This is a short excerpt from an upcoming episode of Flint Justice.

In this preview, Arthur Busch explores the real Michigan homicide case that inspired Anatomy of a Murder and the lawyer behind it, John D. Voelker—prosecutor, defense attorney, Supreme Court justice, and writer.

The full episode examines what this case still teaches us about jury trials, reasonable doubt, and the uneasy line between truth and proof.
Full episode coming soon.

"Photography by Jim Hansen, LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress."

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• Don't miss our full investigative Podcasts:
  • Radio Free Flint: The community perspective on industrial resilience.
  • The Mitten Works: Labor history and economic policy analysis.
  • Flint Justice: Legal and institutional analysis of the state's challenges.
• Visit Our Website for both Podcasts, Videos & Articles.

In 1952, a saloon killing in a small Upper Peninsula town became one of the most important—and controversial—criminal trials in Michigan history.

The lawyer who defended the accused was John D. Voelker: former county prosecutor, defense attorney, future Michigan Supreme Court justice, and a gifted writer who would later publish the landmark legal novel Anatomy of a Murder under the pen name Robert Traver.

In this episode of Flint Justice, Arthur Busch examines:

• the real Big Bay homicide that inspired the book,
• how Voelker transformed a trial transcript into one of the most realistic courtroom novels ever written, and
• what Anatomy of a Murder still teaches us about prosecutors, defense lawyers, juries, and reasonable doubt.

This is not a story about tidy verdicts or cinematic courtroom speeches.
It’s about ambiguity, discretion, community judgment, and the uncomfortable truth that justice is often shaped by what can be proven—not what actually happened.

For lawyers, judges, and communities like Flint and Genesee County, Anatomy of a Murder remains a mirror held up to the justice system itself.

Photography by Jim Hansen, LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress

We would like to hear from you! Send us a Text.

👉 Subscribe to Radio Free Flint Podcasts at The Mitten Channel:

• Don't miss our full investigative Podcasts:
  • Radio Free Flint: The community perspective on industrial resilience.
  • The Mitten Works: Labor history and economic policy analysis.
  • Flint Justice: Legal and institutional analysis of the state's challenges.
• Visit Our Website for both Podcasts, Videos & Articles.

The Age of Anxiety: Political Media, Dementia, and the Boomer Fear

In Michigan living rooms—from Flint to Saginaw to small towns up north—older Americans watch political news that feels less like reporting and more like a public trial of aging itself. Every stumble, verbal slip, or moment of confusion by national leaders is clipped, replayed, and mocked. For older viewers, this coverage is not abstract or partisan. It is personal.

This investigative audio essay examines how constant media focus on age and cognition quietly harms older adults, especially in aging, post-industrial communities. Drawing on research in psychology, aging, and media studies, it explores fear of dementia, stigma, loneliness, and how political spectacle fuels anxiety, withdrawal, and disengagement from democracy.

As Michigan approaches critical elections, this episode asks a deeper question: What happens to a democracy when aging itself is treated as entertainment—and dignity is the cost?

#TheAgeOfAnxiety
#InvestigativeAudio
#AgingInAmerica
#MediaAndDemocracy
#MichiganPolitics
#BoomerGeneration
#CognitiveHealth
#PublicWellBeing

We would like to hear from you! Send us a Text.

👉 Subscribe to Radio Free Flint Podcasts at The Mitten Channel:

• Don't miss our full investigative Podcasts:
  • Radio Free Flint: The community perspective on industrial resilience.
  • The Mitten Works: Labor history and economic policy analysis.
  • Flint Justice: Legal and institutional analysis of the state's challenges.
• Visit Our Website for both Podcasts, Videos & Articles.