Northern Michigan University history students Noah Danforth and Alex Hallows recently stepped into their roles as the newest producers and hosts of U.P. History Moment, carrying on the Public Radio 90 feature after the previous student leadership graduated. Moving from traditional classroom history to broadcast storytelling presented a steep learning curve, requiring both students to adapt their writing for spoken audio. Rather than drafting dense research papers filled with formal academic citations, they had to master the art of trimming extensive historical details, pacing their delivery, and writing conversational scripts tailored for radio listeners.
The production process relies heavily on hands-on exploration within the NMU Archives, where shared brainstorming spreadsheets and daily collection processing uncover potential topics. Their upcoming segments highlight the breadth of Upper Peninsula history, blending heavy regional accounts with entertaining local lore. Current and upcoming projects include Noah’s multi-part series on World War II Civilian Public Service camps in Germfask alongside lighthearted features on historic NMU homecoming record attempts; Alex has tackled topics ranging from a historic local mink release and archival Winterfest snow sculpture photos to uncovering the location of a missing campus time capsule set to be opened in 2049.
Public Radio 90's Kurt Hauswirth spoke with Danforth and Hallows about U.P. History Moment:
Distilling decades of local history into concise, minute-long radio segments forces the hosts to carefully filter source materials and hone in on a single compelling storyline. Beyond script prep, studio work introduced practical audio production challenges, from getting used to hearing their own recorded voices during edits to mastering tricky regional place names on mic. Through their ongoing collaboration between Public Radio 90 and the NMU Archives, Danforth and Hallows continue to transform primary sources into engaging soundscapes that bring the region's rich heritage directly to public radio listeners.
Visit our U.P. History Moment program page for more information, and to listen to previous episodes, visit the UPLink page.
