Welcome to Radio Free Flint Podcast
Radio Free Flint Podcast

Stories and commentary about people and places we discover.

Jan. 16, 2023

It's time to put an end to this madness.

It has been a long time since this tragedy visited the Flint area. Sharing with you an article that appeared on CNN website. I spent some time with the journalists to help make sure the retelling of the case was accurate.   It dawned on…

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Nov. 5, 2022

Fly Away Home Snowbird: Reflections on Fall in Michigan

Fly Away Home Snowbird   LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE It's that time of year when the trumpeter swans disappear from our little northern Michigan lake. Our family has called the modest home on that lake "the cottage ." Lately, the Can…

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Sept. 8, 2022

Memories of Detroit Tiger Baseball Announcer Ernie Harwell

Originally published on December 29, 2020 Memories of Detroit Tiger Baseball Announcer Ernie Harwell: The late Ernie Harwell might be considered baseball's version of iconic Americana artist Norman Rockwell with a microphone. There is litt…

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April 9, 2021

Michigan Lumber: A Flint Centennial Business

  Much of the telling of Flint, Michigan history has revolved around the rise of the transportation industry. Flint played a leading role in putting America on wheels. The city also has a rich small history. Many of these businesses help…

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March 25, 2021

The Flint Water Crisis: Can It Happen Anywhere?

We make our history. It is a good thing that history is recorded. Written history has a good purpose. Today, journalists, documentarians, and courtroom stenographers record Flint, Michigan's environmental history. It is of no consequence that…

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Dec. 13, 2020

Hip Hop Composer Joe Ryan III: A Flint, Mi Music Wizard

JOE RYAN III: A Multi-Talented Musical Wizard from Flint, MI   Joe Ryan III is a multi-talented music wizard who exudes charisma and confidence reminiscent of Magic Johnson. While Flint, Michigan, has shared its athletes with America, n…

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Nov. 21, 2020

Local and National Songwriters Who are Recording Flint History

Civil War Song "Peach Tree Creek" Memorializes Flint's Contribution to Civil War  This past summer in West Branch, Michigan, I witnessed an off-road pickup circling the City with two large confederate flags placed in the stake holes of a…

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Oct. 31, 2020

A Flint Troubadour, Songwriter in the Woody Guthrie Tradition

  Neil Woodward is a Flint, Michigan instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and folk historian who helps preserve musical traditions. He holds the title -- Michigan troubadour. In 2003, the State of Michigan Legislature officially named Ne…

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Oct. 29, 2020

Love from Lansing--Barb Barton a Flint Water Crisis Angel

Sometimes In life, you meet people doing some fantastic and exciting things for other people. You know, the kind of stuff that just blows your mind. Barb Barton​ is one such person for me.   A couple of months ago, I asked Michigan State U…

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Oct. 23, 2020

GM Legacy to Flint: A Toxic Brownfield and Polluted Flint River

Is GM Buick City Site An Environmental Crime Scene?   This dribble of disturbing and frightening news raises one question in my mind: Where are the General Motors managers who allowed this to happen? Why isn't there a criminal investig…

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Oct. 20, 2020

Behind the Wheel at age 10! The Flint Safetyville I Remember

  Safetyville, Flint is a special place for the Flint area baby boomers. STOP-LOOK-LISTEN remember that lesson about crossing the street in your hometown? Many Flint baby boomers received their first driver's license at Safetyville-…

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Oct. 16, 2020

Musician Justine Townes Earle Understood Flint, Michigan

  Justin Townes Earle understood what Flint gave to America. There are many songs written about American cities. There is New York and Frank Sinatra, Memphis and the blues, Journey and its song about Detroit, and many others. But n…

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Oct. 1, 2020

Phillip Wise: The Story of a Blue Collar Air Force War Hero

Phillip Wise was raised in a working-class family in blue-collar Flint. Like many U.S. war veterans, Phillip Wise was a product of a working-class family and grew up in a blue-collar south side Flint, Michigan neighborhood. His values of ser…

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