They started from scratch. Well, almost from scratch.
Showing up in northern Michigan with nothing but a bit of research and a good idea of who they wanted to talk to, these 10 audio journalists from around the country went out into our region and came back with stories.
Leading them is David Weinberg, a freelance producer and journalist whose credits include working on the staff of public radio's Marketplace program, a national Edward R. Murrow Award and a variety of impressive podcast reporting projects. IPR's Ellie Katz has been working with the group, too, bringing her experience on IPR's "Points North" podcast to the table.
"We teach what I would call narrative storytelling," Weinberg said. "Each student had to find someone to profile before they got here, and the idea was to find someone who was interesting and who, ideally, did something that made some sort of sound or there was some sort of scene you could capture in the field."
They found a Desert Storm veteran who uses beekeeping to find a sense of peace. And a man who climbs heaps of trash near Traverse City to make instruments out of the things people throw away. There's even a shepherd in the mix. Yeah. A real life, honest-to-goodness shepherd, with dog and everything. So much more.
How much more? We have two ways for you to find out:
- The group will present their stories in public at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30 at Tank Space in Traverse City. We'd love for you to join us.
- We'll air some of their stories in the coming weeks on IPR News Radio.
