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#38 Ann Arbor Stories: Top 10 Astronauts
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 zoomed around the surface of the moon on a frickin' lunar rover. Who's your favorite?
Parental advisory: This episode contains references to death, more death (we're not psyched about this) and the film Apollo 13.
Music by FAWNN.
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#37 Ann Arbor Stories: MAILBAG #1
Each episode of Ann Arbor Stories ends with our email address: AnnArborStories@gmaill.com 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 questions are too good to keep to ourselves. Behold, our first mailbag episode, sharing the best questions and answers to create a few mini Ann Arbor Stories.
Our email address is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So ask us anything. What was that old building back in the day? I heard about this murder—know anything about it?. What did Terry Whitman Shoultes really smell like? Ask anything, offer tips and share your feedback at AnnArborStories@gmail.com. We love you all.
Listener warning: This episode alludes to felching, giggles sophomorically at the word "Hiscock" and talks about freemasons.
Music by FAWNN, The University of Michigan Marching Band, Hollow & Akimbo, Lightning Love, and People Get Ready.
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#36 Ann Arbor Stories: Housewife Flies Around the World
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 most recently was set ablaze for firefighting practice.
This was the plane 30-year-old Ann Pellegreno used to fly around the world, following the path charted by Amelia Earhart 30 years before. This is the story of the amazing Ann Pellegreno and her flight around the world.
Music by Stepdad.
This episode is part of the 2017 AADL Summer Game. There are sound effects in this episode that offer clues to questions on the AADL Summer Game site. Get the questions right and earn points and a special badge in the Summer Game.
Learn more about Ann Pellegreno's flight around the world in the AADL archives.
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#35 Ann Arbor Stories: Walking Tour #1
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 corner of Liberty and Ashley and the C. Walker Building. There’s no right or wrong way to experience this story. Ideally, you’ll stroll along the same streets we’re talking about, looking at the same buildings we’re describing and letting your mind wander back in time. But you could still listen to this in your car or at home and check these sites out in person later. Use Google street view. We're not telling you how to consume your media.
Music by Frontier Ruckus.
Listener warning: This episode contains references to sex, pornography, murder, riots, death, ghosts, gay bars and bankers.
For those of you who want to experience this podcast at ground level, a few tips:
First, if you’re not standing at the corner of Huron and Fourth Street, then get there before you start the episode. This walking tour will take you from this point to the corner of Liberty and Ashley. It’s not a long walk, but you will have to cross some streets and some of the sidewalks might be busy so please please please keep your head up and be aware of your surroundings, as tempting as it may be to submit fully to my words and the siren of history.
It’s often easier to see some of the taller buildings from the opposite side of the street, but it’s up to you on how you want to do this. Get up close to the building and touch the old brick, or step back and peer up into the sky. Maybe both. But watch out for cars and people - we're serious, we don’t want anyone getting hurt.
One last thing. If it’s the summer of 2017 and you’re playing the AADL Summer Game, three of the locations on this walking tour have signs in the window that get into the history of those spots and have special game codes that can be inputted at play.aadl.org for points. Visit the AADL website and search for Ann Arbor Stories for more details.
Go at your own pace. Pause, rewind, stop halfway through for a drink at a famous establishment. This is your walking tour, not ours. Enjoy.
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#34 Ann Arbor Stories: The Music Mobile
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 First Lady of the Symphony along with her rolling musical masterpiece, a converted motorhome that served as a rolling music lesson on wheels in the 1960s.
This episode is part of the 2017 AADL Summer Game. Pay close attention to the sound effects in this episode to help you answer the questions in the Ann Arbor Stories badge. Get the questions right to earn points, glorious points.
More on Geraldine Seeback and her Music Mobile can be found in AADL's Old News.
Music by Tunde Olaniran.
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#33 Ann Arbor Stories: Dirty Rotten Founders
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 had planted for their beloved spouses. That's the story most people get fed when they arrive in Ann Arbor. But it isn't the truth. The truth is a lot messier. The town founders more scofflaws than saints. This is the real story of the founding of Ann Arbor and a look at the true nature of our dirty rotten founders.
Music by Chris Bathgate, from his new album Dizzy Seas.
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Mystery Authors Loren Estleman, Doug Allyn, and Laura Joh Rowland
Don’t miss this special mystery lovers evening as authors Loren Estleman, Doug Allyn and Laura Joh Rowland discuss their work, the mystery genre, and their exciting new books.
Since the appearance of his first novel in 1976, Loren D. Estleman has written 82 books and hundreds of short stories and articles. An authority on both criminal history and the American West, Estleman has been called the most critically acclaimed author of his generation. He has been nominated for the National Book Award, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award. His newest mystery is The Lioness Is the Hunter: An Amos Walker Mystery.
The author of eleven novels and more than a hundred short stories, Doug Allyn has been published internationally in five languages and more than a dozen of his works have been optioned for development as feature films and television. His new crime novel, The Jukebox Kings, is set in 1960s Detroit and centers on the music industry.
Laura Joh Rowland is the author of the Sano Ichiro Samurai Detective mystery series. Her work has been published in 21 countries, won RT Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award, and made The Wall Street Journal’s list of the five best historical mystery novels. Laura’s latest novel is The Ripper’s Shadow and is the first in a new series set in Victorian England.
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Building Matters: Black Architects in Michigan
In honor of Black History Month, local experts discuss the contributions of black architects, architectural designers, and landscape architects to the built environment of Michigan. They touch on Michigan's first black-owned architectural firm, Detroit's historic Black Bottom neighborhood, and Detroit's connection to the rise of hip-hop architecture.
This video includes talks from Jessica A.S. Letaw, Karen AD Burton, Saundra Little, and Emily Kutil. Burton and Little's project, the Noir Design Parti, is a 2016 Knight Arts Challenge winner. The project documents the professional journeys and creative works of Detroit’s black architects through a series of videos, photographs, maps, and tours. Kutil's project, Black Bottom Street View aims to connect Detroit residents with the Burton Historic Collection’s photographs of the former Black Bottom neighborhood, and is also a 2016 Knight Arts Challenge winner.
Saundra Little is a registered architect and founder and principal of Centric Design Studio, an architecture firm based in midtown Detroit. Her firm specializes in office, retail, healthcare, and multifamily design. She holds a bachelors and masters degree from Lawrence Technological University, is a past president of the National Organization of Minority Architects - Detroit Chapter [NOMA-D], a board member of the Detroit Creative Corridor Center, and past board member of the AIA Detroit.
Karen Burton is a marketing consultant to architects, engineers, and artists who combines her architectural design and entrepreneurial experience to help businesses grow to their full potential. She is also founder and president of SpaceLab Detroit, a new coworking space opening soon in downtown Detroit. Karen has a bachelor of science degree in architecture from the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, studied business administration at Wayne State University, and is a board member of the Detroit Chapters of the National Association of Minority Architects and National Association of Women in Construction.
Emily Kutil is a designer, adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy, and a member of the We the People of Detroit Community Research Collective.
The program is moderated by Jessica A.S. Letaw, who enjoys working on, thinking over, and telling stories about architecture. Jessica's past day jobs included design/build and construction firms. She lives in Ann Arbor with her rescue hound, Henry, and keeps herself out of trouble by volunteering for the Ann Arbor Summer Festival and other local events. She enjoys reading, gardening, and well-made White Russians.
Don't miss this opportunity to explore the history and continuing legacy of local black architects in Michigan and beyond.
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#32 Ann Arbor Stories: Dam Arbor
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 used as a method of transportation and source of power, helping the city prosper and grow. Here's a dam fine history of Ann Arbor's dams, which includes death, floods, and the odds of a coming watery apocalypse.
Listener warning: This episode contains references to drowning, dead people, and liberal use of the word "dam."
Music by Chris Bathgate, from his new album Dizzy Seas
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#31 Ann Arbor Stories: The Dictator Comes to Town
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 dictator yet. Hadn't murdered 3,257 of his own people. Tortured 35,000 more. That would come six years later. In 1966, when the president and his wife enjoyed lunch in the Michigan League, they still looked at him like Southeast Asia's JFK, rather than one of the most brutal modern-day dictators.
Music by Ben Benjamin, courtesy of GhoLicense
Parental listener warning: Contains references to torture, murder, beauty pageants and hidden World War II treasure.
See photos from Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos' trip to Ann Arbor in the AADL archives