Sustainable Ann Arbor - Electric Vehicles

A panel of electric vehicle (EV) experts discusses electric vehicles in Ann Arbor and how EVs are a growing part of our transportation future—including autonomous vehicles.

Charles Griffith - Director of the Climate and Energy Program, Ecology Center

Bruce Westlake - President, Michigan Electric Auto Association

Andrew Renz - Principal Marketing Specialist, Electric Marketing, New Product Development Team, DTE

#45 Ann Arbor Stories: Highway Snipers

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 this time on this day on this stretch of highway that more than 200 bullets rained down on speeding cars, trucks and semis, causing mass panic and chaos. This is the story of the 1981 highway snipers.

Music by Michna and Ben Benjamin, courtesy of GhoLicense.

Hot from the Oven: Zingerman’s Bakehouse Cookbook!

Amy Emberling and Frank Carollo, Managing Partners of Zingerman’s Bakehouse, discuss the Zingerman's Bakehouse cookbook, their first-ever cookbook, which features all the recipes of the Bakehouse’s most popular items. Also included are recipes that are unique to Michigan, along with Frank and Amy’s personal favorites. They’ve also added essays and brief stories for context, to give readers a sense of how the Zingerman’s community works together to produce great food. 

Author M. Joanne Nesbit Discusses Her Book "Legendary Locals of Ann Arbor, Michigan"

Graced by the Huron River with an abundance of parks, Ann Arbor offers residents and visitors entertainment, sports, shopping, dining, and of course, the University of Michigan.

Legendary Locals of Ann Arbor, Michigan celebrates its citizens. Many are creative artists, inspiring educators, dedicated public servants, and determined business owners. With the exception of Lewis the cat, who reigned at Downtown Home and Garden, this book is filled with stories about people who have made and are making Ann Arbor one of the best places to live in the United States.

Co-author Joanne Nesbit discusses some of the great stories they discovered while putting together the book and how local legends were selected. With a career spanning journalism and as a public information officer at Indiana University and the University of Michigan, Nesbit has always been fascinated by local history, stories, and people. She is the author of three other books, and is the founder of Knitwits at the University of Michigan.

An Evening of Mystery Authors: Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore Celebrates 25 Years

Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore celebrated their 25th anniversary with a special AADL event featuring mystery authors William Kent Krueger (and his new mystery Sulfur Springs) and Julia Keller (with her latest, Fast Falls The Night).

William Kent Krueger has received many awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last seven novels were all New York Times bestsellers. He writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. Sulfur Springs is number sixteen in the Cork O’Connor series.

Julia Keller won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for a three-part narrative series about the aftermath of a deadly tornado and the randomness of fate. Her books include Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It, Richard Jordan Gatling: Back Home and the Bell Elkins mystery series, set in Acker’s Gap, West Virginia. The newest in the series, Fast Falls The Night is based on a real-life event and takes place in a single 24-hour period, unfurling against the backdrop of a shattering personal revelation that will change Bell Elkins' life forever.

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

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 the whole family!

Music by Hollow & Akimbo

Listener Warning: Episode contains references to sex, drugs, and the Ann Arbor band The Seventh Seal which played music so mind bending that it drove people to riot.

Four-Season Farming With Sunseed Farm

Tomm and Trilby Becker, owners of Sunseed Farm, present this family-friendly presentation on four-season farming.

Sunseed is a family-owned vegetable farm growing over sixty kinds of vegetables for families, restaurants, and wholesale customers. Since 2009, Sunseed Farm has grown on eighteen acres of land in Ann Arbor, five miles northwest of downtown. Close to one of those acres are the farm's passively-heated hoop houses. Thanks to this simple technology, they are able to extend their growing season right through the winter.

Find out why winter-grown vegetables are so much more delicious, peek under the covers of their snowy farm to see thousands of happy green plants, discover the secrets to growing a bounty of vegetables and flowers without chemicals on a small parcel of land, and find out what is happening on their busy little farm in spring!