An ode to Lake St. Clair

Several of you reached out to argue for adding Lake St. Clair as a 6th Great Lake (or 5th if you count Huron and Michigan as one). On this episode, we hear about one man's love for this "heart-shaped" lake — and the song it inspired him to make. Plus, a story about life in the straits of Mackinac. …

Are Michigan and Huron actually one large Great Lake?

Are Michigan and Huron separate lakes – or have we been counting the Great Lakes wrong? There may actually be four Great Lakes: “Lake” Huron and “Lake” Michigan could actually be considered “lobes” of one big lake — big enough to unseat Lake Superior as the world’s largest freshwater lake by surfa…

Your Stories: The trucks are too heavy

MANY of you wrote in to say that the reason the roads are seemingly always in terrible shape in Michigan is because of truck weights - and the fact that Michigan often doubles truck weight limits from those of federal guidelines. Today we're hearing and feeling your anger, and talking to an enginee…

Why are we always fixing Michigan roads?

Are Michigan's roads really so bad that we need to be repairing them all the time? What's really going on with our orange-barrel forests? For this episode of On Hand, we tackle a listener's question about road repairs by talking to two actual road engineers. We'll also get externally-verified facts…

Your Stories: The U.P. is true Up North

For many Michiganders, Up North begins at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge. One listener defends the Upper Peninsula as true north. And another listener says the southern border of the mitten is also Up North for many people. GUESTS ON THIS EPISODE: Ken Raisanen, retired teacher and lifelong …

Where does "Up North" begin?

It's a great Michigan debate; what is the line or the place that marks the end of the southern part of the state and the beginning of that mystical land we call Up North? The answers vary from emotional to philosophical. But there's also an ecological answer that helps us better understand why we …

Your Stories: Summertime memories of Lake Michigan Drive

Many of us have a road that's more than a line on a map—it's a memory. Maybe it’s the street you grew up on or the dirt road that leads you to a cottage Up North.  For listener Tom Topolski, it’s Lake Michigan Drive. GUEST:  Thomas Topolski, Hudsonville resident Want to submit a question to On…

Why does Michigan have Mile roads?

If you’ve ever gotten directions from a metro-Detroiter, you have probably heard a ‘9 Mile’ or a ‘10 Mile Road’ mentioned. Or maybe even the most famous of them all: 8 Mile. But where did all these boring road names come from? And how did they become a kind of cultural shorthand in the region?  GU…

Your Stories: The pop can economy at CMU

We recently weighed the costs and benefits of Michigan's bottle bill. Today, a listener shares just how much the 10-cent bottle deposit meant to Central Michigan University students in the 70s. GUESTS: Andrea Haupt, listener Michael Lehnert, listener Want to submit a question to On Hand? Do it …

Is Michigan’s 10-cent bottle deposit worth it?

Is it really worth our time to haul returnables to the store for just 10 cents each? And is it worth it for Michigan's recycling industry to maintain a bottle deposit system when we already have curbside recycling? See Shelie Miller's "Comprehensive Ealuation of MIchigan's Bottle Deposit System" he…