The shrill, biting staccato whine of a chain saw pierces the cold, night air. Thud. Another billboard falls to the ground along a highway in southern Michigan.An estimated 167 billboards in all—cut, chopped, and chainsawed, along highways thro

#46 Ann Arbor Stories: The Battle of Ann Arbor

Mar 1st, 2018 14m 4s

Four nights of rioting, dozens of injuries to cops and citizens, and more than 70 arrests—it was an event The Detroit Free Press dubbed “The Battle of Ann Arbor”. What sparked this violence and how did the insane scene play out in the summer of

#45 Ann Arbor Stories: Highway Snipers

Feb 8th, 2018 10m 42s

There wasn't a lot of traffic on M-14 on that last day of August 1981. It was 3am. Semi trucks bound for points in Michigan and throughout the Midwest, cars carrying people headed to work, cars taking people home after long nights. It was at th

#44 Ann Arbor Stories: Professor Foxy Truesport

Oct 12th, 2017 10m 41s

This is the story of Thomas Clarkson Trueblood—the first golf coach at the University of Michigan, one of the most respected orators in the world during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and noted professor --- of lovemaking.Get to know P

#43 Ann Arbor Stories: How the Hippies Almost Killed Football

Sep 28th, 2017 14m 45s

In 1970, one man tried to stop the University of Michigan and Michigan State from playing their annual football game. And he kind of had an argument. A story of rock music, drugs, sex, love-ins, college football and judicial precedent - fun for

#42 Ann Arbor Stories: The Chameleon

Sep 14th, 2017 18m 6s

You're going to hear a story about a man. It may seem too good and too weird to be true, but trust me—what you are about to hear is 100% real. This is the story of William Douglas Street, better known as The Chameleon.Music by Shout Out Out Ou

#41 Ann Arbor Stories: Skyscrapers

Aug 31st, 2017 12m 20s

Skyscraper is such an elegant word. Two decades after it was first used in print to describe Chicago's tall-building craze, Ann Arbor had its first skyscraper—the seven-story Glazier Building. Twenty years later, the 10-story First National Bui

#40 Ann Arbor Stories: Train Crashes

Aug 17th, 2017 10m 7s

Ann Arbor has a rich history of railroads and trains. So so much rich history. This is not that story. This is a story of the most spectacular train crashes in Ann Arbor's history.Listener Warning: Contain references to train crashes, more tra

#39 Ann Arbor Stories: We Had a Zoo

Aug 3rd, 2017 15m 39s

Bears. Bobcats. Badgers. Red foxes. Raccoons. And a wolverine. Once upon a time they watched from campus with their predatory eyes as students at the University of Michigan, townies, and delicious delicious children walked past.Their territory

#38 Ann Arbor Stories: Top 10 Astronauts

Jul 20th, 2017 19m 3s

There are enough amazing Ann Arbor astronauts to create a top 10 list, so that's what we did. Men with righter than right stuff, pilots and scientists and world record holders who broke the outer limits of the atmosphere, touched the stars and

#37 Ann Arbor Stories: MAILBAG #1

Jul 13th, 2017 12m 26s

Each episode of Ann Arbor Stories ends with our email address: [email protected] and an ask to you, our great listeners, for feedback, story ideas or shockingly personal questions. We personally answer each email, but some of these que

#36 Ann Arbor Stories: Housewife Flies Around the World

Jul 6th, 2017 14m 53s

The woman the papers called "the pretty Michigan housewife" had never left the United States before planning her 1967 flight around the world. Not in a modern jet, but in a 30-year-old plane that had 14 previous owners, one crash landing, and m

#35 Ann Arbor Stories: Walking Tour #1

Jun 28th, 2017 26m 6s

This first Ann Arbor Stories walking tour is intended to be listened to while actually exploring a few city blocks in downtown Ann Arbor. It takes listeners from the corner of Huron and Fourth, outside the Embassy Hotel all the way to the corne

#34 Ann Arbor Stories: The Music Mobile

Jun 22nd, 2017 12m 23s

You can’t talk about the amazing life of Geraldine Seeback without talking about the Music Mobile, but you better not talk about the Music Mobile and gloss over the amazing life of Geraldine Seeback. Two stories in one! The story of Ann Arbor's

#33 Ann Arbor Stories: Dirty Rotten Founders

Jun 8th, 2017 18m 7s

Rugged pioneers John Allen and Elisha Rumsey founded Ann Arbor in 1824 and named their new town Ann Arbor because, 1.) Both of their wives had "Ann" in their names and, 2.) The wives frequently relaxed and chatted under a grape arbor the men ha

#32 Ann Arbor Stories: Dam Arbor

May 25th, 2017 18m 49s

The Huron River travels 130 miles from White Lake Township in Oakland County all the way down to Lake Erie - meandering through Dexter, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Belleville, Flat Rock, and Rockwood. Since Ann Arbor's founding, the river has been us

#31 Ann Arbor Stories: The Dictator Comes to Town

May 11th, 2017 17m 30s

Ann Arbor loves hosting dignitaries, celebrities and heads of state like any other Midwestern city. In 1966, Ann Arbor had the pleasure of hosting newly-elected Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and his lovely wife Imelda. He wasn't a dict

#30 Ann Arbor Stories: The Embassy Hotel

Apr 27th, 2017 11m 40s

If you've seen the Embassy Hotel since 1951, you'll know it doesn't look like anything special. It's wrapped in dull grey siding and the signs on the side of the building are old, and its clientele probably wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms a

#29 Ann Arbor Stories: Public Animal No. 1

Apr 13th, 2017 18m 49s

Dozens of cities tried - hundreds of lawmen failed. Ann Arbor was the only place in the world that could cage punk rock’s most anarchic, violent and revolting personality. Think Iggy Pop crossed with Charles Manson - the crossed with Charles Ma

#28 Ann Arbor Stories: The Blind Pig

Mar 30th, 2017 13m 23s

On February 23, 2017, Swisher Commercial listed the Blind Pig and 8-Ball Saloon for sale. 6,970 square feet, two stories, two half baths, no bedrooms, and no list price. Best offer only. Liquor license included. The origins of the building, the

#27 Ann Arbor Stories: The Torch Murders

Mar 16th, 2017 17m 33s

In the pre-dawn hours in August 1931, a farmer in Ypsilanti reported a car on fire at the edge of his property. When police and firefighters arrived and extinguished the flames, they found a grisly scene that shocked the state. Four bodies, bur

#26 Ann Arbor Stories: Henry Ford's Enforcer

Mar 2nd, 2017 20m 57s

The most powerful person ever to live in Ann Arbor was Harry Bennett—Henry Ford's right hand man, union buster and general enforcer. Bennett lived behind the walls of Bennett's Castle at 5668 Geddes Road, where he ran the Ford Motor Company sec

#25 Ann Arbor Stories: The Red Light District

Feb 16th, 2017 20m 52s

There was a time in Ann Arbor’s not-so-distant past when a part of town was widely known as the red light district. Adult bookstores, topless massage parlors, prostitutes, hoodlums, and bums—all just blocks from City Hall and Ann Arbor police h

#24 Ann Arbor Stories: Proud History of Punching Nazis in the Face

Feb 2nd, 2017 13m 44s

Police spotted the Nazis in their rented U-Haul at the edge of the city around 11 am— two hours before anyone expected them to arrive. Fifteen members of the S.S. Action Group out of Westland—sitting three in the front and 12 in the back, riot

#23 Ann Arbor Stories: The Clairvoyant Physician

Jan 19th, 2017 12m 38s

In a time of spirits, specters, and the people who could contact them - Daniel B. Kellogg fit right in. The good doctor could diagnose you in person or halfway across the country—see inside you and prescribe the perfect cure—despite having no f