Zinta Aistars

Story Beat: Gleaning good Story Beat with Jim Van Tuinen

My conversation on this week's Story Beat on WMUK 102.1 FM is with Jim Van Tuinen about Kalamazoo Valley Gleaners.

www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2025-11-13/story-beat-gleaning-good

As posted by my editor Jackie. Much appreciated. 🥰

Story Beat: Taking flight with bird safety Story Beat with Gail Walter

My conversation on WMUK 102.1 FM's Story Beat is with Gail Walter about bird safety. I immediately took my bird feeder down.

www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2025-11-06/story-beat-taking-flight-with-bird-safety

A real president does this.

Thank you to every veteran who’s worn the uniform and carried the weight for the rest of us — just respect 🇺🇸

BIG NEWS: Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva will finally be sworn in as a member of Congress tomorrow.

She is likely to be the 218th vote on the Epstein discharge petition, which would force a full vote to release the Epstein files in their entirety.

I’ve never seen an American elected official fight so hard to starve people.

Nearly half of America’s children—48.9%—now grow up in families considered poor, according to Oxfam’s 2025 inequality report. It’s a statistic that should shake the nation to its core: in the wealthiest country in human history, almost one in two kids are struggling to meet basic needs.

If nothing else, the last nine months should have made it clear that elections matter. But what’s remarkable about America is that we have the power, as citizens, to change this country by voting. Go to IWillVote.com.

Obama: When I think back to a year ago, I remember talking to some people, who would say, this election doesn't matter all that much. That however the next president ended up being, it wasn't going to matter to them. If nothing else, the last nine months should have cured us of that idea.

Obama: "The weird videos of a US president with a crown on his head flying a fighter jet & dumping poop on American citizens - that's not even worth booing about. Because all of that is a distraction from the fact that your situation, your life has not gotten better. They do it so you won't notice"

In Big Win for Voters and Democrats, Court Blocks Trump’s Demand for Voter ID on Registration Form Read more here.

NEW STORY: In a major win for voters, a federal court permanently blocks a provision of Trump’s anti-voting order requiring proof-of-citizenship for voter registration, holding that the president lacks authority over election regulation.

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.

Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.

They are not the same.

California – this Election Day, vote yes on Prop 50.

California’s Prop 50 says that if Republicans are going to abuse the system to try and hang onto power, we’re going to counteract that abuse and create a level playing field in the midterm elections.

Make a plan to vote yes on Prop 50.

Story Beat: Building the buzz Story Beat with Jon Nobel

My conversation on this week's Story Beat on WMUK 102.1 FM is with Jon Nobel, beekeeper. Hear the buzz.

www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2025-10-30/story-beat-building-the-buzz

We’re better than fear.

We’re braver than billionaires.

We’re bigger than ever.

And we’re gonna win. #NoKings

WOW: The White House says the president's MAIN PRIORITY is his BALLROOM. SNAP is ending. Subsidies for health care are gong to double and in some instances quadruple plan premiums. The government is shut down. The cost of living is through the roof. And his priority is his ballroom.

Story Beat: Talking about death Story Beat with Alycia Lee

My conversation on this week's Story Beat on WMUK 102.1 FM is with Alycia Lee, a death doula. Listen on air or online.
www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2025-10-23/story-beat-talking-about-death

Agreed. Many, many, many more.

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear.

At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them.

OMG! In Comey's motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution, he points to others who have lied to Congress that were NOT prosecuted. Number one is JEFF SESSIONS when he said "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two, but I did not have contact with the Russians." 1/

American institutions don't crumble. But they can be destroyed.

Not being even vaguely sarcastic:

At some point, a journalist needs to ask Johnson “you regularly claim you have no idea what your own government is doing. If we take you at your word, how are you so poorly informed, and do you this level of ignorance should disqualify you as speaker?”

Story Beat: Come to the table Story Beat with Mary Colborn

My conversation on this week's Story Beat is with Mary Colborn. Come to the table!

www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2025-10-16/story-beat-come-to-the-table

YouTube video by Dark Brandon What Would Jesus Say About Donald Trump?

youtu.be/vl8G2zLZfck?...

Story Beat: More than a fight Story Beat with Tim Baker

My conversation on this week's Story Beat on WMUK 102.1 FM is with Tim Baker. We talk about how martial arts changed his life.
www.wmuk.org/wmuk-news/2025-10-09/story-beat-more-than-a-fight