The Mitten Channel

A vanished hometown. A son who came back different. An elder on a quiet porch waiting for someone to say hello. We follow John Prine’s trail from Maywood, Illinois, to the coal seams of western Kentucky and the factory streets of Michigan, mapping how his songs became a living record of America’s working‑class migration. We start with the family story: parents who left Muhlenberg County for steadier pay, weekend drives back down the Green River, and the language that knit southern memory to n...

Remastered edition: re-edited and shortened for clarity and pace. We trace Jeff Natchez’s path from Flint open gyms and sandlots to a Detroit Tigers draft pick, rookie ball under a young Jim Leyland, and a second career in optometry. Honest reflections on choices, mentors, and coming home frame a story about resilience and community. A Flint kid grows up in the city’s golden era, spends every spare hour on open courts and dusty diamonds, and learns how far grit can take you. That kid becomes ...

Do federal officials have “absolute immunity” from state criminal law? No. But they do have a powerful defense described as the Supremacy Clause immunity. This legal doctrine can block a state prosecution when a federal officer was acting within lawful federal duties and used only what was necessary and proper. See Lawfare for more details. In this episode, former prosecutor Arthur Busch breaks down the real test courts apply, how cases can be removed from state court to fede...

Flint on the Brink is a clear-eyed examination of an American rust-belt city struggling to decide who controls its future. In this episode, former Michigan prosecutor and legal educator Arthur Busch reads and expands on his essay Flint on the Brink: How Broken Systems, Billion-Dollar “Saviors,” and Flint-First Leadership Are Fighting for the City’s Future. The episode explores how decades of economic decline, segregation, and institutional failure have weakened Flint’s economy and its ability...

I Left My Blue-Collar Hometown On A Schwinn And Learned How The "Other Half" Actually Lives Have you ever felt that crushing pressure to leave home just to "figure out your future"? 🤔 In this episode, I’m looking back at 1970, when I ditched the factory smoke of Flint, Michigan, for a 2,000-mile cross-country bicycle odyssey that changed everything. Expect to hear about: Why riding at dawn in the Mojave Desert is basically a 110-degree survival horror movie. 🐍The "poor man's air conditioner" ...

In 1952, a saloon killing in a small Upper Peninsula town became one of the most important—and controversial—criminal trials in Michigan history. The lawyer who defended the accused was John D. Voelker: former county prosecutor, defense attorney, future Michigan Supreme Court justice, and a gifted writer who would later publish the landmark legal novel Anatomy of a Murder under the pen name Robert Traver. In this episode of Flint Justice, Arthur Busch examines: the real Big Bay homicide that ...

Join Arthur Busch on location in downtown Detroit as he takes you inside the magic of the 99th Annual America’s Thanksgiving Parade. In this special field-report episode, Arthur walks Woodward Avenue, captures the sights and sounds of the morning, and talks directly with the people who make this iconic tradition come alive. From families bundled up in the cold, to lifelong Detroiters describing what the parade means to them, to first-timers experiencing the floats, balloons, and Big Heads wit...

In 1937, a 23-year-old Flint woman stood between General Motors security, Flint police gunfire, and the workers fighting for their lives inside Fisher Body. Her name was Genora Johnson Dollinger — and she did more than rally the Women’s Emergency Brigade. She dodged bullets for the UAW and helped spark a labor uprising that reshaped the American middle class. This episode begins with a cinematic reenactment of the Flint Sit-Down Strike and Genora’s electrifying moment on the picket lin...

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 MotorsHow the UAW was born inside the factory wallsWhy General Motors feared the sit-dow...

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, Macedonia, near the border with Greece. Alongside his partner Angelo Nikoloff...

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 people from across the nation and the world to study the educational mode...

Our guest is Daniel Moilanen, a Fenton-area native now living in Flint, and the Executive Director of the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts (MACD). Under Dan’s leadership, Michigan’s soil conservation districts are bringing conservation-minded farmers together to modernize agricultural practices—reducing nutrient runoff, protecting wetlands, and addressing the toxic algal blooms threatening the Great Lakes, especially Lake Erie. Modern Farming, Healthier Water A core focus of thi...