Interlochen Public Radio

10/14/2024

'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' is one of the most popular films of all time.

Since it was released in 1977, it’s been translated into over 50 languages, including Navajo.

That was part of the inspiration for dubbing it into Anishinaabemowin, the indigenous language of the Great Lakes region.

The film project aims to help revitalize the endangered language.

On the latest episode of Points North, hear how this movie fulfilled a life-long dream for one woman living on a remote First Nations reservation in Canada.

Listen to Points North wherever you find podcasts.

10/14/2024

We felt that the only fitting replacement for Kate Botello as the host of Kids Commute would be, well, kids.

Starting Monday, Oct. 21, listeners will hear a young guest host introduce a piece of music that they have chosen.

Learn more about these changes and how Kids Commuters can participate at the link.

Following Kate Botello's departure from Classical IPR, we're taking a different approach with Kids Commute for awhile.

10/11/2024

😍 Looking good, northern Michigan: It was a bright blue autumn week here, except for a night or two when the sky was pink and green and purple. 📸 by IPR's Michael Livingston.

10/11/2024

One day, Theresa Eischen was watching the news in her home on a remote First Nations reservation, when a story caught her attention.

‘Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope’ was being translated into Anishinaabemowin, the indigenous language of the Great Lakes region.

“I just got chills,” she said. Theresa loves Star Wars so she auditioned to voice Princess Leia.

She studied how Carrie Fisher played the role and then tried to emulate her voice in Anishinaabemowin.

But Theresa has zero voice acting experience, so it’s a long shot she’ll get the part.

Find out what happens on the latest episode of POINTS NORTH. Listen wherever you find podcasts.

10/07/2024

Classical IPR will bid farewell to host Kate Botello and make some changes to the programming schedule. Learn more about these changes at the link.

Classical IPR will bid farewell to host Kate Botello in October and make some changes to the programming schedule.

10/04/2024

It was such a treat to host some of our youngest listeners at IPR studios!

Classical IPR’s Kate Botello gave these super fans a super tour in and around our station, showed them what sound waves “look” like and gave them a glimpse of our 450 ft. FM tower.

Thanks for the collab, Northern Michigan Climate Families!

10/01/2024

Looking for a debate, but can't wait until the VP candidates go at 9? Well, good news: We're in Glen Arbor, preparing for the Cherry Pie Debate, co-presented by our friends at the Leelanau Enterprise. Follow the Enterprise's live stream below starting at 6:30p. Then head over to IPR News Radio at 9p to listen to the CBS Vice Presidential Debate!

Cherry Pie Debate 2024

09/29/2024

Is it okay to clap between movements of a classical piece?

There are such different ways classical music audiences can show their appreciation for the music - perhaps silently, perhaps by clapping. What happens, though, when concert attendance ends up being about "the rules"?

09/27/2024

It’s 2009, and Kathleen Knight, an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service is feeling depressed.

That’s because she’s in a forest in northwest Ohio surrounded by hundreds of dead ash trees. They’ve been wiped out by the emerald ash borer.

But then Kathleen spots an ash tree that’s alive and healthy – in the middle of all the devastation.

“It was really this moment of confusion. ‘How, how is this tree possibly … existing after what we’ve seen all day long here?’”

Kathleen realizes she has to figure out why this ash is thriving, because the answer might save an entire tree species from extinction.

That story on the latest episode of Points North. Listen wherever you find podcasts.

09/23/2024

IPR News Director Ed Ronco will co-moderate the annual Cherry Pie Debate with John Elchert (Leelanau Enterprise) on October 1 at Glen Arbor Township Hall.

Join us to hear candidates for Michigan's 103rd House District respond to questions. Republican Lisa Trombley and incumbent Democratic Representative Betsy Coffia will engage in a debate, and candidates for the Leelanau County Commission will present two-minute statements.

And yes, there will be actual cherry pie...

Head to the Cherry Pie Debate to hear candidates for Michigan's 103rd House District answer questions about community issues. The event is put on by the League of Women Voters of Leelanau County, the Leelanau Enterprise and IPR News.IPR News Director Ed Ronco and Leelanau Enterprise Publis...

09/23/2024

The latest episode of the Up North Lowdown looks at the economics of coal. Also: How a dry summer could mean good wine out of northern Michigan. LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE:

This week on the Up North Lowdown… Chris Bzdok is a local lawyer working to get the country off coal. “When I started this work they were going to build a new coal plant in Essexville, near Bay City. And that was 2008, 2009. And we had to — That was the first fight that we had to fight, is, do...

09/22/2024

We apologize for the glitch in today’s Music by Request broadcast! The complete show is available on demand in this link, and it will air Sunday starting at noon in its entirety.

This episode features ensembles large and small performing at the world's grandest venues, music from the silver screen and television soundtracks.

09/19/2024

Nic Theisen of Loma Farm is know for his “isms.”

For the past 15 years, he and his wife Sara have operated Loma Farm in Traverse City, Michigan. Most of that time, Nic constantly worried the farm wasn’t going to make it.

But then something big changed in 2020. The Theisens opened Farm Club with their friends Gary and Allison Jonas.

“It just changed the whole game for us,” said Nic.

Farm Club is a restaurant surrounded by beautiful gardens and farmland. About 90% of the vegetables and herbs on the restaurant menu come from the farm. They mill their grains at Farm Club, bake bread, and brew beer. And they sell vegetables at the market.

By just about any metric, Farm Club is a huge success.

But in the latest episode of Points North, hear why Nic still has mixed feelings about that success.

09/17/2024

IPR is proud to present Ruby John and John Warstler this Thursday in a FREE show outside Workshop Brewing!

This Thursday (9.19) we will be playing in Traverse City at the Michigan Creative Cost Block party at Workshop Brewing Co. We start at 5pm. Come out and hang with us.

09/17/2024

This week on Up North Lowdown, we revisit the best stories from IPR's Climate Solutions Week. We'll find out how to get a tax break on your used electric car and check out a composting operation in Emmet County, MI, that some are calling a model for local programs.

It’s Climate Solutions Week and boy do we have some problems. We’ll find out how to get a tax break on your used electric car. And we’ll check out a composting operation in Emmet County that some are calling a model for other local programs.

09/16/2024

Visit us in the Warehouse District this Thursday! We're presenting fiddler Ruby John on the patio at The Workshop!

09/16/2024

For years, Nic Theisen spent hours on his hands and knees in the dirt not knowing if his farm would make it. He and his wife Sara operate Loma Farm, in Traverse City Michigan.

Their struggle is not unique. The number of farms has declined a ton in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there were 6.8 million farms in the country at the peak in 1935. Now there are less than two million farms. Particularly, the number of small, diversified farms has declined, while the number of large, specialized farms has gone up. These big farms can usually grow more food without increasing their overhead much.

So how has Nic’s small farm survived? Frugality, stubbornness and a big change.

Listen to the latest episode of Points North wherever you find podcasts.

CC: Farm Club Michigan State University Extension MSU Center for Regional Food Systems Food & Environment Reporting Network

09/13/2024

Sometimes Nic Theisen of Loma Farm will work 16-hour days, barely taking a break to eat, except maybe a carrot or a cucumber from the garden or some bread and cheese.

Farming is a tough way to make a living, and there were times when Nic wanted to quit.

“I call this whole project a labor of mixed emotions,” says Nic. “It's not a labor of love. Sometimes it is a labor of absolute disgust. I cannot stand it. It is so hard, and I feel so downtrodden. Other times I'm just floating through the beauty and the luck of it all.”

Nic doesn’t work as my 16-hour days anymore. And that’s because something big changed.

On the latest episode of Points North, how Loma Farm went from surviving to thriving.

CC: Farm Club

09/11/2024

This week on the Up North Lowdown, an overview of aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes. A recent study came up with the top 10 worst ones.

Listen now!

There are nearly 200 aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes! We'll break down the top ten... plus one notable exception.

09/03/2024

IPR's comprehensive guide to Fall 2024 concerts in northern Michigan. Find live music events happening in the region for September, October and November 2024

Interlochen Public Radio's comprehensive guide to live, in-person concerts in northern Michigan for fall 2024

09/03/2024

When you die, it only takes about four months for your soft tissues to decompose until just your skeleton is left.

(That’s if you’re buried directly into the ground: no embalming, no casket.)

A new conservation burial ground wants to prioritize natural decomposition by burying bodies in the most biologically active part of the soil – about three feet deep.

But neighbors next to the proposed cemetery are worried. Could animals dig up body parts? Could bodies pollute their groundwater?

A small west Michigan town is at the center of a heated debate over conservation Burial Forest

Hear more on the latest episode Points North.

08/30/2024

Peter Quakenbush wants to create Michigan’s first conservation Burial Forest

Bodies would be buried here without any embalming chemicals, no fancy caskets, no big headstones…

But the closer Peter gets to making his dream a reality, the more people start getting in the way.

Hear more about the fight to start a burial forest on the latest episode of Points North. Link below.

08/30/2024

The first approved operatic adaptation of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" is out today.

Composer Paola Prestini spoke with IPR about the recording and shared excerpts of the album with listeners.

Composer Paola Prestini discusses her operatic adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." The premiere recording of the opera is out today on VIA Records.

08/29/2024

Northwestern Michigan College voted to withdraw a ballot proposal that would have annexed into the college’s district.

The measure would have brought discounted and free tuition to residents in exchange for an additional property tax.

But due to a technical error, the vote will not happen this November.

Benzie voters will not have the ability to vote on the millage levy, which would have funded college operations in exchange for NMC’s lowest tuition rates for residents.