Series and Documentaries from Michigan Radio

Programs | Series and Documentaries | Jack Lessenberry | The Environment Report | Recent NPR Stories | NPR Affiliate Content The Auto Crisis | Finding Our Bootstraps | Three Things | Generation Y Michigan | Michigan's Obesity Crisis | ArtPrize 2009 | Back To School | The Health Care Debate | Facing the Mortgage Crisis | How We Got Here: The Decline of Newspapers | Up North in a Down Economy | Michigan's Bottom Line: Hybrid Economy | Remaking Michigan | Northern Arts | Foreclosing on the American Dream | Ashes to Hope: Overcoming the Detroit Riots | Grading Michigan Schools The domestic auto industry is in crisis. In our special series from Nov/Dec 2008, "The Auto Crisis: Can Michigan Survive", Michigan Radio explored how the crisis happened, what it means for economy, what can be done about the problems, and what the crisis means for all of us. Now in March 2010 we'll continue the series with new reports that evaluate the ongoing problems in the industry. Since late 2007 America has been in an economic crisis. From a story about a family living on a beach, to a former GM employee looking to downsize his life, to a teenager weighing options for after high school, this one hour newscast compatible documentary explores how people are finding the strength and situations that get them through economic hard times by presenting personal stories and intimate portraits alongside contextual interviews and reports. Jennifer White is the program's host. "Finding Our Bootstraps: Americans Deal with Recession" was produced at Michigan Radio and showcases work from independent and station-based contributors to PRX.ORG - The Public Radio Exchange. There are exceptions, but in general, we haven't heard much good news about the state of Michigan for a while. For the most part, the state is still facing extremely tough times, and the news we hear reflects that. So Michigan Radio wanted to start the New Year with a series of interviews looking forward... and looking at how we can all make things a bit better for our state. We're also wondering, what are your Three Things? Over half of all Michigan's public university graduates leave the state within one year of graduation. Michigan Radio Intern Lauren Silverman will probably be one of them. However, according to many thinkers, young college graduates are the people Michigan needs most. Generation Y Michigan takes a look at why young adults are leaving or staying in Michigan. Lauren has been reporting and blogging on the topic, and we are also accepting guest essay submissions. On Thursday, December 17, we will host a call-in show and web chat to take questions about Michigan's brain drain problem. In the Michigan Radio series "Michigan's Obesity Crisis," Charity Nebbe looks into the state's obesity crisis. She will explore whether where we live matters, how food policies effect the problem, and how the problem effects us. Also, photographer Eric Smith explores the epidemic in Michigan Radio’s brand new web feature The Michigan Radio Picture Project. What is ArtPrize? Put simply, it’s a competition. But it’s also an experiment that could change Grand Rapids long after that competition ends on October 10th. Amway heir Rick DeVos announced ArtPrize five months ago, saying he wanted to “reboot the conversation between artists and the public.” In our series "ArtPrize 2009," Dustin Dwyer and Jennifer Guerra bring you reports in which you can hear from some of the artists competing about how their work is reshaping the city, and making an impact on the local economy. As a new school year begins in Michigan lawmakers in Lansing continue to grapple with a huge budget deficit. It's certain that many school administrators are watching what's happening very closely as they try to plan their budgets for the next year, and maybe even more importantly the year after that. "Back To School" is a series of interviews by Charity Nebbe that looks at the current state of public education in Michigan. President Obama wants a health care overhaul in place by the end of the year. There's intense debate in Congress over what to do. Our series "The Health Care Debate" takes a look at different aspects of health care and insurance, with interviews by Christina Shockley. At 1pm on Friday, July 24, Michigan Radio aired the documentary "Facing the Mortgage Crisis," narrated by Christina Shockley. We also hosted a web chat with guest panelists Kent Spencer and Gloriane Wiley of the Wayne County Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program. If you have a local newspaper subscription, it probably doesn't deliver what it once did. Over the next few days on Morning Edition, the series "How We Got Here: The Decline of Newspapers" will take a look at the uncertain situation of the newspaper industry. In the series "Up North in a Down Economy," Michigan Radio will look at how the recession is affecting small towns in northern Michigan. Michigan Radio provided special coverage from this year's Mackinac Policy Conference. Throughout the last week of May, we aired special reports on Michigan's economy and other topics discussed at the conference. A one-hour special program, entitled "Michigan's Bottom Line: Hybrid Economy," followed on Friday, May 29. "Hybrid Economy" was co-hosted by Michigan Radio's Sarah Hulett and Michigan Public Radio Network Managing Editor Rick Pluta. The program examined how alternative energy is changing what powers our cars, homes, and jobs, and how it may be the key to Michigan's economic future. Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep was in Detroit the week of April 20-24, 2009, to take a look at the economic crisis that has hit the state. Throughout the week, NPR featured stories on Morning Edition about how we're adapting to the economic change. At 1p on Friday, April 24, Michigan Radio aired a special one hour program called "Remaking Michigan", about how the state is trying to re-set itself economically. We opened the phones to take questions, invited Twitter replies (using @michiganradio), and hosted a live web chat. We spend a lot of time exploring the world of arts and culture from Detroit to Grand Rapids and everywhere in between. But what about up north? In our series "Northern Arts", Michigan Radio's arts reporter Jennifer Guerra takes a trip up north to spend some time around the campfire with a group of northern Michigan musicians visit to the deep woods of Mancelona for a lesson in the fine art of letter press and more. Michigan has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Thousands of people in the state have had their homes foreclosed on. Michigan Radio takes an in-depth look at what this means for our state, our communities, and all of us. Why has Michigan been hit so hard? What is this doing to our neighborhoods? What are the solutions? Michigan Radio's reporters and hosts explored these questions through in-depth reports and interviews during Morning Edition and All Things Considered during the week of July 21st. At the end of the week our documentary, "Foreclosing on the American Dream" explored how home foreclosures affect people, neighborhoods, and even art. We have also compiled a list of resources that might be helpful if you are facing foreclosure or have already been through the process. In the summer of 1967 chaos broke out in the streets of Detroit. After five days of violence 43 were dead, thousands were injured and over 4000 people had been arrested. This summer – forty years later – Michigan Radio takes an in-depth look at the deadliest riot of the 1960’s. Why did the riots begin? What fueled them? And, have we ever really recovered? Our documentary, "Ashes to Hope: Overcoming the Detroit Riots" explores how the riots affected people, neighborhoods and even music. It explores questions such as: Whether it was truly a riot? Or, a rebellion? Is the "white-flight" that we see today in Detroit a consequence of the riots? Did the riots cripple the relationship between the state of Michigan and Detroit? We also hear from Michigan Radio reporters as well as first-hand accounts of what it was like to be in Detroit during the riot. "Ashes to Hope: Overcoming the Detroit Riots" won a 2008 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Radio News Documentary, as well as a 2008 Clarion Award from Women in Communications. Michigan Radio's "Grading Michigan Schools" is a multi-part series that takes an in-depth look at education in Michigan. We hear why one college student feels let down by the public school system in the state. We find out about "unschooling," an education philosophy that abandons textbooks and a curriculum. We also look at how the public school system is serving at-risk students through education for the very young and early intervention for kids with special education needs. "Grading Michigan Schools" won a 2008 Clarion Award from Women in Communications.