At the beginning of 2022, independent producer Juliet Hinley and eight storytelling enthusiasts from around Northern Michigan collected and produced a set of radio stories encompassing everything from chickens to bookstores to forgotten recipes.
Participants in IPR’s Story School were new to developing a radio story. Over the course of 10 weeks, each student learned how to pitch stories, record interviews, work with audio editing equipment and produce an edited, narrated final story.
The Story School experience encouraged students to step outside of their comfort zones to explore new aspects of the communities they know so well. Some participants chose to approach people they knew to put together their stories, while others jumped headfirst into interviewing total strangers.
All eight members of IPR Story School’s inaugural graduating class had their stories featured on air in a one-hour special narrated by Hinley. Hear their tales of Northern Michigan life in the audio attachment on this page.