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Patricia Majher discusses her books of mini-biographies, including three Flint natives, MI; Michael Moore, Jim Abbott, and Sara Emma Edmonds.

Her books Great Girls and Bold Boys are designed for children but are informative and entertaining for people of all ages.

A deep-sea diver, a dancer, an activist, an aviator, a singer, and a soldier—Great Girls in Michigan History highlights 20 girls from Michigan’s past who did extraordinary things before they turned 20 years old. Author Patricia Majher presents easy-to-read mini-biographies of these girls who present a variety of cultures, areas of the state, and historical periods—published by Wayne State University Press.

Bold Boys in Michigan History—a companion to Great Girls in Michigan History—explores the stories of 20 boys who did some amazing things before they turned 20 years old. Author Patricia Majher offers young readers easy-to-read mini-biographies about highly acclaimed and lesser-known Michiganders, who led remarkable lives that will intrigue and inspire—published by Wayne State University Press.

Patricia discusses mini-biographies with us in her books, including three from Flint, Michigan; Sara Emma Edmonds, Michael Moore, and Jim Abbott.  Her books Great Girls and Bold Boys are designed for children but are informative and entertaining for people of all ages.

Patricia Majher is also the author of two other books, including "Ladies of the Lights: Michigan Women in the U.S. Lighthouse Service" and "100 Things to Do in Ann Arbor Before You Die." Her book Great Girls was a 2015 Michigan Notable Books winner.

Patricia is a museum professional who has held marketing, curatorial, and collections positions at institutions as wide-ranging as The Henry Ford and Mackinac State Historic Parks to the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. She is currently employed as director for the Hamburg Township Historical Museum. Before this position, Majher served as editor of Michigan History magazine for seven years.

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For information about purchasing this book or others authored by Patricia Majer:

Wayne State University Press

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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.

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 that need reform and drinking water policy decisions by the Flint and Michigan governments.

Anna Clark lives in Detroit. She is a reporter for ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to investigative journalism with moral force.

• Ann Clark's book won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism and the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. It was also named one of the year's best books by the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Public Library, Audible, and others.
• Visit the author's website for more information about Anna Clark.

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Read the Poisoned City Parable, a blog post by Radio Free Flint that discusses the lessons from the Flint Water Crisis.

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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.

Jermaine Reese, spent eighteen years as a Flint Police Officer. He shares his policing career, its highs and lows. He patrolled the Flint, Michigan neighborhood where he was raised.

What is life like in a City of Flint patrol car? What will it take for Flint's crime statistics to improve? What type of training for police will reduce abuse claims and lawsuits?

Dr. Reese explains that one of those challenges was being black and a policeman.  Professor Reese also comments on the Black Lives Matter movement and its impact on policing today.

He describes the effects of Flint's economic and social problems on the job of a police officer. Reese eloquently outlines the personal qualities he acquired growing up in Flint, Michigan.

Professor Reese shares his thoughts about the need for community policing in Flint and makes some suggestions to improve the quality of policing there.

Dr. Jermaine Reese has a Phd and a Masters Degrees in Criminal Justice.  He attended C.S. Mott Community College and its Criminal Justice Program.  He formerly served as a Professor at Grand Rapids Community College and was the Director of the Police Training Academy in that city. He is now a Professor at Wayne County Community College-Dearborn.

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• Flint hip hop artist Joe Ryan III and his 90 year old grandmother, Odessa Houston perform the song "Flint, Michigan" played in this episode.
• Special thanks to Dr Avon Burns, retired Professor at C.S. Mott Community College for making this episode possible.

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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.

Grand Blanc, MI attorney and businessman Michael Jablonski is an entrepreneurial success. Jablonski shares stories from his business career in the food and entertainment business in Mid-Michigan.

Few people in Michigan have made an impact on the Flint area community's entertainment and fine dining as Michael Jablonski.

Michael has developed several concept businesses in the Flint, Michigan area. Those establishments, Celebrations Night Club and Brick Street have became some of the most popular and financially successful businesses in Genesee County.

Michael owned or managed other food and entertainment businesses including:

• R.C. Coopers, a fine dining establishment in Flushing, Michigan
• BeachTree in suburban Flint Township, Michigan
• JT Thornberry's in Mt. Morris, Michigan.

Michael Jablonski also has also maintained a law practice in Grand Blanc, Michigan where he specializes in business and corporate matters.

He was born into a Polish-American family of entrepreneurs who owned local bakeries and food establishments in Genesee County. He is a native of Flint and Mt. Morris, Michigan.

He graduated from E. A. Johnson High School and Michigan State University.

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Visit Michael Jablonski's signature eatery Brick Street of Grand Blanc

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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.

Joel Bye and his band the Blue Hawaiians are legendary amongst Michigan music fans.

Joel shares the colorful history of the band as well as his prior band The Nick Garvey Band.

In a hilarious and surprisingly reflective interview Joel Bye shares how he got started playing the drums with another local legend, the late jazz master Sherman Mitchell, playing in the Fireside Lounge in Flint.

He speaks optimistically about Flint, Michigan and what the town has ment to him. He played his first gig at Ballenger Park in Flint, for a concert known as the Battle of the Bands.

Joel and his bandmates have given richly of their time and talents to many local charitable causes and benefits. After listening to Joel tell stories about his life and his views on the people of Flint, it is easy to see why he is one of the most beloved musicians in Michigan.

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Learn more about Joel Bye and the Blue Hawaiians:

Blue Hawaiians Facebook Group

Joel Bye Facebook Home Page

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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.

William S. Ballenger III of Flint, Michigan is a descendant of one of the founders of Buick, Chevrolet Motor Car Company, General Motors. Bill is a member of the family that philanthropically endowed the Flint area. Bill shares his family's history, accomplishments, and philanthropic activity. Along the way, Bill shares experiences about growing up in Flint and shares his memories of the late Charles Stewart Mott and family.

Bill Ballenger is a former State Senator, State Representative, the Michigan Racing Commissioner and the Director of The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulation. He is also a former Professor at Central Michigan University and has been an adjunct professor at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan-Flint. For decades Bill published the newsletter Inside Politics, a must-read publication for those interested in Michigan government. Bill has his own podcast as well as his own radio program. He is a paid public speaker, who has appeared before hundreds of groups across Michigan to share the trends, the latest developments as well as his knowledge about Michigan government.

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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.

Pete "Fat Cat" Flanders is perhaps one of the best remembered radio personalities in the Mid-Michigan media market.  He is the owner of Musical Memories, a Flint record shop that specializes in vinyl record sales.

Pete recounts his 40 year history in Flint area radio sharing stories from his long career as a DJ, Concert Promoter and Businessman.  Pete worked at WHMM with its urban format and WTAC with its contemporary Rock format.

He has worked as a promoter, announcer, or tour assistant to some of the greatest names in R&B, Soul Music and Rock.  He worked for a year on tour with the legendary James Brown.  In his early days he promoted Jackie Wilson, Temptations and other R&B artists.

Pete was especially close to Peter C. Cavanaugh who was a local DJ, station manager, promoter and author.  He recounts many memories of his relationship with Peter C and their antics.  They co-promoted the 1960's rock band the MC5 with Wayne Kramer and Rob Tyner. In one case he relives a story of the band appearing at Davison, Michigan's Sherwood Forest when the bands performance was stopped by the police because of an obscenity in the lyrics of their most popular song.

Musical Memories is located 425 S. Dort Highway in Flint, Michigan.

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The Mitten Channel is a network of podcasts.  

👉Subscribe to The Mitten Channel

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.

Norman Bryant is a former President of Flint Board of Education. At 85 years of age, he shares the history of the Flint Community Schools and high school athletics.

Norm is the founder of the Flint African American Sports Hall of Fame.

Norm provides a wonderful oral history of African American life in a northern US industrial community in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's.

During the interview Norm Bryant discusses the people and activities around Flint, Michigan becoming the first U.S. major city to adopt an Open Housing Ordinance.  Flint also became the first major city in America to have an African American Mayor, Floyd J. McCree.

Visit Flint African-American Hall of Fame.

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Subscribe at the Free tier for regular investigative essays and updates.

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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.

Local news anchor Joel Feick stepped down from local television news after 35 years. He left familiar seat as "The People's News Anchor". Joel shares stories about his life as a reporter.  In this podcast, Joel shares his memories of the characters whom he covered as a journalist.  He also shares memories of colleagues and other reporters in the Mid-Michigan area.  He worked 27 years for ABC-12 and then 8 years at NBC25/FOX66 where concluded his career in broadcasting.

In November 2020, Joel was elected to the Grand Blanc Township Board of Trustees.  He is now working for Disability Network of Greater Flint where he is following his passion to help others.

In 2005, he won an Emmy Award for Best Consumer News. He won the Emmy for a series of reports on how to insulate a home. Joel has also won UPI and AP Awards along with the National Golden AMI Award.

He's enjoyed hundreds of interviews: from President George H.W. Bush to Ernie Harwell. But the ones that brought him the most joy were ones that involved average people in unique situations.

Joel was an instructor of Radio Broadcasting at Mott Community College. He's on the board of the Children's Wish Fund of Flint and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.

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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.

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 provide a home for their five children during the Great Depression. She grew up in Flint, Michigan. Arlene tells of her family's role in World War II and meeting her soon-to-be husband when he came home from the war. She and her husband, who was disabled in the war, started married life with a monthly income of $89 and had four babies in the four years that followed.  That was a challenge they conquered together through love for each other. 

Arlene will make you laugh and maybe shed a tear.  But if you enjoy good stories from a kinder, gentler time, listen to this podcast as she recounts her memories she put in her book "Homemade Noodles and Cars". Order Arlene's book to get the secret stories she speaks of in this interview. You can get a copy of her book at: 

Barns and Noble (e-book & Nook) and Amazon 

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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.