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Radio Free Flint Podcast

Podcast Episodes Interviews, Show Notes, and Transcripts

June 14, 2022

The Interesting Journey of a Flint Civil War Battlefield Flag

Flag Day Special. The Flint soldiers had much success as union soldiers in the American Civil War. There were 90,000 Michigan soldiers deployed in the American civil war. The Flint 10th Infantry deployed along with their batt...

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May 21, 2022

Troubadour of Crossroads Village Michigan: Neil Woodward

Troubadour Neil Woodward is an instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and folk historian who helps preserve Michigan musical traditions. He is often heard at historic Crossroads Village, Michigan, near Flint in the summer month...

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Jan. 18, 2022

Safetyville, Corvettes, T-Birds, and Miniature Flint-- Part Two

Safetyville, Flint, Michigan, has a special place in the hearts of a lot of Flint area baby boomers. STOP-LOOK-LISTEN. Remember that lesson? Most remember the miniature Corvettes, T-Birds, and kids' first driver's licenses. M...

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May 6, 2021

Michigan Truck Camper Tour: Lake Huron Shoreline

Tawas Point State Park is located on Lake Huron in Northern Michigan near East Tawas, Michigan. The state park encompasses 183 acres at the end of a sand spit that forms Tawas Bay. It has been referred to as the …

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April 18, 2021

The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water Crisis (ft. Anna Clark)

Anna Clark is an accomplished author and journalist. In The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy , Anna examines what happened to poison the water in Flint, Michigan. She digs into the public policies t...

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March 8, 2021

Arlene Crane-Curns: 93 Year Old Author Shares Her Story

At 90 years old Arlene Crane-Curns, who has lived almost a century, authored a book! In Homemade Noodles and Cars, Arlene tells the story of her family-from World War I and how it affected them. Her parents struggled to pro...

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Dec. 31, 2020

Country Music Capital of the North (ft David Norris)

broadcaster David O. Norris shares memories of a career in public and country radio broadcasting. Norris shares how Flint came to proclaim itself as the "Country Music Capitol of the North". He shares highlights of his decad...

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Dec. 27, 2020

MC5 Guitarsist Wayne Kramer: Rock and Roll Pioneer

Wayne Kramer is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, author, producer, and film and television composer. He was co-founder of the Detroit rock group MC5, and Rolling Stone named him one of the top 100 guitarists of all ...

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Dec. 20, 2020

Ernie Harwell: Detroit Tiger Broadcaster (ft Jack Lessenbury)

Jack Lessenberry and Flint area Detroit Tiger fans share their special memories of Ernie Harwell in this tribute podcast. Award- winning journalist Jack Lessenberry, formerly of Michigan Public Radio, was a personal friend of...

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Nov. 29, 2020

Flint Water Crisis: Musical Tribute (ft Antje Duvekot and Barb Barton)

Two amazing award winning singer-songwriters Antje Duvekot of Boston, MA and Barb Barton of Lansing, MI use their voices and platforms to help keep us from forgetting the poisoned children of Flint, Michigan. The Flint Water...

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Nov. 26, 2020

Kate Garns: Self Talk & Motivational Speaking

Kate Garns is a national motivational & leadership speaker, Disney Performer and author. Kate works with student government leaders across the nation about self talk and leadership using motivational themes. Garns has Flint r...

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Nov. 22, 2020

Marty Embry: Flint Basketball Legend

Marty Embry is a legendary basketball player, whose teams at Flint Central High School won two Class A Michigan High School basketball titles. Marty Embry played at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. His teams played in ...

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Nov. 19, 2020

The Purple Gang's Legendary History (ft Gregory Fournier)

Gregory Fournier is the author of The Purple Gang: Detroit's Kosher Nostra is a concise history of one of America's most notorious Prohibition-era gangs. Fournier shares fascinating stories during this interview about one of ...

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Nov. 14, 2020

Hip Hop Artist and His 90-Year-Old Grandma Pen Flint Water Crisis Song

Hip Hop recording artist Joe Ryan III a Flint, Michigan native, was profoundly moved to action by the Flint Water Crisis. He called back home to his 90-year-old grandmother, Odessa Houston, who began to sing a song on the tel...

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Nov. 12, 2020

Toxic Brownfield and the Flint River

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...

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Nov. 10, 2020

Flint River Blues: Colton Ort

The Flint River Blues is one of many songs written about the Flint Water Crisis. Colton Ort, a singer-songwriter documents for history the lead-tainted water of Flint. He discussed his song and the message he is trying to sen...

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Nov. 10, 2020

A Cain & Able Murder Case: David Melfi

A true crime story about fratricide. The killing involves fraternal twins. One twin, David Melfi along with a friend helped kill the other twin by stabbing him 45 times. It is a shocking crime. The Prosecutor in the case,...

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Oct. 24, 2020

Ode to Singer Songwriter Justin Townes Earle

Singer-Songwriter Justin Townes Earle was a Nashville, Tennessee native who understood Flint, Michigan perfectly. Justin never played a gig in Flint, but he was eager to find his way to a stage in the Flint area. He died befo...

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Oct. 19, 2020

Safetyville, USA Part 1

Safetyville, Flint Michigan has a very special place in the hearts of many baby boomers in the Flint Area. This podcast narrative by Arthur Busch recalls the Safetyville of the 1960s in Flint, Michigan. The podcast episode ha...

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Oct. 12, 2020

Characters in the Commercials: Flint Television Advertising

Mark Parsells' stories of the history of radio and television advertising in Mid-Michigan are full of humor. Mark's late father, Vern Parsell, was a pioneering Flint area automobile dealer. Mark Parsell got the grit and deter...

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Oct. 1, 2020

Harrowing Rescue of Orphan Babies, a Plane Crash and a Flint Hero, Ph…

Sgt. Phillip R. Wise, a Flint, Michigan native, has been on a decades-long quest to find the answers about the crash of a C 5-A transport plane in which he was a crew member trying to save orphan Vietnamese-American babies. …

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Sept. 27, 2020

Truck Camping: The Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinaw

The Radio Free Flint Camper Truck Tour Podcast continues with a visit to the mighty Mackinac Bridge. With a total span of approximately 5 miles, the Mackinac Bridge connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan uniting ...

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Sept. 19, 2020

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: My Eulogy

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her life in service to the cause of women's rights and equality. She was a giant in history even while still alive to millions of Americans. She will long be remembered as one of the …

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Sept. 19, 2020

Truck Camper Tour: Lake Michigan and Wilderness State Park

Arthur Busch takes his Radio Free Flint podcast on a Truck Camper tour along the magnificent shores of the Great Lakes. Nowhere on earth can this amount of freshwater be found other than Michigan. The coastal towns and parks ...

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