Radio Free Flint
A podcast on law, history, and culture from Flint, Michigan. Hosted by former prosecutor Arthur Busch, Radio Free Flint explores justice, society, and public affairs. This podcast weaves together personal storytelling, investigative journalism, and social analysis to explore some of the most urgent themes of our time
Episodes
The Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936–37 wasn’t just a labor dispute — it was a turning point in American history. In this short documentary segment, former Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch breaks down what really happened inside the Fisher Body plants, why the strike succeeded, and how Flint became the birthplace of modern union power.
This video explores:
- The strategy workers used to shut down General Motors
- How ...
Flint, Michigan, has given the world legendary athletes—now meet one of its rising musical icons.
Joe Ryan III is a producer, songwriter, composer, engineer, and DJ whose creative reach spans television, film, and the global music scene. At just 30, he’s worked with FOX, ABC, NBC, MTV, VH1, ESPN, and BET, crafting scores for Lethal Weapon, The Voice, Teen Titans Go!, Ellen DeGeneres, Dancing with the Stars, and m...
He was handsome, popular, and lived the perfect fraternity life in Ann Arbor. But behind John Norman Collins’s all-American image lurked one of Michigan’s darkest secrets.
In the late 1960s, a series of brutal murders terrorized the college towns of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Seven young women—mostly students—were abducted, raped, and murdered. The media called the killer “The Michigan Murderer.”
In this Radio Free Flint ...
Few Flint residents know that one of the city’s most beloved traditions began with immigrants from a tiny mountain village in North Macedonia.
In this episode of Radio Free Flint, host Arthur Busch welcomes Karen Paul Holmes, daughter of Carl Paul, co-founder of Angelo’s Coney Island—the restaurant that helped define Flint’s working-class culture for decades.
Carl Paul came to America through Ellis Island from Bouf, Mac...
What’s a “Snowbird,” really—and why do millions of Americans and Canadians head south every winter? In this video essay, Arthur Busch—former Genesee County Prosecutor and host of Radio Free Flint—shares why he became a Snowbird and what the lifestyle reveals about working-class culture from the Rust Belt to the Sunbelt. From union paychecks and shift work to HOA meetings and pickleball courts, the Snowbird migration ...
Good school districts are more than a function of how much money they collect from taxpayers. Schools must connect with the community where they are located in ways that go beyond math, science and reading.
Flint, Michigan at one time was the envy of America. Flint leaders developed and funded the concept of the Community Schools Program. The Flint School District and its Community Schools Model drew peop...
Our guest is musician Howard Ryan, a native of Wisconsin who now lives in San Francisco, California. Ryan, also known as Hauras composed a song, "Flint, Michigan," intending to make a social statement about the problems of the beleaguered rust belt city.
Ryan is a musician and composer who is known for his work in the drone music genre. He has released several albums and EPs that showcase his uniqu...
Our podcast guest is Daniel Moilanen, a Fenton area native now living in Flint.
Dan is currently the Executive Director of the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts (MACD). His leadership in this organization brings conservation-minded farmers together to reduce toxic algal blooms in the Great Lakes by encouraging environmentally sound agricultural techniques.
The Michigan soil conserva...
Michigan has a significant problem with its roads and bridges. The state has one of the highest numbers of structurally deficient bridges in the country, and many of its roads need repair. This problem has been exacerbated by years of neglect and insufficient funding.
Midnight in Vehicle City by author Edward McClelland is a book that tells the story of Flint, Michigan, during the Great Recession and the struggles of its residents as they try to survive in a city that has been hit hard by the economic downturn. The story centers around autoworkers struggling to make ends meet and their challenges of working for General Motors Corporation in the 1930s. Those challenges included poor...
A Michigan original. A musical storyteller. A man who made a lifetime of memories from behind a piano.
In this episode, we sit down with George Winters, the beloved “Red Piano Man” from Flint and Davison. George is a lifelong musician, entertainer, teacher, and creative force. His signature red electric piano has become a staple at community events, local concerts, senior centers, benefit performances, and neighborhood...
This is a conversation with Sarah Carson about her book of poems, How to Baptize a Child, in Flint, MI. Carson's poems are a jarring portrayal of life in a declining, once mighty, and still proud American rustbelt town, Flint, Michigan.
"How to Baptize a Child in Flint, Michigan" is a heartwarming and thought-provoking exploration of faith, family, and community in the midst of challenging ci...
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...
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...
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 tal...
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...
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 a...
The Center has three primary collections: Flint Labor History, Civil ...
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...
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 his...
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