We learned what goes into a rescue at the Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, what situations require a rescue, and how to not need one yourself. Plus, a secret hack if you want to experience the "dune drop" in a less intense way.

• See pictures of the old and new signage here
• Check out our handy travel map here
• Learn more about the Pierce-Stocking Scenic Drive (and #9 Overlook) here
• Learn more about the Dune Climb here

GUEST: Mike Kohl, preventative search and rescue ranger

Want to submit a question to On Hand? Do it here:

• Online Submission Form

• Call us: 734-764-7840

• Email us: [email protected]

If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work: michiganpublic.org/podfund

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chad Livengood is a Michiganian. Like... he's never going to be a "Michigander". It doesn't ring true to his ear, and his employer, The Detroit News, doesn't recognize "Michigander" in it's style guide - it prefers "Michiganian". And it's this commitment to style that landed Livengood at odds with Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Here's Chad's Off Hand story.

GUEST:

Chad Livengood, politics editor, The Detroit News

Now we want to hear from you!

Do you have a highly specific Michigan story to tell? Tell us about it!

What questions do you have about Michigan? We'll investigate! Submit them here.

Or drop us a voicemail, if picking up a phone doesn't freak you out: 734-647-7840

Like this kind of local content? Support Michigan Public.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poll after poll shows folks in Michigan prefer to call themselves "Michiganders" rather than "Michiganian". Why, though? Why did we start calling ourselves something so strange? Are we just a bunch of Michi-geese? It all started with a slave-holding senator, his run for president, and a run-in with Abraham Lincoln.

We've got the goods answering all your burning Michigan questions, beginning with our statewide identity. 

GUEST: Jamon Jordan, official historian, City of Detroit

Now we want to hear from you!

Do you hate being called a Michigander and prefer Michiganian? Tell us about it!

What questions do you have about Michigan? We'll investigate! Submit them here.

Or drop us a voicemail, if picking up a phone doesn't freak you out: 734-647-7840

Like this kind of local content? Support Michigan Public.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The team that produces Michigan Public's Stateside introduces a new podcast answering listener questions about our weird and wonderful state! Our first few episodes will answer:

• Why do we call ourselves "Michiganders"?
• How many people need to be rescued from Sleeping Bear Dunes every year? 
• Why we say "pop" instead of "soda"?

To submit your own questions, or share a story, fill out our handy form!

To find more On Hand episodes, head to: michiganpublic.org/onhand

If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work: michiganpublic.org/podfund

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Stateside Podcast is taking a summer break as producers prepare a new podcast project that's all about Michigan. You can download or stream the new Stateside On Air podcast, which is the full daily show broadcast on Michigan Public. Stay subscribed here for our relaunch at the end of summer. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is something special about strawberry season in Michigan: that brief moment of the year when we trade the pale gigantic plastic clamshell berries for the sweet, deep red jewels of in-season strawberries. On this episode, Chef Abra Berens is back with a recipe that gives those summer strawberries the respect they deserve. 

GUEST: 

Abra Berens, cookbook author and culinary director at Granor Farm 

Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.

If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work.

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whitefish populations in the lower Great Lakes have been declining for decades. Bridge Michigan environment reporter Kelly House joined Stateside to discuss what’s threatening the iconic fish, and what could be done to save them.

GUEST:

Kelly House, Environment Reporter at Bridge Michigan

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This summer, the Scripps Howard Fund gave Detroit Free Press reporter M.L. Elrick an award for his column “On Guard”, in which he publishes all manner of exposes, in the muckraking tradition. 

Back in 2009, Elrick and his colleague Jim Schaefer shared a Pulitzer prize for covering corruption in the administration of then-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. 

Elrick is also the creator of a student journalism project called Eye on Michigan at MSU.

GUEST:

M.L. Elrick, journalist, Detroit Free Press

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a pilot, ejecting mid-flight is always a bad scenario.

Lt. Kegan "Smurf" Gill narrowly escaped from a fighter jet traveling 695 miles per hour, approaching the speed of sound. It’s the fastest survived ejection in naval aviation history.

“I have a very clear linear memory, right up to the point where I pulled the ejection handle, and after that I have no linear memory,” he said about the experience. “But over the course of the years, I'd gotten a lot back in flashbacks, which were often night terrors. So maybe not the most pleasant way to remember something, but that gave me some insights into what had happened.”

A former Naval fighter pilot, Gill flew a training exercise off the East Coast in 2014 when his F/A-18 ran into trouble. His subsequent injuries, including head trauma, changed his life forever.

Gill wrote about the experience and aftermath in his new book “Phoenix Revival: The Aftermath of Naval Aviation's Fastest Ejection.”

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