Open Mike Podcast artwork

Open Mike Podcast

134 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 80 ratings

Welcome to Open Mike, the podcast where Michigan’s leading attorney Mike Morse lays down the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth when it comes to your rights, current events, and so much more. Hear exclusive interviews with superstar authors, leaders, activists, experts, and entrepreneurs telling it like it is. You’ll learn what insurance companies, the government, and other lawyers don’t want you to know — so you can go for the win in law, and in life!

Society & Culture Education 855mikewins attorney detroit michaelmorse michigan mikemorse openmike personalinjury
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Episodes

119-A Firebombing & Wrongful Conviction Revealed Dark Realities of Detroit's Criminal Justice System

October 12, 2021 14:21 - 32 minutes - 60.7 MB

In 2005, 18-year-old Kenneth Nixon and his girlfriend were arrested and charged with murder, arson, and four counts of attempted murder in conjunction with a tragic Detroit firebombing that killed two children. While Kenneth’s girlfriend was acquitted by a jury, he was sentenced to two life sentences. A collaborative review by the Medill Justice Project, Cooley Law Innocence Project, and Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit would ultimately determine Kenneth didn’t receive a fair trial, ...

118- After a 25-Year Wrongful Incarceration, This Navy Veteran Reassembles Pieces of His Stolen Life

October 05, 2021 15:05 - 43 minutes - 81.5 MB

In June 1993, Navy veteran Derrick Sanders was arrested for the shooting death of a Milwaukee man he had assaulted seven months previously. Although he had no role in the man’s death, inept legal counsel advised him to plead no contest to charges of first-degree intentional homicide, party to a crime, and he was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison. Over the next twenty-five years, Derrick would be entrenched in legal rigmarole after filing a motion to withdraw his plea. He argued that,...

117- Detroit Exoneree Eric Anderson Reflects on 9 Years Wrongfully Incarcerated for a Brutal Robbery

September 21, 2021 19:22 - 58 minutes - 109 MB

In April 2010, Eric Anderson was arrested and charged for involvement in a robbery and beating of two men outside their Detroit home. At the time of the crime, Anderson was actually at a Coney Island, ten miles from the scene, where he was shot in the foot, necessitating immediate medical attention. Despite hospital records confirming his treatment, and Coney Island security footage substantiating his injury, Eric would spend nine years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, asserting his...

116- Detroit Man Who Served 17 Years for Murder Awaits New Trial After a State Prisoner Admits Guilt

September 07, 2021 18:53 - 44 minutes - 83 MB

Detroiter Thelonious Seaercy has wrongfully served 17 years behind bars for a murder that a self-professed hitman has confessed to committing. Despite no evidence tying him to the scene of the alleged crime, Searcy is stuck in a holding pattern. He and his lawyer await to see if the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office appeals a ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals. Why is he stuck under house arrest? Why doesn’t Prosecutor Worthy dismiss his charges? Tune into this riveting episode o...

115- Washtenaw County Prosecutor Leverages Capitol Hill Wisdom to Abolish Cash Bail in His Community

August 31, 2021 14:14 - 50 minutes - 93 MB

Eli Savit is a nationally recognized attorney, public servant, and civil rights advocate who currently serves as the Washtenaw County Prosecutor. Prior to his term, he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was a civil-rights and public-interest attorney, and also had a career as a public-school teacher. In addition to serving as Washtenaw County's Prosecuting Attorney, Eli is a faculty member at the University of Michigan Law School. Eli has been an integral p...

114- After 32 Years Wrongfully Imprisoned for Murder, Gilbert Poole Is Reclaiming His Life

August 24, 2021 15:03 - 52 minutes - 97 MB

On December 27, 1988, North Carolina resident Gilbert Poole was arrested and charged with the murder of a Michigan man he had never met. Due to faulty evidence, inaccurate eyewitness testimony, and inept defense counsel, he would ultimately be wrongfully convicted of murder and spend the next 32 years of his life in prison. After independently maintaining his innocence for the first 14 years of his incarceration, Mr. Poole was represented by the Western Michigan University Cooley Law Schoo...

113 - Award-Winning Criminal Justice Attorney Implements Cutting-Edge Data to Reexamine Convictions

August 17, 2021 15:22 - 44 minutes - 83 MB

Marissa Boyers Bluestine is an award-winning criminal justice attorney and reform advocate who serves as the Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. As Assistant Director, she oversees policy and public awareness by promoting reform through cutting-edge data, public education, and legislative reform for issues and outdated laws that beleaguer the criminal justice system. A former public defender, Mariss...

112- How a Criminal Justice Expert & Innocence Project Director Freed an Innocent Man After 32 Years

August 03, 2021 12:43 - 35 minutes - 65.8 MB

Professor Marla Mitchell-Cichon is an attorney, advocate, and criminal justice expert who has helped facilitate the release of seven wrongfully convicted Michiganders. As Executive Director of the WMU-Cooley Law Innocence Project, she and her team, largely consisting of law students, work to secure the release of factually innocent people solely through post-conviction DNA evidence, the only innocence organization in the state of Michigan to do so. To date, the WMU-Cooley Law Innocence Proje...

111 - Texas Innocence Project Director Reveals the Most Egregious Wrongful Conviction of His Career

July 06, 2021 14:47 - 48 minutes - 90.5 MB

Mike Ware is the Executive Director of the Innocence Project of Texas, where he champions the rights of the wrongfully convicted and tirelessly fights to overturn their sentences. In this compelling installment of Open Mike, he discusses the egregious case of Lydell Grant, a Houston man who was convicted on the basis of six false identifications, only to be released from prison a decade later once crime scene evidence was finally run through proper DNA testing. How can faulty identificatio...

110- How One Man Prevailed Over Malicious Judges and Excessive Sentencing to Seize His Second Chance

June 22, 2021 14:52 - 38 minutes - 71.7 MB

In 1988, Alfonzo Riley’s friend asked him if he wanted to make some money. As a broke college student, he said yes. Little did he know that simple decision would shape the rest of his life. Alfonzo ended up transporting drugs from Brooklyn to Albany in a transaction gone awry. Two men ended up losing their lives and, while he was in a different room when the shootings occurred, he was charged under New York’s controversial felony murder law and sentenced to 71 years to life. It would tak...

109- Meet Mike's Daughters! The Morse Girls Flip the Script & Interview Dad in Father's Day Special

June 15, 2021 15:05 - 25 minutes - 46.9 MB

We’re making a departure from our standard format for a very special Father’s Day exclusive! In this heart-warming episode, Mike is joined by his daughters Jillian, Ella, and Lexie who flip the script on their dad and ask him the burning questions you’ve always craved the answers to. What career would Mike have if he weren’t a lawyer? Which professional snafu has he learned the most from? If he were a salad ingredient, which one would he be and why? Unlock the Morse Code and learn more about...

108 - How a Paternity Test, Stray Glove, & Jell-O Shots Became Instruments of A Death Row Conviction

June 08, 2021 15:54 - 1 hour - 139 MB

In 2007, Floridian Air Force Sargent Ron Wright was shocked to learn his friend Paula O’Conner and her infant son Elijah were horrifically strangled and murdered inside her home. Although no forensic evidence, weapon, cell records, or any testimony incriminated Ron, he was accused of the murder, and held in jail for six years until a 2013 trial where he would be determined guilty and sentenced to death. In 2017, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that all evidence presented was “purely circumst...

107- Detroiter Ray Gray's EXCLUSIVE, FIRST Sit-Down Interview After 48 Years Wrongfully Imprisoned

June 03, 2021 15:05 - 1 hour - 160 MB

In 1973, Detroit artist and award-winning boxer Ray Gray was accused of breaking into a local drug dealer’s home and fatally shooting him. Though none of the surviving occupants were able to identify the invaders, Ray became a focus of the investigation. Tunnel vision, corruption, faulty identification processes, suppressed evidence, and failure to investigate other suspects culminated in additional tragedy — refusing to admit his guilt, Ray was sentenced to life in prison without parole whe...

106 - Stigma, Discrimination, and Homelessness: How One CEO Is Modernizing the Parole Reentry Process

June 01, 2021 15:02 - 37 minutes - 70.6 MB

While release from prison can be a joyful occasion, people who have been incarcerated face an entirely new series of challenges upon reclaiming their civilian status. Housing, a fundamental human right, is perhaps the most daunting of these challenges which can be observed in the disproportionately high number of homeless people with criminal histories. Pioneer Human Services is a Seattle-based social enterprise that partners with communities to transform society by honoring the humanity of ...

105 - Assault, Trauma, and Healing: Why a Dance Teacher Sold Her Studio to Help Prison Populations

May 25, 2021 14:43 - 32 minutes - 60.5 MB

For the last sixteen years, Susan Slotnick has gone beyond the walls at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility to bring the joy, passion, and healing properties of modern dance to incarcerated men and boys. After retiring the dance company she ran for forty years, Susan was free to teach in concordance with her true humanistic values: mindfulness, kindness, social justice, and universal accessibility. Her volunteer work in the prison system is the culmination of these values. Through her lov...

105 - Ira Todd's Mission To Free The Wrongfully Convicted

May 18, 2021 15:12 - 58 minutes - 109 MB

Detroit native Ira Lee Todd is a former police officer and criminal investigator. After being wrongfully charged with murder while working in a gang-related crimes task force within the Detroit Police Department, Ira made it his personal mission to help free the wrongly-convicted. One of his most notable cases was that of Davontae Sanford, who was wrongfully convicted of a quadruple homicide at the age of 14. In his recent conversation with Mike, Ira discusses how he became involved in crimi...

104 - How Did A Rare Joint Trial and Unreliable Witness Result in Two False 25-Year Prison Sentences?

May 11, 2021 14:45 - 56 minutes - 104 MB

On February 20th, 2020, Kevin Baker and Sean Washington walked out of prison after spending twenty-five years locked up for a double-murder they didn’t commit. The trial that condemned them to a quarter century of incarceration relied on a sole witness who later acknowledged she was under the influence of crack cocaine at the time of the killings. How did Kevin and Sean prove their innocence? Was justice for the victims ever attained? Tune in to this week’s jarring installment of Open Mike...

103 - How America's 1st Female Death Row Exoneree Overcame Racism, Misconduct, & a Drunk Defense Team

May 04, 2021 15:01 - 50 minutes - 94.2 MB

In April of 1989, teenage mother Sabrina Butler experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when her nine-month-old son Walter suddenly stopped breathing. Despite her intense resuscitation efforts, Walter was pronounced dead at the hospital. Sabrina was then subjected to interrogation by twelve police officers and three detectives — without an attorney present — only to be charged with capital murder and sentenced to death. After years of appeals and assembling a new, internationally renowned...

102 - Entrapment or Miscommunication? How a Consenting Man Found Himself in the Middle of a Sex Sting

April 27, 2021 15:17 - 32 minutes - 61.5 MB

Sex sting busts are often regarded as heroic acts justice, but the ethics surrounding them aren't necessarily clear-cut. When a police set-up resulted in the incarceration of Kathleen Hambrick’s son, she claimed fraud due to a series of misleading interactions that equated to entrapment. Four years after his arrest, the Hambricks find themselves in legal limbo, having appealed the initial conviction, only to be recharged. Throughout their ordeal, Kathleen has come to believe these police...

101- Celebrated investigative Journalist Exposes Deadly Corruption Within the Parole Board System

April 20, 2021 14:59 - 29 minutes - 54 MB

Robert Riggs is Peabody Award-winning journalist and digital media entrepreneur, widely regarded as one of the nation’s top investigative journalists. In his new podcast, Free to Kill, he exposes the rampant, deadly corruption that has come to poison many parole board systems across the country. In a disturbingly increasing trend, many parole boards let out vicious killers who go on to commit new crimes while refusing to parole the wrongfully convicted, simply because they do not admit to th...

100 - Landmark 100th Episode Featuring an Exoneree Reunion & Bombshell Announcement from Mike

April 13, 2021 14:54 - 1 hour - 143 MB

Open Mike has made it to triple-digits! On our landmark, 100th installment, Mike reunites with three former guest exonerees, Aaron Salter, Julie Baumer, and Kenny Wyniemko, as well as two journalists who have been blazing a path to illuminate the wrongful conviction crisis, Kevin Dietz and Bill Proctor. In this groundbreaking centenary episode, our guests reflect on their detestable experiences in the criminal justice system, update us on their current initiatives and whereabouts, and offer ...

99 - Trailblazing Justice Reform Advocate Reflects on the Bleak Reality of Wrongful Convictions

April 06, 2021 14:16 - 43 minutes - 80.7 MB

For nearly two decades, Chris Mumma has served as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, having represented 8 exonorees and fighting for a half a dozen more still behind bars. During her impressive tenure, she has forced legislation on multiple issues regarding wrongful convictions and established the only innocence inquiry commission in the United States. Instrumental in fighting for criminal justice reform in North Carolina, Mumma has spearheaded legislati...

98 - After His Innocent Brother Suddenly Died in Prison, This Man is Taking Justice Reform, Head-On

March 30, 2021 16:02 - 48 minutes - 89.3 MB

On December 2nd, 1999, Timothy Cole died of an asthma attack while in prison for a sexual assault he didn’t commit. Stunned by the injustice of the loss, his brother Cory vowed to clear his brother’s name and ensure such a tragedy never befall anyone else. His family, joined by the victim and the Texas Innocence Project, successfully overturned Tim’s conviction on February 6, 2009, becoming the state of Texas’s first posthumous exoneration. Today, Cory is the Vice President of the Texas Inno...

97- Community Farming Project Helps Former Convicts Rebuild Their Lives and Flex Their Green Thumbs

March 23, 2021 16:08 - 51 minutes - 96.1 MB

What if you could nourish both the bodies and the souls of your fellow neighbors? We the People Opportunity Farm has accomplished just that for Washtenaw County and its inhabitants. The community farming project has sowed the seeds for its participants’ success by investing in the employment and development of formerly incarcerated men and women through farming and community engagement. Since its unofficial launch in 2017, the program has consistently expanded in both size and reach, selling...

96 - Local Comedian Hosts Star-Studded Virtual Comedy Shows to Benefit Restaurants Shuttered By COVID

March 16, 2021 14:09 - 24 minutes - 46.1 MB

The entire world has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but few industries have been hit as uniquely hard as the bar and restaurant sector. Recognizing the dire straits the industry faces, Michigan-born comedian Jason Douglas was compelled to help and launched Pay it Forward Comedy, a virtual standup series that distributes crowd-sourced funds to struggling restaurants and bars. The shows feature national headline acts from shows like Seinfeld and Breaking Bad donating their time and t...

95 - Crack Usage, Misidentification and Fraud: How One Man Was Wrongfully Imprisoned for 21 Years

March 09, 2021 16:25 - 49 minutes - 92.1 MB

At age 17, Philadelphian Terrance Lewis found himself falsely accused of the 1996 murder of Hulon Howard, incriminated by the deceased’s girlfriend who was under the influence of crack cocaine at the time. After an excruciating two-year-long investigation, Lewis was ultimately convicted of murder and sent to prison. He would remain wrongfully incarcerated for the next twenty-one years, until a new defense team, groundbreaking Supreme Court ruling, and pragmatic Common Pleas Judge helped pave...

94 - Student Vigilante Group Uses Fake Social Media Accounts to Rid Cities of Child Predators

March 02, 2021 16:00 - 33 minutes - 62.5 MB

This week, Open Mike welcomes its first faceless guest! Meet Ghost, a mysterious vigilante who has launched Creep Catching Unit, an online movement dedicated toward keeping communities safe by exposing and reporting pedophiles. CC Unit operates independently of law enforcement to entrap and confront predators who believe they’re meeting up with children or young teens. They then post videos of the altercations online for the Internet to distribute and publicly shame — a pillory for the digit...

93 - We Didn't Start the Fire: Why Are so Many Innocent People Convicted on Faulty Arson Evidence?

February 23, 2021 15:59 - 59 minutes - 111 MB

Imran Syed is nationally recognized attorney, professor, and documentary film producer. As assistant director of Michigan’s Innocence Clinic, he and a coterie of supervised law students are at the forefront of criminal justice reform, investigating and litigating a wide variety of cases with special focus on forensic science-based innocence. Having litigated several arson wrongful convictions based on outdated science, Syed is an outspoken supporter of strategies needed to address obsolete s...

92 - Juries Often Convict on Evidence — This Forensics Expert Asserts That Evidence Is Often Faulty

February 16, 2021 15:53 - 36 minutes - 67.3 MB

Show Notes [00:14] Kate Judson’s background and bio as Executive Director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences. [01:37] Welcome to the show! I’m so excited to talk to you – on Open Mike, we’ve never really focused on forensics. I’m reading a quote from you that says there have been 2,500 exonerations since 1989… is that right? [02:18] It feels like every single week there’s another exoneration, and it’s hard to believe the frequency. Are you tracking what percentage of thes...

91-Fat Tuesday or Fat Booze Day? Detroit Distilleries Paczki Vodka Packs a Perfectly Flavorful Punch

February 09, 2021 16:02 - 29 minutes - 54.1 MB

Do you enjoy sugary, deep-fried treats? What about a nice, relaxing drink after a long day? Thanks to Detroit City Distillery’s palate-tickling paczki vodka, you can have both at the same time! In this intoxicating episode, distillery co-owner Michael Forsyth discusses how the concoction is steeped Detroit’s Polish heritage, explains the innovative pastry-to-vodka distilling process, and updates us on business progress throughout the pandemic. Bonus content— Mike and team conduct an in-offic...

90 - Who Is the Man You Seek to Become? This Mentorship Program Guides Teens on the Path to Manhood

February 02, 2021 15:14 - 30 minutes - 56.1 MB

Mike McCormick is a dedicated father, husband, and community leader committed to teaching developing male minds the essence of authentic masculinity. Our antiquated, social norms often compel men to resist vulnerability, withdraw, and insist everything is within their control, while larger questions of what it means to be a man go unanswered. Many men reach adulthood without the emotional skillset or sense of identity required to properly function in the world — they’re little kids trapp...

89 - Attorney Targets New Trial on 40-Year-Old Murder Case — Can Recent Evidence Free Her Client?

January 26, 2021 15:52 - 38 minutes - 72.6 MB

In 1980, Iowan man William Beeman was accused of murdering a woman named Michiel Winkel. However, Winkel was seen by several witnesses for days after the alleged time of her murder. Despite this testimony, Beeman has remained in prison for the last forty years. Enter Erica Nichols Cook, the Director Wrongful Conviction Division at the Iowa State Public Defender. Cook has spent the last several years attempting to get Beeman a new trial based on previous, possibly intentionally undisclose...

88- Attorney & Reporter From Infamous Staircase Murder Mystery Share Stories From the Case

January 19, 2021 16:33 - 1 hour - 126 MB

David Rudolf and Sonya Pfeiffer are spouses, attorneys at Rudolf Widenhouse law firm, and co-hosts of the popular podcast Abuse of Power. However, they may both be best known for their work on North Carolina vs. Peterson, a bizarre, 15-year-long case that was documented on the Netflix smash-hit, The Staircase. In this don’t-miss episode of Open Mike, Rudolf and Pfeiffer reflect on subjects omitted by the docuseries, including: the challenges of working on a highly publicized case with a docu...

87- Former Tonight Show Writer Has Given 5 TEDx Talks and Shares Tips on How to Get One of Your Own!

January 12, 2021 16:10 - 36 minutes - 67.1 MB

As a former writer for The Tonight Show, humor columnist, and podcast personality, Frank King is a natural comedian. However, similar to many comedians, he has battled depression and suicidal ideation his entire life, conditions that run in his family. Frank realized that his comedic skills provided him a casual platform through which he could reach and educate people on mental illness — when people are laughing, they’re learning. So, he drew upon his personal experiences with depression, ...

86 - Jeffrey Deskovic: From Murder, Rape Conviction to Exoneree to Lawyer Who Frees the Innocent

January 05, 2021 16:43 - 48 minutes - 88.6 MB

At age seventeen, Jeffrey Deskovic was wrongfully sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a classmate. Authorities knew his DNA did not match that of the actual perpetrator – who would later murder another young woman and mother of two. Nevertheless, they colluded to convict and keep Jeff behind bars for the next 16 years. After his exoneration and release, Jeff successfully sued the responsible parties, and used a substantial portion of the compensation to start The Deskovic ...

85 - From G.E.D to Law Degree. How a Former State Representative Turned His Troubled Life Around

December 29, 2020 16:23 - 41 minutes - 76.1 MB

Brian Banks is a highly sought-after community educator, author, law school graduate, and former Michigan State Representative. But despite his tremendous career, he has experienced an equally tremendous degree of hardship along the way, from a dysfunctional childhood, to an adolescence marred by fraud charges, to corrupt political forces ousting him from office. In this episode of Open Mike, Banks discusses his personal struggles in depth and reflects on ways they’ve endowed him with the ta...

84 - At 12 He Dealt Drugs, At 16 He Was Charged With Murder. Now He Advocates for Prison Reform

December 22, 2020 15:57 - 57 minutes - 107 MB

At the age of 16, Mario Bueno was convicted of second-degree murder and spent the next nineteen years in prison — three of which were in solitary confinement. Today, he is a reform expert, author, scholar, and co-founder of LUCK, Inc., an organization dedicated toward mentoring vulnerable populations within the Detroit Metropolitan Area. On this episode of Open Mike, Mario takes the reins and describes the effects prison had on his formative years, the spiritual awakenings he experienced alo...

83 - How the Bail Process Unfairly Puts the Poor in Prison

December 15, 2020 16:23 - 40 minutes - 75.6 MB

John S. Cooper is the executive director of Safe & Just Michigan, an organization that advances policies that end Michigan’s over-use of incarceration and promote community safety and healing. As currently constituted, Michigan’s criminal justice system prioritizes punishment, over public safety. Most policies emphasize being tough on crime instead of helping people get back on their feet. Check out the latest installment of Open Mike for John’s insights on how we can better advocate for the...

82 - These Top Legal Non-Profits Are Freeing the Innocent & Reforming the Criminal Justice System

December 08, 2020 15:26 - 51 minutes - 96.3 MB

Tricia Rojo Bushnell is the Executive Director of the Midwest Innocence Project, which works to free innocent people convicted of crimes they did not commit. Megan Crane is Co-Director at MacArthur Justice Center, an organization that fights cases to right individual wrongs, and confront racial and social inequality. Together, they have partnered to demand effective and sustainable reform of the criminal justice system. In this episode, they discuss encouraging, new trends in the judicial sy...

81 - Exposing Wrongful Convictions: Why They Happen and How to Stop Them in the Future

December 01, 2020 15:28 - 37 minutes - 69.3 MB

Dr. Jon Gould is an internationally known expert on justice policy, social change, and government reform. An accomplished author, his book The Innocence Commission: Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System was named an Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association. In this episode of Open Mike, Dr. Gould walks us through the complex network of issues that has resulted in a widespread, wrongful conviction crisis affecting up to 5% of all incar...

80 - Dirty Cop and Lousy Attorney Put Innocent Man Behind Bars for 23 Years. Lamonte McIntyre’s Story

November 24, 2020 15:16 - 46 minutes - 86 MB

On April 15, 1994, two men in Kansas City, Kansas were shot dead in broad daylight. Lamonte McIntyre, an innocent seventeen-year-old, was falsely accused of the crime. Due to multiple, hideous perversions of justice, he would spend the next twenty-three years in prison. Today, he is a successful businessman and co-founder of Miracle of Innocence, a non-profit designed to get other wrongfully convicted people out of prison and provide them the resources necessary to thrive. But no amount of f...

79 - Is a Mitigation Specialist the Key to Fair Punishment?

November 17, 2020 16:00 - 27 minutes - 50.5 MB

Crime affects all of our lives—anyone can be accused, know someone accused, or serve on a jury. Mitigation expert and author Victoria Rusk gets to the “whys” behind a crime, helping jurors, DAs, and attorneys to work for fair and appropriate punishments, in hopes of reducing the American mass incarceration crisis. Her recent book The Handbook of Mitigation has quickly become canon within the legal mitigation sphere for anyone interested in sentencing justice. How did a former broadcast journ...

78 - Ex-Con Goes From Prison to Creating a Successful Business & Life. What Turned His Life Around?

November 10, 2020 15:52 - 23 minutes - 43.2 MB

Sean Dustin has led a tumultuous life. After a troubled childhood, he found himself in and out of state and federal prisons as an adult, serving time for drug trafficking, and fraud. After his 2006 release, he suffered with a meth amphetamine addiction before finally kicking the habit and committing himself to a life on the straight and narrow. These days he is the creator of the successful podcast, Nowhere To Go But Up, in which he chronicles the journeys of others who also come from diff...

77 - Innocent Michigan Woman Sent to Prison for Abusing her Adopted Nephew- The Story of Julie Baumer

November 03, 2020 15:45 - 1 hour - 154 MB

In 2003, Julie Baumer took her six-week-old nephew to the hospital after noticing he was fussy, lethargic, and refusing food. It kicked off a chain reaction that ended in Julie wrongfully serving four years behind bars after prosecutors erroneously claimed she violently shook her nephew, causing permanent brain damage. A 2010 retrial confirmed the true source of her nephew’s injuries and led to her release, forcing her to pick up the pieces of a life shattered through no fault of her own. ...

76 - Are Ghosts Real? Paranormal Investigators Visit Haunted Locations to Find Answers From Beyond

October 27, 2020 15:00 - 28 minutes - 53.6 MB

Everyone inevitably approaches mortality — why do some people seem to linger on in this world as spirits, while most don’t? We all know the well-established Hollywood trope of “unfinished business,” but paranormal investigator Kris Sumner thinks the answer is more complicated than that. Since the 2014 launch of Soul Sisters Paranormal, her all-female paranormal investigation group, Kris has investigated dozens of famous hotspots for supernatural activity, including the Lizzie Borden House, S...

75 - Coming Out Coach Teaches Families How to Cope, Communicate & Connect During Difficult Transition

October 20, 2020 14:48 - 34 minutes - 63.4 MB

Coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community can be a sensitive, complex process for someone to navigate. Enter Annie Henderson, Life coach, educator, consultant, and coming-out coach. After getting married at age nineteen, Annie embarked on her own journey of rejecting her people-pleasing ways and embracing her authentic, full self. These days she helps people who are struggling through a uniquely curated combination of counseling, compassion, and alternative therapies. Take a listen to E...

74 - Wayne County Candidate Nick Hathaway on Why He Wants Your Vote for Circuit Court Judge

October 15, 2020 18:03 - 13 minutes - 24.5 MB

For the last eleven years, Nick Hathaway has been a Referee in Wayne County Circuit Court’s Family Division, dealing with cases of serious child abuse and neglect, as well as juvenile criminal matters. Currently, he’s running as a judicial candidate for the Wayne County Third Circuit Court, targeting one of two vacant seats. In this episode of Open Mike, Nick recounts his career history, describes the type of judge he aims to be, and details his vision to positively impact the community. S...

73-Head of Logan Intl Airport During 9/11 Attack Discusses the Tragic Day & How She Rebuilt Her Life

October 13, 2020 15:00 - 33 minutes - 62.4 MB

Everyone remembers where they were on of September 11, 2001, a day that forever changed the fabric of our country. On that fateful morning, Virginia Buckingham was working as the head of Boston Logan International Airport — the departure site for the airliners that slammed into the Twin Towers. In this powerful installment of Open Mike Podcast, Virginia recalls managing the surreal events of that day, dealing with the sociopolitical fallout of unfairly being blamed for the attacks, and rebui...

72 - Ex-Playboy Photographer Educates Parents on Protecting Kids from Sexual Abuse & Online Predators

October 06, 2020 14:38 - 1 hour - 112 MB

Emily Gaudreau was on assignment shooting Playboy’s 2008 “Party School of the Year” showcase when she put her camera away, vowing to never use it again. Since then, she has aligned with her true purpose as a sexual abuse prevention advocate and parenting coach. In this episode of Open Mike, Emily and Mike discuss crucial topics the modern parent needs to know about, including at-home learning, sex trafficking, smart device usage, and drug experimentation. Show Notes [0:47] Introducing ou...

71 - An Innocent Man on Death Row! Who’s to Blame for the Wrongful Conviction of Jimmy Dennis?

September 29, 2020 15:02 - 1 hour - 132 MB

In 1992, singer-songwriter Jimmy Dennis was wrongfully convicted of murder. He was sent to death row for 25 years until his 2017 exoneration. Miraculously, he avoided execution. Who’s to blame for this atrocity? A corrupt Philadelphia police department. Prosecution that destroyed evidence. A fundamentally broken criminal justice system. How do we repair a structure that often administers law, but not always justice? Show Notes [0:40] Jimmy’s background [1:46] Welcoming today’s guest, J...

Twitter Mentions

@raiseamaverick 1 Episode
@butupnow 1 Episode
@devingardnerxci 1 Episode
@pioneerwa 1 Episode