 2-part version of it just ran on Weekend Edition on October 31st and November 1st.

Based on the collection of listener comments on the NPR website, this one really makes people think.

By the way, there are 2 versions available: 54 minutes and 59 minutes, depending on whether you want to take local breaks in the hour.

Beautifully produced, with a vibrant message. This piece, a nice standalone for an ME or ATC segment, will bring your listeners right into the heart of the essayist, Therese Peterson, as she talks about why playing a conductor in a reenactment of the Underground Railroad gave her the courage to change her life.

A refreshing, loosely constructed essay on why it's okay -- and not patronizing -- to give your pet cutesy nicknames. Animal communicator David Louis riffs on the question, and gives us permission to say "Mugsy-Wugsy" anytime we want.

This comes in at about two-and-a-half minutes, and would make a nice pairing with and contrast to a more structured feature about animals or pets.

Paul Messing produced this. He's a writer/producer/composer out of Bloomington, Indiana.