Category: Newsroom & On-Air Staff

Beenish Ahmed is one of Michigan Radio’s Detroit-based reporters. Since 2016, she has been a reporter for WNYC Public Radio in New York and also a freelance journalist. Her stories have appeared on NPR, as well as in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Atlantic, VICE and The Daily Beast. Additionally, Beenish spent two years in Islamabad, Pakistan, working with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, covering the country’s first democratic transition of power as well as Pakistan’s education system. Continue reading “Beenish Ahmed | Detroit Reporter”

April Baer is the new host of Michigan Radio’s Stateside talk show.

Prior to her arrival in Michigan, April was the host of the weekly show State of Wonder on Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) for the past six years. Before that, she was the Morning Edition host and a reporter at OPB, covering beats including government and legal affairs, changing demographics and the arts. Continue reading “April Baer | Host, Stateside”

Mike Blank is a producer and editor for Stateside. Inspired by a story on a bag of Uncle Ray’s potato chips, Blank created the satire segment “A Minute with Mike” which can be heard on Stateside. Continue reading “Mike Blank | Producer”

Mark Brush was Michigan Radio’s Digital Media Director. He began working at Michigan Radio in 1998 as a part-time production assistant. He went on to become co-manager of the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, an environmental news service for public radio stations. After GLRC changed its name to The Environment Report, he helped expand it to a daily news service that at its peak aired on 125 stations. He became the station’s first Digital Media Director in 2016 and in that role helped oversee the station’s digital strategy and moved the station toward publishing more online-first stories. Continue reading “Mark Brush | In Memoriam”

Cynthia Canty was the host of Stateside since the weekday show began in 2012. She retired in 2019.

A lifelong resident of metro Detroit, she was on television and radio in Southeast Michigan since 1979.

Continue reading “Cynthia Canty | Former Host, Stateside”

Steve Carmody has been a reporter for Michigan Radio since 2005.

Steve previously worked at public radio and television stations in Florida, Oklahoma and Kentucky, and also has extensive experience in commercial broadcasting. Continue reading “Steve Carmody | Mid-Michigan Reporter / Producer”

Sarah Cwiek joined Michigan Radio in October, 2009. As our Detroit reporter, she is helping us expand our coverage of the economy, politics, and culture in and around the city of Detroit.

Before her arrival at Michigan Radio, Sarah worked at WDET-FM as a reporter and producer. Continue reading “Sarah Cwiek | Detroit Reporter / Producer”

Laura is the executive producer and fill-in host on Stateside. She came to Michigan Radio from WDET in Detroit, where she was senior producer on the current events program, Detroit Today. She began her career in public radio as a Michigan Radio intern before taking a job as a Capitol-beat reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network. Continue reading “Laura Weber Davis | Executive Producer, Stateside”

Dustin Dwyer reports enterprise and long-form stories from Michigan Radio’s West Michigan bureau. He was a fellow in the class of 2018 at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. He’s been with Michigan Radio since 2004, when he started as an intern in the newsroom. He left the station in 2010-2011 to be a stay at home dad, and returned to be part of the Changing Gears project, a collaboration between Michigan Radio, Ideastream in Cleveland and WBEZ in Chicago. From 2012 – 2017, he was part of the team for State of Opportunity, and produced several radio documentaries on kids and families in Michigan. He lives in Grand Rapids with his wife and three kids.

Continue reading “Dustin Dwyer | Reporter / Producer”

Virginia Gordan has been a part-time reporter at Michigan Radio since fall 2013. She has a general beat covering news topics from across the state.

Virginia joined Michigan Radio after a career at the University of Michigan Law School, first as Assistant Dean of Students and later as Assistant Dean of International Affairs. Before that she worked as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., on the development of low and moderate income housing. Continue reading “Virginia Gordan | Reporter”