Conversation on Craft Musical Chairs: AUDIO

Planet Money's Adam Davidson has made the financial crisis "fun."

Here's the gist of what he and former NPR defense correspondent Guy Raz are saying.

Guy Raz: What makes a radio story compelling and worth a listener's time?

Davidson: I used to think: well-recorded audio, rich characters, scenes with interesting sound and action going on in front of you. "Then I started covering economics." Economics has none of the building blocks of good radio.

Ira Glass has good characters but not necessarily fancy sound...Someone on a lousy phone line telling a decent story is far better than a flat story well-recorded.

Every story needs a take. Not just he said/she said. In a six minute story, you get one point.

Make sure your sound isn't random or predictable. There's an artificiality in NPR sound that Davidson thinks should be avoided...what NPR insiders call the "cue the chicken" moment.