John Prine’s America, Hymns for the Working Class

Do federal officials enjoy absolute immunity from state criminal prosecution? Arthur Busch dismantles the myth of “absolute immunity” for federal agents and explains how state and county prosecutors can and sometimes must bring criminal charges against ICE officers involved in fatal shootings.

Gregory Fournier, author of The Purple Gang: Detroit’s Kosher Nostra, joins the podcast to explore the rise and fall of one of America’s most notorious Prohibition-era crime syndicates. During the 1920s and 1930s, Detroit’s P...

Flint, Michigan's Buick City brownfield site does not have just a little bit of toxic chemicals left behind by GM, there appears to be a massive amount of environmental damage. As the Flint water crisis, the real story is not...

In this Radio Free Michigan interview, Arthur Busch revisits Joe’s early days in Flint and his viral song Flint, Michigan recorded with his 90-year-old grandmother to trace his path from local talent to Hollywood composer. Ryan reflects on evolving recording tech, creative independence, and what it means to represent Flint’s spirit in a global industry.

Jeff Natchez went from Flint sandlots to a Detroit Tigers draft pick, riding rookie-ball buses under a young Jim Leyland and sharing fields with future MLB stars. In this remastered conversation, he reflects on the hard fork between college and pro ball, the lessons of the minors, and his reinvention as an optometrist. A Flint story about grit, mentorship, and coming home.

In this re-edited Radio Free Flint interview, Flint Southwestern graduate Sgt. Phillip Wise recounts surviving the 1975 Operation Babylift crash—one of the most devastating aviation disasters of the Vietnam War. Fifteen minutes after takeoff from Saigon, the rear cargo doors of a C-5A Galaxy failed. The aircraft decompressed. Hydraulics were crippled. The crew fought to return to Tan Son Nhut before crash-landing in rice fields outside the city.

This episode traces John Prine’s journey from Maywood, Illinois, to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and north along I-75 into Michigan’s factory towns. Through songs like “Paradise,” “Sam Stone,” and “Hello in There,” we examine how Prine documented working-class migration, labor history, war’s aftermath, and the quiet dignity of American life. From coal seams to assembly lines, this is the story of the Hillbilly Highway in song.