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Emily Doerr is a candidate for the Flint Community Schools Board of Education. The election will be on November 8, 2022. She joined a slate of four other individuals running to serve the Flint Community Schools. These candidates agree on core principles governing their service on the Board of Education should they be elected on November 8, 2022. The other candidates on the slate are Dylan Luna, Terae King Jr, Melody L. Relerford, and Michael Clack.

The Flint Community Schools are at a crossroads facing dwindling student enrollment, financial deficits, and decisions about rebuilding school buildings. In recent years the Flint Board of Education has experienced dysfunction of its governing board. Those seeking election in Flint will face enormous challenges in fixing the school district. 

For the first time in recent memory, five respected and accomplished residents have joined together to seek to bring energetic leadership to focus on Flint's young scholars and the school district. This podcast discusses the problems facing the Flint Community Schools and possible solutions. Our podcast guest discusses her team's philosophy and plans should the voters elect them.

Radio Free Flint is not endorsing any candidates for the Flint School Board but seeks to bring forward information about the school district's problems. Our podcast guest is only the second political candidate we have ever interviewed. Flint Board of Education candidates appears on the non-partisan portion of the ballot.
 
Emily Doerr is our podcast guest. She is a Flint native and has an impressive education and resume. Doerr is a leader in the State of Michigan on community development and land use policy issues. She is also a Flintstone with deep roots in the community.

Emily received a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Central Michigan University and a Master's in Business Administration from Detroit Mercy.

View YouTube Interview of Emily Doerr with Spectacle TV with Paul Herring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-OCiLdazC0

Candidate Profile, Emily Doerr by Flint Beat (E-Newsletter)
https://flintbeat.com/meet-flint-board-of-ed-candidate-emily-doerr/

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• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

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The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

 Stand-up comic Bryan McCree shares Flint stories, family humor, and the Michigan grit behind a life on stage. 

Is it possible to make Flint laugh?
 If anyone can, it’s Bryan McCree — nationally touring comedian, actor, writer, and proud Flintstone. Known for his sharp insight into American culture and his uncanny ability to make us laugh at ourselves, Bryan brings a humor that is both fearless and deeply rooted in real life.

In this interview, Bryan shares personal stories from his Flint upbringing, his family’s remarkable legacy, and clips from his act that poke fun at race, poverty, stereotypes, and the everyday absurdities of growing up in a blue-collar Michigan town. His timing, physical comedy, and stage presence are unmatched — a skillset built partly on the school bus, where he delivered daily comedy routines to his classmates.

Bryan McCree has appeared on Comedy Central, MADtv, NBC, and Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen.
He has shared the stage with Sinbad, George Wallace, Robert Schimmel, and even The Isley Brothers.

Bryan comes from a legendary Flint family.
 He is the nephew of Floyd J. McCree, the historic Flint Mayor and Michigan civil rights icon; his father was a jazz virtuoso; and his great-aunt was a Broadway legend. With roots like these, it’s no wonder he became one of Michigan’s most beloved comedic performers.

McCree cut his teeth at the historic McCree Theater, where he honed his stagecraft and learned to turn everyday struggles into laugh-out-loud gold. In this episode, he reflects on life in Flint, blue-collar culture, race, music, family, and why he never gave up on his hometown.

This is Bryan McCree.
 Unfiltered. Unapologetic. Unbelievably funny.
 A true Michigan original.

👉 Visit Bryan McCree’s Official Website for tour dates & merch
👉 Watch Bryan’s comedy on his YouTube Channel
👉 Follow him on Facebook for upcoming shows

Watch Bryan McCree's comedy shows on his YouTube Channel or visit his Facebook Page.

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Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

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The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

Flint, Michigan, has long been touted as a hotbed for high school basketball. Indeed, Flint has produced some of the top basketball talents in the nation. Many Flint athletes are playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and at major colleges and universities. Flint basketball players have had lucrative careers playing internationally.

Flint area residents are accustomed to watching high school talents honing their skills in high school gyms against their favorite teams. However, watching those most likely to be the next NBA All-Star or college All-American player may be a thing of the past.

A new trend has emerged in which teenagers as early as 10th-grade ship off for Prep Schools that promote basketball and play games against the best competition in America. These Prep Schools position themselves to show off all those talented players to college and professional scouts. 

Brandon Green, ABC-12 Sports Director, joins Radio Free Flint to discuss the disappearing high school superstars who transfer to Prep Schools. We discuss the implications for young people placing a bet on basketball and eschewing the traditional path of community education. Is it too early to let teenagers put all their eggs in one basket and bet that this career choice will materialize? We know that only a tiny percentage of high school basketball players will sign on at an NCAA Division 1 College or University. Even a smaller percentage of college players ever make it to the pros.

We discuss whether Flint has seen its better days of glory with the likes of the Flintstones, the Michigan State University national champs led by 5 Flint High School basketball players.  

Please join us and meet Brandon Green, the new Sports Director for WJRT ABC-12 in Flint, as we discuss his welcome to Flint, his passion for basketball, and his love of High School athletics. 

Read these interesting articles on High School Athletes and Prep Schools.

•  Flint Hoopers Lost in the Shadows by Brandon Green, ABC-12, Sports Director. May 26, 2022
• Public prep transfers have taken over high school sports in Connecticut, but is that a good thing? By Shawn McFarland and Alex Putterman, Hartford Courant. May 10, 2019 

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Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

Visit our Mitten Channel website for our complete library of podcasts, videos, and articles.

The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of Radio Free Flint, retired Public Safety Director Chris Miller recounts one of the most shocking events in Flint’s recent history — the 2017 terrorist attack inside Bishop International Airport.

Miller describes the moment a Tunisian national stabbed an airport police officer and how he and an airport maintenance worker subdued the attacker, ultimately saving the officer’s life. The attacker was later convicted of multiple federal terrorism charges and is serving a life sentence.

Miller also reflects on how 9/11 permanently transformed airport security, including at Bishop Airport, where he led the security detail on September 11, 2001.

Across his nearly 40-year law enforcement career, Miller served with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, Mt. Morris Township Police Department, and Bishop Airport Public Safety. He retired in 2021 after receiving the City of Flint Lifetime Achievement Award and a key to the city.

Beyond law enforcement, Miller shares personal stories of growing up in a General Motors family, playing music around Flint, collecting Chevrolet Corvettes, and his experiences in the Flint Community Schools and Mott Community College.

Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Bishop International Airport
 🔗 https://www.bishopairport.org/

Profile on Chief Chris Miller – My City Magazine
🔗 https://www.mycitymag.com/a-lifetime-of-service-chief-christopher-miller/

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Full archive of:
 • Radio Free Flint
 • Flint Justice: America on Trial
 • Work in the Mitten

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Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
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• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

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The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

In our highly mobile society, figuring out what to do with our old papers, photographs, and keepsakes is challenging. We accumulate boxes of possessions over a lifetime, and when moving, retiring, or upon the death of a parent it sits in your house begging for a home. 

Your junk can be true treasures that preserve the history of your community or your family.   

What do you do with all those boxes and files that you will "someday" get around to sorting out? What is valuable, what is worth saving, and what is worth donating to a local historical society, library, or museum? 

Lastly, what are the best ways to preserve the photos of four generations of family members? Should you frame them or keep them in your basement or garage? 

Colleen Marquise is an Archivist at the University of Michigan-Flint Willson-Thompson Library and supervises the Genesee Historical Collection Center. She answers these many questions and more about how to sort out your valuable documents, how to store them, and whether they are worth donating. 

Colleen is also a historian and shares her exciting views about the collective trauma the Flint, Michigan, area experienced over many decades. The UM-Flint collection reflects archives of materials explaining the Flint Sitdown Strike, the Beecher Tornado, and the Open Housing Protests in the 1960s. She also discussed the relative lack of public archives about one of Flint's most prominent residents C.S. Mott. 

Colleen shares some humorous antidotes about the many donations of historical records she has processed. She also shares how a library archive views your "treasures" and what types of things are most needed to help keep the history of your community. Collen talks about what institutions do with your treasured photos and pictures once you donate them.

Visit the Genesee Historical Collection Center of the University of Michigan-Flint Library website. They have an extensive collection of fascinating materials available online or for you to see in person.  

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• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

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The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

Colleen Marquise, Associate Archivist at the University of Michigan-Flint, Francis Willson-Thompson Library, takes podcast listeners on a virtual tour of the Genesee County (MI) Historical Center archive collection. This historical collection has a fascinating collection of oral histories, documents, papers, etc. 

The Center has three primary collections: Flint Labor History, Civil Rights, and Community Organizations such as the UAW Local 599. The local archives also contain the most definitive collection of materials on Flint area community development. The construction of I-475 through the heart of Flint was part of the disastrous urban renewal program that wiped out Flint's Floral Park and St. John Street neighborhoods. Memories of those African-American neighborhoods are found in a collection of recorded oral histories about the people, families, and culture. 

The Center also has a remarkable collection of oral history materials ranging from musical histories of the area, including rapper MC Breed, Ira Dorsey, and others going back to Flint bands in the 1960s. 

The Genesee Historical Center has recently developed a history collection about the COVID pandemic and protests. 

Colleen Marquise shares with the podcast listeners stories about prominent Flint area historical figures such as Genora Johnson and Rev Bradford Pengelly, the colorful rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church during the 1920s. This virtual podcast tour of the University of Michigan-Flint, Francis Willson-Thompson Library is fascinating. This episode is Part 1 of a two-part podcast.

The public can visit and listen to some local history collections online by going to the University of Michigan-Flint Library website. 

Please leave us a voice mail or comments if you have questions or wish to share suggestions. We answer all such messages. Radio Free Flint appreciates your support when you "Buy Us A Coffee" by clicking on the coffee cup on the Home Page.

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Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

Visit our Mitten Channel website for our complete library of podcasts, videos, and articles.

The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

Flag Day Special — The Untold Story of Flint’s Civil War Soldiers and the battle flags that led them through America’s defining conflict.

In the American Civil War, 90,000 Michigan soldiers marched into battle. Among them were the men of the 10th Michigan Infantry Regiment, organized in Flint, Michigan and mustered into federal service in February 1862. Their service carried them across the war’s most brutal frontlines — Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and North Carolina — ultimately marching with Sherman to the Sea and helping secure Union victory with the fall of Atlanta.

This episode features David Norris, whose great-grandfather Talmon C. Owen fought with the 10th Michigan Infantry. Their regiment suffered 327 casualties, including officers and enlisted men lost to battle and disease. These were Flint’s sons — mill workers, farmers, tradesmen — who shaped the future of the nation.

🎖️ The Battle Flags That Led Them

Before deploying, the Flint soldiers received handmade silken battle flags, gifted by the women of Flint. These flags were not symbolic; they were tactical lifelines on chaotic Civil War battlefields, guiding regiments in smoke, blood, and confusion.

After the war, surviving flags were returned to the State of Michigan and entrusted to the governor. Many never made it home.

🏛️ Save The Flags — Michigan’s Preservation Project

Michigan’s Save The Flags initiative preserves 240 historic battle flags from:

• The Civil War
• The Spanish-American War
• World War I

Nearly 150 flags have been adopted for conservation by families, schools, civic groups, and historians. Adoption helps fund research, preservation, and public display of these irreplaceable artifacts.

Learn more or find a flag to adopt through this statewide initiative.

🕊️ Flint’s Legacy

The story of the 10th Michigan Infantry is more than military history — it’s a Flint story. It is a story of working-class courage, community pride, and the sacrifices that shaped America long before the challenges of the 20th and 21st centuries.

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Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

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The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

Ben Pauli, a Kettering University Political Science Professor, is a water rights activist. Pauli embedded himself with a group of Flint residents during the Flint Water Crisis. This is the group that brought the tainted Flint drinking water problem to the public's attention. The group also was successful in advocating that government fix the cause of the toxic water problem. 

Professor Pauli discusses the historical activism that helped Flint survive economically and environmentally for almost 100 years. He concludes that Flint has been fighting David vs. Goliath-type battles for generations which helps it survive. Pauli argues that generational activism is an asset to the city's efforts to overcome the economic crisis for the past 40 years. One lasting change resulted in recognizing drinking water as a right in the Flint City Charter. 

Pauli's ethnographical research is done in an academic book, not your typical data-filled one. The book reads like a CIA or police intelligence field analysis of the capability of a group in fostering and accomplishing public policy changes. "Flint Fights Back" is an insightful book and takes an extensive view of the Flint Water Crisis, remarkably different from other books and articles written on the Flint Water Crisis. Most fascinating is Pauli's analysis of the ability of local activists to form an identity and narrative story that sells their cause in the marketplace of public opinion. 

Pauli concludes that Flint is a parable, the canary in the coal mine forewarning for other cities and towns in the United States. Many of whom may catch a glimpse of what their futures may be in years to come. Professor Pauli claims that Flint's activism has sparked change that eventually has taken hold in many other places in the U.S. 

"Flint Fights Back" is a guide for those who wonder how to bring change to their towns and cities. Rather than see an involved and active public as an asset, many leaders and residents view some in Flint as the "problem." Professor Pauli speculates that, in all likelihood, the Flint Water Crisis would never have been discovered and addressed without the persistent and determined work of the Flint activist. Yes, the same activists who didn't take gaslighting by their Mayor, Governor, and government as the answer to fixing poison in Flint's drinking water.

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RESOURCES AND LINKS 

• Pauli's book is FREE to all to download: MIT Press Free Download 
• Kettering University is a private non-profit STEM university in Flint, Michigan.  

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Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

Visit our Mitten Channel website for our complete library of podcasts, videos, and articles.

The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

The Life of Mr. Flint, Charles Stewart Mott. Charles Stewart Mott (1875-1973) was an American businessman and philanthropist born in Flint, Michigan. He is best known for his involvement in the automobile industry and his philanthropic work.

Mott began his career as a clerk in his family's business, which manufactured carriage and automobile parts. He eventually took over the company and expanded it into a major parts supplier to the automotive industry. Mott was also involved in developing the Chevrolet Motor Company, founded by his friend and business partner, William C. Durant.

In addition to his business pursuits, Mott was a philanthropist and supported several charitable causes. He was particularly interested in education and helped establish several schools and universities, including Flint College (now known as the University of Michigan-Flint) and Kettering University, which was named in honor of Charles Kettering, another automotive pioneer.

Mott was also active in local and national politics and served on several boards and committees throughout his career. He received numerous awards and honors for his business and philanthropic endeavors and was widely respected and admired for his contributions to society.

This is Part Two of an interview with C.S. Mott biographer Ed Renehan who shares remarkable stories from The life of "Mr. Flint" Charles Stewart Mott. Renehan's book "The Life of Charles Stewart Mott" is a comprehensive look at the life of one of the world's most successful American capitalists. The interview covers Mr. Mott's career, family life, travels, hobbies, devotion to the Flint community, and philanthropy.

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Ed Renehan's critically-acclaimed books published under his name include:

• Deliberate Evil: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Daniel Webster,
• The 1830 Murder of a Salem Slave Trader (Chicago Review Press, 2022)
• Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons (Basic Books, 2006)
• The Kennedys at War (Doubleday, 2001)
• The Lion's Pride (Oxford University Press, 1998).
• The Life of Charles Stewart Mott (University of Michigan Press, 2019)
• John Burroughs: An American Naturalist (Black Dome Press, 1992)
• The Secret Six (Crown, 1994).
• Ed Rehehan has appeared on PBS's The American Experience, NPR, and C-Span's BookTV and has written for publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to The San Francisco Chronicle.

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Books About Charles Stewart Mott:

• The Life of Charles Stewart Mott, published by University of Michigan Press, 2019, is available at local bookstores in Flint, Michigan, and major book retailers.
• Foundation for Living, by Clarence H. Young and William Grim, published by McGraw-Hill, 1963

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Learn more about C.S. Mott by visiting the following:

• Charles Stewart Mott, Wikipedia
• History and Founder-Mott Foundation Biography published by the C.S. Mott Foundation
• Michigan Historical Review Article on the Life of Charles Stewart Mott
• Change Agent: The Life and Legacy of Charles Stewart Mott, Class of 1897 Stevens Institute of Technology, Interview with Edward Renehan, the author
<

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Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

Visit our Mitten Channel website for our complete library of podcasts, videos, and articles.

The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.

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 months.  

Neil holds the title -- State Troubadour. In 2003, the Michigan Legislature officially named Neil Woodward Michigan’s Troubadour in recognition of his lifelong commitment to preserving Great Lakes folk music and culture.

Besides Woodward's performances at Genesee County's historic Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad, he spends some of his summer days as a musical performer while strolling around Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan.

During this episode, Neil Woodward performs and discusses four of his songs; "Engine 464", the "Swampin' of the Genesee Belle," "... say No?!" and "Peach Tree Creek". These songs are Flint, Michigan, historical songs, which you will also hear from time to time at Crossroads Village, Michigan, while Neil is at work.

• The song "Engine 464" details the history of Engine 464 of the Huckleberry Railroad located at Crossroads Village, Michigan.
• The "Swampin' of the Genesee Belle" is a story about a paddleboat that submerged on Mott Lake during its maiden voyage at Crossroads Village, Michigan.
• The song " ... say No?!" is about Flint, Michigan, and its legendary autoworkers. He painfully describes the pressures Flint autoworkers felt in the 1990s from the forces of globalization and the threats of losing their jobs to Mexican factories.
• Peachtree Creek is a Civil War song that tells the story of a Flint, Michigan, soldier wounded in Sherman's March to the Sea (Battle of Atlanta). Troubadour Neil Woodward is the recipient of the 2018 State of Michigan Heritage Award "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Michigan's cultural heritage."

Most of Neil’s work focuses on preserving Michigan's songs in the troubadour tradition, from Great Lakes sailor shanties to lumberjack songs.

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• For more information about Troubadour Neil Woodward and his storytelling and songs, visit the Neil Woodward Website.
• Read this profile story, "Neil Woodward, Michigan's Troubadour, Storyteller and Historian," by Radio Free Flint.
• Watch a 25-minute YouTube performance by Michigan's Troubadour.

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The Mitten Channel is a network of podcasts.  

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Join us for the full experience. Subscribe to The Mitten Channel on Substack to receive our latest narrative essays, audio stories, and deep-dive reporting directly in your inbox.

Explore Our Series:

• Radio Free Flint: Narrative storytelling and community perspectives on industrial resilience.
• The Mitten Works: Essential history and analysis of labor and economic policy.
• Flint Justice: Critical insights into the legal and institutional challenges facing our state.
  
  

Visit our Mitten Channel website for our complete library of podcasts, videos, and articles.

The Mitten Channel is a production of Radio Free Flint Media, LLC. © 2026 All Rights Reserved.