Podcasts about Hemlock

Chatter rolls into fall with Claude, David, Jamie, and Torie.  They pay respects to Dolly, the great one and reflect on the 9/11 25th anniversary.  "The Pitch" is down to three finalists — Chantel Acevedo and "Cages,"  Melissa Faliveno and "Hemlock," and Tom Lin and "Babylon, South Dakota."  Prolific writer, Fulbright scholar, and DMV native Camille Acker zooms in to share "A Very Special Episode."  It's about Black TV (sort of) and a lot about family, race, class, and identity.   And it totally surprises — in a good way.

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is going to cover Midwestern skiing whether you like it or not. Don't worry, Colorad-Bro, it's your turn tomorrow.Welcome to the Storm's short-form, news-focused podcast. Don't worry, I will still write newsletters too. To browse a (robot-generated) podcast transcript, click the “transcript” button above - click on any block of text and the audio will jump to that point in the conversation. Paid subscribers can leave a comment in the article below, or by joining The Storm's chat (also below). I'll respond to some comments in the next episode, which is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15.The Zoom transcript (click “transcript” above for the Substack transcript, which will zoom to any point in the video when you click on the associated text block; timestamps below DO NOT MATCH THE VIDEO)Stuart Winchester: Welcome to the Storm! I'm your host, Stuart Winchester. It is Monday, September 14th, 2026. Welcome to week two of the New Look Storm Skiing Podcast. If you missed last week, I am still doing the longer form pod.00:15:53.000 --> 00:16:08.000Stuart Winchester: But I'm cutting way back on the frequency of those. Instead, I am doing a shorter, news-focused pod that I release more often, and whenever possible, that I release the same day that I record it.00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.000Stuart Winchester: And the reason that I'm doing that is because…00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:19.000Stuart Winchester: the world has changed a lot since 2019, when I launched the Storm Skiing podcast, and when I launched it, there really wasn't anything quite like…00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:26.000Stuart Winchester: what I was doing with the long-form audio stories of a ski area's background.00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:29.000Stuart Winchester: I've done a couple hundred episodes at this point.00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.000Stuart Winchester: I feel like…00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:47.000Stuart Winchester: They're evergreen. But what they don't allow me to do is to really talk about what's happening in a ski area right now. Uh Especially when there's a lot of things happening and there's a lot of pieces and parts shuffling around as there is right now in the Midwest.00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:51.000Stuart Winchester: with multi-mountain passes. So, what I'm doing…00:16:51.000 --> 00:17:06.000Stuart Winchester: is I'm trying out a little bit of a new format today. The format… we're gonna experiment, we're gonna play around with it. Sometimes there'll be a guest off the top, sometimes I'll have a take off the top, uh, sometimes I'll have a guest on for a longer period, and that's gonna be the case today.00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:22.000Stuart Winchester: Because right now there is so much happening in the Midwest with multi mountain passes and different mountains leaving and joining is completely changing the landscape there. So I want to bring in someone to talk to us at length about that. We'll do a couple other fun things as well.00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.000Stuart Winchester: Let's bring…00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.000Stuart Winchester: I'm in now.00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.000Stuart Winchester: And there he is. Can you hear me, Matthew?00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.000Matthew Zabransky: Hey, how's it going, Stuart?00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.000Matthew Zabransky: I can.00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:41.000Stuart Winchester: Oh, I can't hear you. All right. This is a flub, and this is why I haven't heard her.00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you.00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.000Stuart Winchester: Because I am not that smart.00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, you there?00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.000Matthew Zabransky: Can you hear me?00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:52.000Stuart Winchester: Oh, yes, I can. Look at that.00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay, perfect.00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:07.000Stuart Winchester: The technology known as headphones. Matthew, this is why you're the production guy, and I generally stick to writing, because I'm an idiot. Alright, I want to introduce today the founder of MidwestSkiers.com.00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:13.000Stuart Winchester: He founded that in 2018, and in 2020, founded MWS Productions.00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:29.000Stuart Winchester: He is making all the Midwest content that I was dying for in the 1990s when I was a teenager living and skiing in Michigan, and the ski mags would completely ignore the region and maybe mention Boyne Mountain or Luton once per year, but he makes.00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:20.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:38.000Stuart Winchester: Top quality content. I link to it all the time in my stuff because no one else quite does it, as well as Matthew Zabranski. Matthew, welcome to The Storm. How you doing today?00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:56.000Matthew Zabransky: I am doing fantastic. Stuart, thank you, first of all, for the opportunity, but more importantly, for also repping the Midwest. I think it's such an important, obviously, region, and you have ties to it, I obviously have ties to it as well, so it's great that we're getting recognition, not only, obviously, in our region now, but on the national, even international scale, so…00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:00.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you so much for doing that. I appreciate it. I'm excited to be here.00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:08.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I love covering the Midwest, Matthew, and I still make it a point to go back and take a Midwest trip every year, because there's…00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:01.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you.00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:27.000Stuart Winchester: when I'm doing this podcast, there's nothing quite like making relationships, like showing up at, you know, a 200 vertical foothill in the boondocks in Minnesota. People are like, okay, I'll talk to this guy, even though, you know, I've never heard of him. So, but you are 100% Midwest-focused. I cover it where I can and whenever I can.00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:21.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm-hmm.00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:26.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:37.000Stuart Winchester: There is so much happening in the Midwest that we could talk about. I really want to focus today on multi-mountain passes. So…00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm-hmm.00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:53.000Stuart Winchester: I'll start by, I'll just set this up and then I'll, and then I'll, I'll let you comment on it. So if you go back about 10 years, there was nothing in the Midwest on multi mountain passes. You know, Vale had started to add a few things to Epic Pass and B Brighton and Afton Alps and Wilmot and such.00:19:53.000 --> 00:20:03.000Stuart Winchester: But the real inflection point came in 2019, when IndiePass came along. 2018, Icon added a couple things. So, right now, I'll give you some stats.00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:09.000Stuart Winchester: Of the 124 ski areas that I have inventoried in the Midwest, that you might have a different count.00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:15.000Stuart Winchester: They're 117 of those are public. 89 of those are public with aerial lifts.00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:28.000Stuart Winchester: 58 of those, although there's a couple that are just surface toes only, so 58 ski areas in the Midwest are now on a national multi-mountain ski pass. 10 on Epic.00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.000Stuart Winchester: 11 on Icon, 37 for Indy. So, so to start out with, Matthew.00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.000Stuart Winchester: How has…00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:47.000Stuart Winchester: the acceptance of the Midwest by multi-mountain national passes change the calculus for skiers as they're planning out their winter in the Midwest, compared to what it was for most of history up until just a few years ago?00:20:47.000 --> 00:21:02.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, it's changed dramatically. It's even going back a little bit further. I think the first initial, if you look at the statistics and you obviously know all this offhand, but back when you go back to Vail's acquisition of Wilmont, Afton.00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:19.000Matthew Zabransky: Brighton back in like 2012. I mean, that's really what started to to kick off this like idea of like. Maybe the Midwest has some legs in it, as far as like developing skiers, and then, you know, bringing them into a pass portfolio that could bring them out west. So that was the very early set, you know, early iteration of this. And then, obviously, as we went along, there wasn't.00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:37.000Matthew Zabransky: too many options outside of just the epic pass. But then, like you mentioned, Indie Pass came in, and I knew, and it's you know, as we dive into this, I do want to do a little disclosure here, and like Indie Pass was my very 1st client from a production side of things. So Doug and I, because I I saw the opportunity like there was an absolute gold mine here. I'm like.00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:32.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:55.000Matthew Zabransky: Because I got to travel around, that's why I started MidwestGears.com, because we were… we were traveling for my wife's job all over the Midwest, and every time we'd go to a new city, Columbus, Akron, I'd be a pass holder at one of these little ski areas, and I'd be like, holy crap, there's a lot of them here, no one's talking about them.00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:15.000Matthew Zabransky: But you know, once you start to realize there was this many, then you're then you're starting to think, okay, like, why isn't somebody coming in here and starting to develop a past that could actually stand on its own. And that's what we've seen the last, I would say, 5 to 10 years. Specifically, we've seen more people traveling around in the Midwest. You'll catch people at any stereo across the Midwest. That's not their home hill, and that's not how it used.00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:27.000Matthew Zabransky: you go ski or one little local place for the most part, you might do your weekend trip up to Boyne or something, but you would never catch people going to some of these really small places, you know, outside of just the local crew there, so it's been really cool to watch people.00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:45.000Matthew Zabransky: travel and discover, more importantly, the different areas, uh, throughout the Midwest. I think a lot of that had to do with IndyPass's push in the Midwest, because, as we're gonna talk about here in a second, it was an absolute auto-buy. Like, there was not even a question about it. From the day it started, when it was, you know, what was that, $99?00:22:45.000 --> 00:23:02.000Matthew Zabransky: up until even just the last year. It was like you almost just were gonna if you lived in the Midwest, and you like skiing, and you don't. You know you like traveling around checking out new things. There was no reason not to buy it. You'd be silly, basically not to, just because how much saturation there was in the Midwest, which I think is going to lead us into our next conversation a little bit here.00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:04.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, so, so the…00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:15.000Stuart Winchester: Just being on the ground, before we get to the shuffling around, you know, I'd imagine you're pretty connected with a lot of pretty hardcore skiers, pretty frequent skiers.00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:13.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.000Stuart Winchester: How much has…00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:24.000Stuart Winchester: that a… a season… a multi-mountain pass becomes something that the person in the Midwest just…00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:40.000Stuart Winchester: considers or, or automatically buys it as compared to several years ago where you might buy your local season pass, but, but you, you probably, like you said, you wouldn't go around. And when I lived in the Midwest, actually, I always appreciated how close the areas were, so I would just kind of bounce around a lot for.00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm-hmm.00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:46.000Stuart Winchester: for deal days or whatever, back when those were still a thing. But how automatic has it become?00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:42.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:23:46.000 --> 00:24:01.000Matthew Zabransky: Very. I mean, there's people that have been buying the IndyPass specifically now. Up until this season, it was like they were probably on their fifth year of doing it and just continue to. And to be honest, there wasn't any reason not to because the pricing has stayed relatively affordable.00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:17.000Matthew Zabransky: they keep they kept strengthening their pro, their their product. I mean, like they just kept adding more ski areas in the Midwest. And so in in a lot of times the pass would pay itself off within a couple of visits based off of some of the redemption rates that you'd be getting at some somewhere like Lutz and Snow River.00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:34.000Matthew Zabransky: um, those are all, like, you know, $100 tickets, so you buy… you go there once or twice, you get two days of each of them, and basically that's already done. So if you already had one of those trips kind of on there, and if you lived in Chicago, you're going to Granite Peak usually once or twice a year. If you lived in Minnesota, you're going to Lutz.00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:52.000Matthew Zabransky: So it almost became this thing. And then you shuffle in like nubs, knob, and all that. So it it very much was like, yeah, we're gonna buy it every single year, you know, we might not. And some people are hardcore and going to all the places they could. And some people were just, you know. Hey? I'm gonna buy it because I'm gonna go for a weekend, so I might as well. And then I have this option of going some other places.00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:24:52.000 --> 00:25:03.000Matthew Zabransky: it was huge. I mean, I don't… of course, I don't have any of the IndyPass numbers, but I would… I would venture to say that the Midwest had to be a very big portion of their portfolio from the sales and redemption standpoint.00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:20.000Stuart Winchester: So the traditional numbers that Indy has given me, and it's been a couple years since Doug Fish provided these round numbers to me, but he told me about half of their sales came in New England, and 25% came in the Midwest, which is a really big number for a national pass. So you figured the other quarter were coming from somewhere else.00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:05.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you.00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:16.000Matthew Zabransky: Cool.00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:19.000Matthew Zabransky: For… yeah.00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:25.000Stuart Winchester: I always give Doug Fish credit, because he's a Pacific Northwest guy, and…00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:40.000Stuart Winchester: Western skiers just love to hate on the Midwest. Everyone loves to hate on the Midwest. It's like the national pastime. It's like the safe thing to make fun of, and you know, I hope you take that personally, because I always do, and I really appreciated that Doug.00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.000Matthew Zabransky: Is…00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:38.000Matthew Zabransky: I do.00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:55.000Stuart Winchester: Included the Midwest from the start. That first year in 2019, he had Little Switz, he had Crystal, he had Cabre Fay, he had a bunch of other ski areas. Really got big in 2020 when he added Lutzen and Granite Peak. Now, I always say his insight was…00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:45.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:02.000Stuart Winchester: that Doug's great insight with the IndyPass was realizing there was value in the mountains that are not.00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:08.000Stuart Winchester: super destinations when you put them all together for skiers across the country. He also…00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:07.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm-hmm.00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:23.000Stuart Winchester: the fact that he extended that to the Midwest is huge, because, yes, I… so, before Icon started adding in into the Midwest, which we'll talk about in a minute, I would always say, Indy Pass is the pass to go to in the Midwest, no one else has anything, and everyone would always say, oh, wait, Epic has 10 mountains. I was like.00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you.00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:18.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:34.000Stuart Winchester: But the Midwest is gigantic. Unless you live in Ohio, they're very spread out, and they're near cities, and there are actually mountains in the Midwest that are more…00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:44.000Stuart Winchester: of, of what you would consider, like, regional destinations. And that, that's your Boyne, Nubs, Lutsen, uh, even, even Spira with the bigger, uh, all the stuff over in the UP.00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:38.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:57.000Stuart Winchester: So Indy really collected them all together, and it was almost too good to be true, because they had over 40 ski areas in the Midwest. Talk about Indy at its peak.00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:02.000Stuart Winchester: And how great of a pass that was for the Midwest here.00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:17.000Matthew Zabransky: It was too great. We're going to get into this, I'm sure, but I think that's part of the reason for the course correction. There was a moment two or three years ago when I literally turned to Nick, my associate who edits for me and stuff, and I said, with some of the additions they announced at that time, I said.00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:06.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:33.000Matthew Zabransky: this is too saturated like it's got to fix itself at some point like it's just. It's too good of a value, and like for skiers, we like anybody that was buying the passes like this is amazing. It makes it like again. It's an auto buy like, why wouldn't you do this? But I knew that this time was going to come at some point. But I'm you know, at least we got to.00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:50.000Matthew Zabransky: to see what it like. The peak of that was for a little while. We got a couple of years. We've got to be happy for that, to be honest. We're starting to see some of those what I'll call course corrections now and and we're going to continue to see this. I mean, you know that every every year it's going to be something new. Someone's changing. It's just kind of the nature of the business. But.00:27:50.000 --> 00:28:02.000Matthew Zabransky: it was not a shock to me when, um, when these changes were announced, uh, both in the spring and then more recently in the last few weeks and stuff, so it wasn't… I kind of saw it coming, it was just a matter of, like, when was it gonna happen.00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:14.000Stuart Winchester: So everyone left… they seemed as though… Epic and Icon seemed like they were just leaving the Midwest to Indy, to take. And I've always thought that Icon's original sin was when they killed the Max Pass.00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:15.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm-hmm.00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:30.000Stuart Winchester: And launched the Icon Pass. They brought all the Powder Mountains, all the Boyne Mountains, uh, all the Intra West Mountains, but they didn't bring Granite Peak and Lutzen, which are the biggest ski areas or most modern, however, whatever metric you want to use in Minnesota and, and Wisconsin.00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:27.000Matthew Zabransky: Yep.00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:31.000Stuart Winchester: So…00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:46.000Stuart Winchester: for a long time, Indy just built up this huge coalition. Started to see some cracks last year. Icon had just two mountains, Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands, and honestly, and Boyne has never affirmed this to me, but my hunch is, Boyne said, include our mountains or you don't get Big Sky.00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:40.000Matthew Zabransky: Yep.00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:48.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, yeah.00:28:46.000 --> 00:29:01.000Stuart Winchester: So, so, Icon was like, okay, I guess we'll add these stupid little things. Uh, which is not my opinion of them, but I think that's probably what they thought from Colorado, which is why they dropped Lutzen and Granite Peak. So, last year, we started to see the first crack in Indy's armor.00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:55.000Matthew Zabransky: I was like, don't do that.00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:02.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm.00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:12.000Stuart Winchester: when the Icon Pass… they call them bonus mountains, I call them two-day mountains, because that's what they are. If you have an Icon Pass, you get two days of these mountains. Uh, Buck Hill, Minnesota.00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:07.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:27.000Stuart Winchester: Uh joined the icon pass as a two day mountain, which for the listeners, that's no, you get no base pass access, you only get full icon access and there are holiday blackouts. So that's what the two day tier is. They added Buck Hill. Uh Indy said, no, you're not allowed to do that. Remove Buck Hill.00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:30.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, which is a great little, uh, you know.00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.000Stuart Winchester: kind of trainer hill outside of the Twin Cities.00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:40.000Stuart Winchester: And every square inch is used with very maximum effect. So Indy removed them.00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:53.000Stuart Winchester: Buck Hill has been on Icon, and that was sort of the first… when you first saw that, did you think, okay, here we go, Icon is finally starting to realize the value of the Midwest, and if not, what was the moment that you did think that they got it?00:29:53.000 --> 00:30:09.000Matthew Zabransky: I would, you know, the whole time I've been shaking my head a little bit because it's just ironic to me that Boeing, Boeing, one of the biggest companies in, you know, that started in the Midwest, that literally has its roots here. And I'm just shocked that Icon hasn't.00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:26.000Matthew Zabransky: made this push earlier, and it took this long. But that was like the 1st that was the 1st like mention of that. And the other connection that was really kind of just crazy to me is, there's so many people from the twin cities that go to Big Sky like a lot like you talk to people all over the place. They have cabins up there. They.00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:24.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, so. Yeah.00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:27.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:42.000Matthew Zabransky: They're traveling there all the time. It's a huge destination for specifically for Minnesota, it seems. So I was always thinking, man, like if they were just to strengthen this pass a little bit in the Midwest, give somebody a reason to, to jump on to the icon pass. They're probably going out to Big Sky anyway.00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:57.000Matthew Zabransky: now all of a sudden, you give them another reason to buy the full pass, you got some… some more local hills, some day… like, weekend trips, you can go up to Lutzen, things like that, and I think that's when… when Lutzen and those guys came on, that was, like, full-blown, that's gonna… that changes everything. Like, everything.00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:14.000Matthew Zabransky: As you know, the lake, Lake Michigan, is a huge divider for the eastern and the western side of what I'll call the Midwest. Basically, if you're on the eastern side of the lake, you're kind of going to stick to mostly your lower peninsula, maybe go up to the UP occasionally. But if you're on the western side over here, in the Minneapolis.00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:31.000Matthew Zabransky: Um, there was really no offerings for Icon, so it really made no sense at that point to buy an Icon Pass. You know, maybe Chicago, you drive up to Boeing, but you're kind of on that cusp there, where it's like, mmm… but I think once they strengthened it this past year, now it's like… it's a fair fight, in my opinion. Now we're.00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:46.000Matthew Zabransky: You know, which one is gonna make more sense for you, or your situation, which it was not, it didn't used to be that way, it just, there was never an opportunity for most people that were on this side of the lake, or in Minneapolis. Sometimes it didn't make sense, unless you're going out to, you know, Big Sky for a week and a half, it, you know.00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, so just a little background for the listeners.00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:49.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm.00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:52.000Stuart Winchester: Boyne Mountain and and.00:31:52.000 --> 00:32:08.000Stuart Winchester: what they call the Highlands at Harbor Springs. I'll call it Boyne Highlands because no one knows what I'm talking about when I say the Highlands. So Boyne and Boyne Highlands are two of the nicer ski areas, more built up ski areas in Michigan, and they were long on Icon. Uh, Lutzen and Granite Peak.00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, this…00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:07.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:14.000Stuart Winchester: that, uh, Midwest Family Ski Resorts, which owns Lutzen and Granite Peak, bought, immediately took.00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:25.000Stuart Winchester: four old riblet lifts, put in a high-speed six-pack, the first one in the UP. So, those three ski areas had been indie anchors in the Midwest for years.00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:24.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:30.000Stuart Winchester: This year, for 2026-27 winter, they're going as 5-7 day…00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:42.000Stuart Winchester: mountains each on Icon and Icon Base, and so they are leaving the Indy Pass as a result of that. Now, Icon has also added some more two-day mountains. I'm gonna put those to the side for a second.00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:42.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:50.000Stuart Winchester: How big of a loss was Lutsen and Granite Peak and Snow River for Indy Pass in the Midwest?00:32:51.000 --> 00:33:06.000Matthew Zabransky: It's it's an easy question. I mean the answer just like, go look at the comments on the thread when it was announced, and you could just read how an impactful it was. And I think that was my argument when people started talking about like, Oh, they're you know, hey? Like they're leaving. They're leaving us in the dust, and we we don't like them anymore.00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:29.000Matthew Zabransky: It's probably justified. If you guys are this upset about them leaving, it means they probably had a little more leverage than they should have in that past portfolio. And I think it to that. And again, I don't know that it needs, like, a passion never be so strong, in my opinion. And I'm talking about the business side of things. You're not talking about the skier. Trust me, if I was, like, just skiing Matthew, put my skiing thing on, I'd be like, yeah, absolutely.00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:25.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:49.000Matthew Zabransky: Uh, but from the business side, as an area owner, operator, you gotta look at it, like, what kind of value are we getting back out of this pass? Are we the ones carrying your product? Like, that's the other thing to think about, too, right? We don't… you don't always necessarily want to be the top dog in the pass lineup. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't. Uh, and in this case, I think that they…00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:56.000Matthew Zabransky: they were carrying that pass line up, and I think nothing speaks more to the volumes of how upset people were when they came off of the pass.00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:00.000Stuart Winchester: So we're… I've kind of looked at this as it's…00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:12.000Stuart Winchester: sucks for Indy, it's probably good for the consumer in the long run, because, like you said, you never want too much market concentration, so now you have… you have the Snow Pass coming up, which is… which is Snow Partners in two days…00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:05.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:28.000Stuart Winchester: at each mountain. There's none in the Midwest yet, but I suspect there may be at some point. Right now, they're mostly in the Northeast. And then you have Icon. So, before, I think a lot of people in Michigan probably had Icon, because you could use it for the Boynes, but like you said.00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:44.000Stuart Winchester: if you're not from the Midwest, you're probably just thinking it's like a big square, but there's a lake there, and you can't… I mean, you can take a ferry over it, but it takes all day, right? You have to go to Ludington, and it's like a whole thing, right? So really, you have Michigan, the Lower Peninsula, and then you kind.00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:33.000Matthew Zabransky: Yep.00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:58.000Stuart Winchester: Wisconsin. So, you live on the west side of that, I believe, like, around the Minnesota-Wisconsin line. How immediately did you see people say, okay, well, now, yeah, let's consider Icon that maybe never would have before?00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:49.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:04.000Matthew Zabransky: I think the original, like, when it first was announced, there was just a lot of, like.00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:17.000Matthew Zabransky: oh man, this sucks. Like, now what? You know, what do we do? Because the initial reaction was like, well, I'm not gonna auto-buy this now, I gotta think about it a little bit more. I'm curious because I haven't… it's still so fresh, to be honest, and I haven't, like.00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:07.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:12.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:32.000Matthew Zabransky: but to, like, really figure that question, like, the answer to that question out, but I have… the one thing I have been seeing is a lot more people starting to weigh those options, right? They're starting to look at the passes differently now. Now it's, like, not just, like, we're gonna pick up Indy automatically and, you know, whatever might throw a different pass on there. Now they.00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:26.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:49.000Matthew Zabransky: think about, how am I using my pass? Am I going up to Lutzen for a weekend or 2? Does it make sense for me to just get an icon pass? Am I a pass holder at Lutzen, and want to add it on now that that's an option, and maybe do an out west trip, or if you're granted peak. So I'm starting to see more people analyzing.00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:44.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah. Okay.00:35:49.000 --> 00:36:03.000Matthew Zabransky: in an area where they haven't before. So I'll be curious to see this upcoming season will be a really good test to kind of figure out, like, where are those numbers starting to shift a little bit. But, um, from my first reaction is I have a feeling that there's gonna be a pretty big drop in IndyPass sales in the Midwest.00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:20.000Matthew Zabransky: For that reasoning. Um, and then I do think there's gonna be a bit of a spike, um, in, in IconPass sales. I don't think it's gonna obviously affect much on the Michigan side, Lower Peninsula side of things. I think that'll stay pretty stable. But I think this side, for sure, this market, Minneapolis specifically, a little bit of Chicago.00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:25.000Matthew Zabransky: Um, but I would expect to see a pretty good little spike in sales on the IconPass side.00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:35.000Stuart Winchester: So, Lutzen and Granite Peak, I think, huge losses for India. Snow River, less so, just because Powderhorn is right next door, and it's kind of the same size, and it's, you know, gets the same s.00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:30.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm.00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:32.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:53.000Stuart Winchester: Continued building by Icon after that announcement, and, and some, and some continued bleeding by Indy. So, so Icon had a Giants Ridge, which is an excellent ski area up in Minnesota. It's, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but it's worth it. Uh, Devil's Head, which is a nice, uh, Madison ski area, and then.00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:45.000Matthew Zabransky: Yep.00:36:53.000 --> 00:37:10.000Stuart Winchester: in Michigan left Indy to join the Icon today, so those all joined Icon today. And then Indy also lost Little Switzerland, Nordic Mountain, and Crystal Ridge in Wisconsin. As of now, they are passless. So, you know, those are small ski areas, but they're really important sort of urban.00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:21.000Stuart Winchester: collectors, but do you worry, Matthew, and I'll say, Indy still has 37 ski areas in the Midwest, but do you worry that their coalition is splintering a little bit, starting to fall apart?00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:17.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:40.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, a little bit. So I'm going to dance around this as carefully as I can because I have connections with all these owners, operators, and I talk to them on a regular basis, so I kind of know more than I probably should. But I'll try to navigate this the best that I can.00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:36.000Stuart Winchester: Yep.00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:56.000Matthew Zabransky: with… when IndyPass started, Doug Fish and the team did a really nice job of making sure that when they signed a ski area on, that they were being very, very intentional about its location, what… who was serving, and then when they would add another person on, a lot of times they would even approach.00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:04.000Matthew Zabransky: some of the nearby ski areas, and be like, hey, we're adding so-and-so, or making sure that those partnerships were all, you know.00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:22.000Matthew Zabransky: You're not too close where you're starting to monopolize business in different ways. I'll talk a little bit more about this in a second. So that was the approach for many, many years. However, I noticed a pretty big change a handful of years ago when it became more about a statistical difference than building those partnerships and.00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:41.000Matthew Zabransky: making those owners feel valued, if that makes sense. So it was like, okay, how can we just continue to pump numbers, get more? And in that process, what happened was a lot of ski areas in a small geographical area. And why has that caused a lot of issues for owners and operators? Is the idea of the IndyPass was, yeah.00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:50.000Matthew Zabransky: to create value with a portfolio of ski areas across the Midwest to rival that of, like, you know, other multi-mountain passes.00:38:50.000 --> 00:39:06.000Matthew Zabransky: Um, but what some of the owners and operators were starting to see was that instead of skiers buying a season pass at their local ski area, what they would do is buy the Indy Pass, ski two days at the ski area that would have been their local ski area, and then.00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:03.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:22.000Matthew Zabransky: You know, in some cases, like in the Twin Cities, you have a handful that are within a two hour drive. So then it became this thing of like, oh, we're starting to see RR like personal season passes drop for then people that are using IndiePass redemptions to treat it as if it were basically a season pass.00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:12.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:40.000Matthew Zabransky: I'm summarizing a lot there. There's a lot, like, to dive into, like, the details, but I can't, unfortunately, go into too much of that. But I think you can probably get the idea of why that was a little bit frustrating for some, um, owners and operators. So they really had to take a deep dive into some of those numbers and start to look at, like.00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:25.000Stuart Winchester: Yes.00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:26.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:30.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:50.000Matthew Zabransky: Where are these people coming from? How are the redemptions being used? And then, you know, how is this pass either, you know, net positive or net negative for us? And, you know, I always tell everybody, it's…00:39:50.000 --> 00:40:00.000Matthew Zabransky: the ski business is, you know, Stuart, is just a very, very low margin business, and it is a business. Like, at the end of the day, like, they have to treat it like…00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:22.000Matthew Zabransky: you know, like you gotta find out where you're losing money, or is there opportunity? And that assessment has to happen on a yearly basis. And sometimes when they run it for their business, they might be finding out that this might not be a great option for them. Or maybe it was, and things have changed. And now it's not so. It's an ongoing assessment. And like I was mentioning earlier, this is going to be a game that is going to play out over the next 10 years, probably where people are going to be switching teams all the time. And.00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:28.000Matthew Zabransky: and just get used to it. I mean, this is gonna be the way it is, unfortunately or fortunately, you know.00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:31.000Stuart Winchester: If you're Indy, what's your next move to try to build your coalition back up?00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:49.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, I think the biggest thing they need to do is get some sort of anchor on this side of the lake. I mean, you've got Nub's Knob on Lower Peninsula, which is a great offering. I think that that really does anchor that side for sure. Over here, you gotta start eyeing up some areas that would serve as that anchor ski area. I know Whitecap was added.00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:38.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:40:49.000 --> 00:41:04.000Matthew Zabransky: Um, which is good, but I think, like, you gotta think about, you know, what is that replacement for? You know, what is that replacement for Granite Peak? And it immediately comes to mind, like, a Cascade, right? Or one of those. And we all know, like, it's just gonna be a tough sale for some of these operations, because it's always that, like.00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:00.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I think so.00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:09.000Matthew Zabransky: If you're an anchor skier, you've probably got a good operation and a good thing going already, so…00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:29.000Matthew Zabransky: you know, what is the pitch? Why should I join your indie pass? So it's always this give and take a little bit, but, you know, given that we've had a bunch of ski areas now come off of indie, there might be an opportunity to fill that little bit of a void and be kind of that new anchor spot that would then highlight that side of the lake. I don't know. It'll be curious to see kind of how things play out, but.00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:37.000Matthew Zabransky: Um, I think we'll see a little bit of this course correction go on for the next year or two, and then I think maybe we'll see some moves in the future. It's hard to say.00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:43.000Stuart Winchester: That was really good, so I'm gonna extend that question. If you're Icon, what's your next move in the Midwest, and if you're Epic?00:41:45.000 --> 00:42:02.000Matthew Zabransky: If if I'm icon, what I'm circling right now to be quite frank is somewhere in the Chicagoland area. There's an opportunity there, and I don't, you know, of course. What is it? We don't know, but I think if you could add an offering like a full offering to which is a little bit tricky to do. But yeah, like you think of something like.00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:24.000Matthew Zabransky: Cascade, Devil's Head, one of those areas, if you can get it into, like, a full area where you can now grab that Chicago market and have it really well solidified, because right now you're kind of in a, you know, it's about four hours from up to Granite Peak, and then Boeing the other way is something like that, five or something. So you're kind of in that weird dead zone there, so I think there's still a huge opportunity to grab that market, which obviously is a huge market of skiers and s.00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:15.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:20.000Stuart Winchester: Yep.00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:30.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm. And if you're Epic, I mean, they have all city stuff, so what do you do if you're Epic?00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:29.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:49.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, I mean, I think Epic's playing the card that they want. The one thing that I am curious to see with Epic is not necessarily that, it's what's gonna happen with some of these smaller regional ski areas that have kind of been left in the dust a little bit. Paley Peaks is the first one that comes to mind when you start to think about this Snow Creek.00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:46.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:42:49.000 --> 00:43:06.000Matthew Zabransky: These ones that are just kind of in no man's land a little bit. They kind of got brought in with the Peak Resorts acquisition. I'm not sure that they necessarily wanted some of these ski areas, but they came in as a package deal as part of that. So it's just gonna be kind of interesting to see. They need a lot of reinvestment over the next, you know.00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:23.000Matthew Zabransky: 10 to 15 years, for sure, if not even sooner than that. So it'll be curious to see kind of how they approach those sort of areas in those regions, because some of those are in their own land like there is no ski area relatively close to some of them, or a couple of hours to the nearest ski area. So it'll be curious to see how they leverage that going forward.00:43:23.000 --> 00:43:44.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, Matthew, I could sink into that one for about two hours and we could have a talk. I'm going to have to bring you back for that one. But for now, let's move on. And some of the folks who may not be familiar with the Midwest, we're going to talk about some of our favorite Midwest ski areas in just a moment. First, I want to tell you that this podcast is brought to you today by Profile Search International.00:43:44.000 --> 00:44:03.000Stuart Winchester: Profile Search is the only talent acquisition firm in the entire world that is 100% focused on the ski industry. They have used their intimate understanding of skiing and related industries, and of available candidates worldwide, to place hundreds of transformational leaders at the best and most progressive ski areas over the past.00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:19.000Stuart Winchester: 30 years. Profile Search has offices in the US and Canada, and they find and negotiate with the right leaders for their team. If you want to reach out to Profile Search, you can find them at profilesearch.com, and you can get their email or phone number there, or send me a note and I will.00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:26.000Stuart Winchester: make that connection for you. That is profilesearch.com. All right, Matthew, I gave you a challenge.00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:43.000Stuart Winchester: Or, or homework or something. I don't know. I'm sure you didn't have to think too hard about this, but we are going to break down our five favorite Midwest ski areas. We each have five. We'll, we'll start with five and, and, uh, and we'll take turns. Now, these are not what we think are the best necessarily because that's a whole different.00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:47.000Stuart Winchester: Conversation and I tried to think about.00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:59.000Stuart Winchester: If you've never skied the Midwest and are only going to ski here once in your life, where would I tell people to go? So, Matthew, I'll start with you. What is your number five favorite Midwest ski area and why?00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:14.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah. So I'll just just key this up with like, yeah, I agree with you. I went with kind of like I took an approach of uniqueness. There's different things that I enjoy about this years for different reasons, and I'll obviously unpack them as we kind of go through number 5 for me was perfect north slopes.00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:08.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:15.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:32.000Matthew Zabransky: And at its face, you might not think that that's… it's, you know, it's a ski area right outside of, uh, Cincinnati, um, and the southern tip of Indiana down there. And for, you know, for people that have never heard of it, they'd be like, why does this… why is this even on here? Uh, but the moment that you visit there, I think it all becomes very clear. Their throughput.00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:51.000Matthew Zabransky: their snowmaking capacity, their operations. It is a gold standard when we think of how to run a ski area in extremely challenging conditions and environments. Perfect North is the one that comes to mind. The way that they can move people through their rental department is phenomenal. The way that they can have a stable season based off of where they are.00:45:51.000 --> 00:46:08.000Matthew Zabransky: is just absolutely mind blowing. And they've been doing this since day one. So this isn't something that they have. You know they're new to. They've been doing this for many, many, many decades now at this point. So it's it's definitely worth a visit. Their train's really good as well. They have some Olympians that have come out of there just some some good stuff going down at at perfect north slopes.00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:23.000Stuart Winchester: I'm so glad you said Perfect North, because I did not include it on my list, but I think they are one of the best operators in the country. My number 5 is Chestnut, Illinois, and everyone's… you know why, but everyone's gonna say, Illinois? Like, what does it matter with you?00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:23.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:29.000Stuart Winchester: It is so unique, because you get up there, and it's about 500 vertical feet.00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:45.000Stuart Winchester: and you ski down to the freaking Mississippi River. It is… there is nothing else like that in American skiing. It is such a gorgeous view, and there's a train that goes by, and, and, and… the lift system is fantastic. Bunch of, you know, really maintained quads.00:46:45.000 --> 00:47:00.000Stuart Winchester: They have bars, which I like, which most Midwest ski areas don't, but they've retrofit them. Their grooming is phenomenal. Terrain's really good, steep and varied, and then one of the best things is on the backside, and the name of this probably is escaping me, it's like the backyard or something.00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:48.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah. Okay.00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:00.000Matthew Zabransky: Uh, far side.00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:15.000Stuart Winchester: Okay, yeah, so they have a terrain park that could be its own ski area, and it has a lift by itself, and so all the badly behaved teenagers go over there and throw cans around and smoke. Maybe it was just the day I was there.00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:02.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:20.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, but, but my number five is Chestnut, Illinois. Uh, number four, Matthew.00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:37.000Matthew Zabransky: This is gonna be. This is gonna be a deep cut here, and I'll give you my reasoning. So I'm a sucker for community rope toe ski places like it. It warms my heart every time every year there's at least one or 2 that I go to every time I show up. It's just the kids are so excited to show me around.00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:25.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:29.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm. Oh, love it.00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:38.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah. Okay.00:47:37.000 --> 00:48:00.000Matthew Zabransky: They're so passionate and it really brings me back to why skiing is important and what it really is about, right? We talk about the steeps and all this fun stuff all the time, but like when you go to these places, there's just to see a kid just in jeans or whatever it may be after school ripping down. It's so fun. So one of my favorite, if not my favorite rope to ski area in the entire Midwest is a place called Hickory Hills. It's in Traverse City.00:47:59.000 --> 00:48:00.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:18.000Matthew Zabransky: It's a beautiful setting overlooking the bay, and they have just all ropes and one conveyor, and it's stacked. And it was one of the first ski areas in the Midwest to offer night skiing, which I thought was really, really cool as well. Obviously, not a lot of vertical, maybe 200 feet of vertical, depending on which rope you're going on, but it's one of those places you just show up.00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:12.000Stuart Winchester: Mm-hmm.00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:30.000Matthew Zabransky: And they've reinvested, as recently as 2018, they built a new lodge, new snowmaking, and you just show up there, and you're just like, it brings you back to that, like, oh yeah, this is some good skiing, like, just…00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:37.000Matthew Zabransky: fundamental, good stuff, you see kids ripping around after school, it's like, it's what I think of when I think of, uh, rope tow places.00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:42.000Stuart Winchester: And long live the rope tow. I mean, it is amazing that I think they run five or six there, right?00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:46.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, I think they have six total, I believe, yeah.00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:59.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I've been there in the summer. I've never skied there. I used to ski at Sugarloaf down the… down the road till that went out of business. My number 4 is one you already mentioned, Matthew. Whitecap, Wisconsin. I just love this crazy ski area. It is…00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:51.000Matthew Zabransky: Yo.00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:04.000Stuart Winchester: I like to be confused when I'm skiing. I like it when a ski area…00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:05.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:22.000Stuart Winchester: Kind of hides its secrets and has lots of little trails and the trail map doesn't quite match up with the, with what you actually see. And, and there's lifts all over the place and there's little pockets and there's, you can tell that they don't care if you ski in the trees. And, and, and Whitecap is, is one of the most confusing ski areas I've, I've ever been to and I love.00:49:21.000 --> 00:49:23.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:40.000Stuart Winchester: it's in the great snow pocket off of Lake Superior, gets 200 or more inches of snow average per year, which is a good thing, because they don't have a lot of snowmaking, uh, there. But I really, really love Whitecap, and by the way, we did not share ours before, so we may have some crossover here. So, uh, what's your number 3, Matthew?00:49:38.000 --> 00:49:39.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you.00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:55.000Matthew Zabransky: Number three, I am going with a ski area that I think people around here would know, but I think people on the other side of the lake would not. And it is going to be Welch Village. Welch Village is an area that just, you look at the numbers, you read the stats, and you're like, this place…00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:51.000Stuart Winchester: Mmm.00:49:55.000 --> 00:50:15.000Matthew Zabransky: cannot be that good. But it really is. It skis so much bigger than the stats suggest. I think it's about 300 feet of vertical. They have like 50 something runs. But I think what Welch Village has that a lot of skiers don't is the amount of terrain variation and stepping that they have is just phenomenal for beginners, and the fact that it's only about 40 minutes from the Twin Cities.00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:31.000Matthew Zabransky: is amazing. So they have basically a run for every progression. If you want super steep, now obviously it's only 300 feet of vertical, so it's gonna be a handful of turns, but they have that. If you want something very, very gently sloped, they got that, and basically everything in between. And it's just one of those areas that is a perfect.00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:24.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:50:31.000 --> 00:50:41.000Matthew Zabransky: Kind of like just outside the urban reach, right? It's not like in your backyard, but it's close enough where you can easily go for a few hours and just a perfect place to learn how to ski and snowboard.00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:57.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, I love Welch Village. I was super impressed when I went there a few years ago, and it's not too far from Vail's Afton Alps, so you can do both in a day easily if you want to, but Welch Village, first-rate operation, absolutely one of the best in the Midwest. My number three is a nostalgia play, and I'm gonna say Boyne Mount.00:50:42.000 --> 00:50:44.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:50:57.000 --> 00:51:13.000Stuart Winchester: The reason I love Boyne Mountain is not because of the fast lift, so they were the first six-pack in North America, and, you know, they put in the first eight-pack in the Midwest, and there's a lot of history there. The first chairlift in the world is there. They moved it from Sun Valley.00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:23.000Stuart Winchester: the single chair from Sun Valley back in the… in the 40s, and it's now the Hemlock double chair. But what I love Boyne Mountain is because when I… back in the 90s, when I lived in Michigan.00:51:23.000 --> 00:51:30.000Stuart Winchester: they would stay open into May. And back then, there was no social media, so no one knew about it, so I'd show up, and there would be…00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:26.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm-hmm.00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:47.000Stuart Winchester: not kidding, 10 people skiing, and they would be running that six-pack all day, and they would let it bump up, and just run idiots to light, and it's where I learned how to ski moguls, and I've always just been tremendously fond of Boyne for that reason. So while it is one of the nicest ski areas in the Midwest, just on its own terms.00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:34.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you.00:51:47.000 --> 00:52:02.000Stuart Winchester: It's also very steep. It's just, I have that feeling of, you know, that memory of skiing in my t-shirt in May in 1996, you know, down the moguls at Boyne Mountain with five other people, and it was just, it's one of my favorite ski memories ever, and the fact that they.00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:13.000Stuart Winchester: empowered that and did that. When they lost money, there's no way they didn't lose money doing that. It just speaks a lot to the spirit that still animates that company, even though it's a bigger company now.00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:07.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:16.000Stuart Winchester: Number two for you, Matthew.00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:31.000Matthew Zabransky: We'll get to this, I'm sure, at the end, but it's cool to see some of that going full circle. I don't want to give too much away. We'll get into that in a second. Number two for me is a pick that I think is going to change a lot this year, specifically because of the new lift alignment, and that's Marquette Mountain.00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:19.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, yeah, yeah.00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:32.000Stuart Winchester: Mmm.00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:50.000Matthew Zabransky: They have phenomenal terrain up there, they get great snow, and the thing that was always just missing was a little bit of polishing around the edges, and I think they're finally getting to that point now with, uh, you know, a lot of snowmaking investments over the last handful of years. This new chair from Dolphin Meyer, uh, triple gonna run up basically the center of the ski area, and I think it's really gonna change the way that this.00:52:50.000 --> 00:53:07.000Matthew Zabransky: Uh, previously, it was divided into kind of two almost separate pods. It kind of had this weird split down the middle. It was kind of hard to navigate. But given that this one's gonna go right up to the center there, you're gonna be able to get full top-to-bottom access a lot more easily, be able to access a lot more of the terrain across the port, the entire, you know, trail map off the front side there.00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:55.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:23.000Matthew Zabransky: and I think it's 1 of those that like it. This they have the terrain, and there's not many areas in the Midwest that have the terrain. It's usually the other way where it's like, Yeah, okay, we have. You know the infrastructure. We have the location, but we don't have the steeps, or we don't have the trees, or whatever it may be.00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:16.000Stuart Winchester: Okay.00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:20.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:53:23.000 --> 00:53:34.000Matthew Zabransky: It's a Marquette, good city up there in the UP, really the only major city in the UP, but they have a good demographic up there. And I think with the changes that they're gonna see this year with the new lift, it's gonna be really fun to watch.00:53:27.000 --> 00:53:28.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:44.000Stuart Winchester: Not only do they have the terrain, they have the snow. I mean, they're another one of those Lake Superior. They don't get quite as much as up in the Keweenaw or Snow River, but they do get a fair amount.00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:38.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, yeah.00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:45.000Matthew Zabransky: They do.00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:54.000Stuart Winchester: So my number two, I'm kind of going chalk on these last two, so you can probably guess what my number one is. My number two is a very obvious one, and that's Lutzen.00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:56.000Matthew Zabransky: Mm-hmm.00:53:54.000 --> 00:54:10.000Stuart Winchester: You know, for, for folks who have never been to Lutzen, it, first of all, it has a gondola. Now, now it's more of a transit lift. It goes more sideways than up and down, but it does have, is it eight or 900 feet of vertical? I think 800 and, or you could ski down to, yeah, of lift served vertical. And the.00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:01.000Matthew Zabransky: Thank you.00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:07.000Matthew Zabransky: It's… yeah.00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:26.000Stuart Winchester: enormous. It's really four separate mountains and it goes in all different directions and they have two six packs and they have that Gandhi, which is fairly new. I think within the last 10 years, they built that to replace their older one. Uh That is one of the best run ski areas in the Midwest. Another one that will stay open into May.00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:42.000Stuart Winchester: when they can. Oh, and speaking of views, I mean, the view off of Moose Mountain of Lake Superior just knock you on your ass. It is so good. I really love Lutzen Mountain, which takes us, Matthew, to your number one ski area in the Midwest.00:54:42.000 --> 00:55:01.000Matthew Zabransky: Man, man, this is one, and it's funny ‘cause I'm working on this video right now, and it's a place that every time I leave this ski area or while I'm at this gear, I just have a smile on my face the entire time. It has nothing flashy, but they do everything right, and that's nub knob. I mean, you go to this place and you just…00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:44.000Stuart Winchester: Favorite ski area.00:54:59.000 --> 00:55:00.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, thank you.00:55:01.000 --> 00:55:17.000Matthew Zabransky: It's just crazy to me that we were working on this video and my editor, Nick, we got to the end of the video and I mentioned like, “Oh, it doesn't have any high-speed lifts, but it almost feels like it does just because of the way that they're aligned and the way the traffic flows and the way that the runs are cut and everything.00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:34.000Matthew Zabransky: It feels like another one that just, you read the stats and you're like, okay, that sounds decent. But then you get on site and you're just like, this is just a really well run ski area. Snowmaking is always top notch. Grooming is amazing. Lifts spin, they don't stop very often. I mean, everything is just really well polished.00:55:31.000 --> 00:55:33.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:45.000Matthew Zabransky: the core skiing experience, and they really nail it, and again, it's one of those, like, every time I come off the hill there, I'm just like, man, that was a great day of skiing, even if, you know, it's raining outside, I feel like.00:55:43.000 --> 00:55:44.000Stuart Winchester: Mmhm.00:55:45.000 --> 00:56:01.000Stuart Winchester: And as a… just to underscore how good of a scary it is, it's right across the street from Boyne Highlands, and it has been, you know, obviously its whole time, but for a scary to succeed, a lot of times, a smaller scary will fail next to a big corporate area, but Nubs has managed to flourish. Matthew, we actually had no crossover, because.00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:47.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:55:49.000 --> 00:55:51.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:56:01.000 --> 00:56:16.000Stuart Winchester: as you can probably guess, is Mount Bohemia, and I'm sure that's probably why you left it off. Uh, Mount Bohemia, for the folks who are not familiar with it, I wrote an article last year, I called it, Mount Bohemia, the scarier the Midwest deserves, because when Mount Bohemia opened in 2000, it.00:56:02.000 --> 00:56:03.000Matthew Zabransky: Hey.00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:07.000Matthew Zabransky: Yep.00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:31.000Stuart Winchester: And it has 900 feet of vertical. They do not groom. They have no snowmaking. They get 300 inches annually. It's all, almost all, glades. Their glading is some of the best I've ever seen anywhere, because there's a lot of underbrush in Michigan.00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:22.000Matthew Zabransky: Okay.00:56:31.000 --> 00:56:48.000Stuart Winchester: Uh, the place is an absolute riot. Talk about culture. You get on the ground and you're like, oh, what's here? They don't even have a proper base lodge. It's, it's all these yurts and then they have this giant complex of hot tubs for some reason that, that everyone's always in there drinking beer and.00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:55.000Stuart Winchester: And the skiing is just… it's great! It's… it's… there's nothing else like it anywhere in North America, where there's just…00:56:55.000 --> 00:57:12.000Stuart Winchester: that much just free skiing available off of a lift, and Lonnie, the owner, has been on a couple times, and I cannot say enough good things about Nubs Knob, including… and I'll let people do their own research on this, but their season pass is $117, or $99 for… you don't want Fridays and Saturdays, and you get all kinds of reciprocals with it, so…00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:16.000Stuart Winchester: It's not a bad multi-mountain pass on its own. So…00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:14.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah.00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:30.000Matthew Zabransky: I was so. I was so nervous the 1st so I went to Bohemia last year for the 1st time ever, and I it has been on my list forever, and I keep like I want to hit it right, because I don't want to like. Just go there and not be able to ski everything. And the entire time I've been super fortunate to see a lot of amazing places in in North.00:57:18.000 --> 00:57:20.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah.00:57:24.000 --> 00:57:26.000Stuart Winchester: Yeah, yeah, yeah.00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:49.000Matthew Zabransky: And I was super nervous it was not going to live up to the hype, because I was like, this place is hyped up so much, there is no way that it is going to live up to the hype, and it absolutely did. It's one of the most unique scary areas that you'll ever go to, the operations, the bus system, the hot tub. Nothing makes sense there, but it all does in a weird way. It's an absolute riot.00:57:49.000 --> 00:58:04.000Stuart Winchester: I couldn't have said any better. I always tell people, if you ski one place in the Midwest in your life, make it Mount Bohemia. All right, now, Matthew, what I want you to leave us with today is… I imagine, maybe deliberately, you didn't mention any of these ski areas, but one of the…00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:15.000Stuart Winchester: things that you do an awesome job with every year is covering the race to open in the Midwest. So, so tell us about the race to open. Who's involved?00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.000Stuart Winchester: When it generally takes place and how you cover it.00:58:19.000 --> 00:58:35.000Matthew Zabransky: Yeah, so the race to open is a pretty big deal across the Midwest. It was something that before I started this website and YouTube channel, I did not really realize a lot, but the Midwest is always usually fighting for one of the first areas to open in the entire country on occasion. It really just depends on the weather.00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:52.000Matthew Zabransky: But what

Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) is a member of the Apiaceae family—otherwise known as the Carrot family. It's also known as Beaver Poison, Devil's Porridge, Herb Bennet, Poison Parsley, Water Parsley, and Spotted Hemlock. The plants can grow to 2.5m, and they're commonly found in the British countryside. The whole plant is toxic. According to Mrs Burke's Language of Flowers dictionary, hemlock meant 'You will be my death'. The plant appears in history, but how does it appear in folklore, if at all? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore! Find the images and sources used on the associated blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-poison-hemlock/ Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/ Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595 Get weekly articles and bonus content at Substack: https://fabulousfolklore.substack.com/ Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick Find the Fabulous Folklore Bookshop, Icy's social media links, and other useful bits at: https://icysedgwick.com/start-here

In today's episode, Sarah opens with a planner peace vignette from Olga, who describes her various methods for planning in fun!Then, she discusses the topic of reading and focus, with emphasis on ideas around improving one's focus over time with intentional time spent building the skill and endurance around paying attention.Mentioned:Atlantic article (gift link):Substack with the 'training plan for reading' concept: https://naomialderman.substack.com/p/lets-do-a-couch-to-5k-for-readingAlso mentioned:Hemlock & Oak tariff news- https://www.hemlockandoak.com/blogs/theweeklyspread/where-we-stand-50-tariffs-on-us-orders-starting-august-19th?srsltid=AfmBOoomppnNJfzC4vjTsrYdNz5Eg0RobWbH1lYg3jaCBuUz4vFcMGMTHobonichi launch- https://www.1101.com/store/techo/en/?srsltid=AfmBOorTU25X3TOOOAPmMywniMoK8OBswJXGVs56jrgUjk9TRpkYWpgmBLPA2.0: theshubox.com/courses August Sponsors:Factor Meals: Head to factormeals.com/plans50off and and use code plans50off to get 50 percent off and 1 free breakfast item per box while supplies last until 10/31/2026 IXL: Best Laid Plans listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ⁠⁠⁠https://www.ixl.com/plans⁠⁠⁠. PrepDish: Make your menu planning so much easier! Try it free for 2 weeks by visiting ⁠⁠⁠⁠prepdish.com/plans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tia Masic founded Hemlock & Oak, a Coquitlam stationery company, in 2020, and has manufactured in Canada from the start. On Monday, she and her partner read through the lists attached to the proclamations and found the customs code covering bound planners and notebooks. About 1,300 Americans are waiting on 2027 planners due to ship this fall, and Masic puts the duty on those orders at $100,000. The seven-person company has decided to charge those customers the price they were quoted and pay the duty itself. Guest: Tia Masic - Founder, Hemlock and Oak Stationery Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you noticed tall weeds with umbrella-like clusters of white flowers in pastures, ditch banks, and along roadsides? It may be poison hemlock, a plant highly toxic to people and livestock. Ben Beckman, Nebraska Extension Forage Systems Educator.

"Remember we are we's not I's."   Chatter rolls with Claude, David, and Torie.  They break down the World Cup and the Williams sisters owning Wimbledon.  Maggie Robe of Flyleaf Books joins to nominate Melissa Faliveno and her book "Hemlock".  Can't say it any better than the book jacket: "A Woman haunted by a dark inheritance returns to the woods where her mother vanished, in this queer gothic novel — a butch black swan."   Writer, speaker, father, traveler, one time clown Bruce Feiler joins in to share "A Time to Gather."  Crossing six continents and 16 countries, Bruce chronicles the history of rituals (think before organized religion), demonstrates their powerful impact and shares ways to incorporate them into meaningful lives.

Celebrating a successful week of Vacation Bible School and applying the children's lessons to our lives, too...Live streams are available each Sunday at 11:00 am on our website, app, and Vimeo at: ⁠https://vimeo.com/chippewaumc⁠⁠ChippewaUMC.org⁠

Tawinee almost eats hemlock by STAR 102.5/Des Moines

In California, social media influencer Gabbie Gonzalez is accused of conspiring to kill her ex-boyfriend and father of her child, former boy band member Jack Avery.  In San Diego, alleged killer Larry Millete calls a local NBC reporter while on trial for his wife's murder. In Dateline Round Up, Colorado man Barry Morphew, accused of using animal tranquilizers to murder his wife, is back in court.  And a judge sentences former businessman Paul Caneiro, convicted of killing his brother and his brother's family. Plus, an update in the Jared Bridegan murder case, and his widow's mission to provide comfort for children taken to police stations.    Find out more about the cases covered each week here: www.datelinetruecrimeweekly.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In California, social media influencer Gabbie Gonzalez is accused of conspiring to kill her ex-boyfriend and father of her child, former boy band member Jack Avery.  In San Diego, alleged killer Larry Millete calls a local NBC reporter while on trial for his wife's murder. In Dateline Round Up, Colorado man Barry Morphew, accused of using animal tranquilizers to murder his wife, is back in court.  And a judge sentences former businessman Paul Caneiro, convicted of killing his brother and his brother's family. Plus, an update in the Jared Bridegan murder case, and his widow's mission to provide comfort for children taken to police stations.  Find out more about the cases covered each week here: www.datelinetruecrimeweekly.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thank you so much for volunteering to help Mr. Hemlock with the necessary gardening chores, Dear Guest! We were amazed at the lightning speed with which you raced to scribble your name on the sign-up sheet! Why, you seemed almost to be in a fever-dream as you drove your pen into the paper with madness, then you wandered away giggling and mumbling to yourself. In any case, we appreciate your overt willingness to lend a hand. And we certainly won't forget your efforts. We doubt that you will forget, either...Special Thanks to Sounds Like an Earful Music Supply for the amazing music AND sound design.

Send us a message!For the finale of this wild ride, we finally find out who pushed Anja into the mirror world and who is helping the mirror queen. But WHAT IS WITH THE SENTIENT HAIR?!?! Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

Send us a message!What if the true Queen isn't dead but manipulating events from the mirror world??? Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

Send us Fan MailIn Episode #56 of Season #4, I will discuss what tiny little insect is killing off the majestic and beautiful Hemlock Trees?One of my hobbies is to hike and near me is the Red River Gorge Geological Area.  I love hiking in this area but I do a tiny bit of hiking in Georgia, Berea, KY, and in the Smoky Mountains.  When you are in many of these mountainous areas you will see 70-90% of the Hemlock Trees dead or dying in some areas. What is killing them?It is a tiny tiny black bug covered in a white cotton looking protective layer, and it's name is the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.  Your host is Tommy Fowler. I have a biology degree from the University of Kentucky and a high passion for the outdoors.  I am "The Amateur Naturalist".We will talk about:In tonight's episode, I will discuss when it was introduced and where it came from originally.I will talk also talk about the chemical and biological ways we might be able to control it and maybe someday defeat it._________________________________________________________________________*************   https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TommyFowler   **************One way that you can support this podcast is to "Buy Me a Cup of Coffee".  Not a real cup of coffee.  Just click on the Buy Me a Cup of Coffee and you can give a small donation to help me get some new equipment or to just stay on the air.  Many thanks in advance if you do._________________________________________________________________________My website:https://theamateurnaturalist.buzzsprout.com/2032491Also, be sure to visit Facebook and look for my site ... The Amateur NaturalistI would love to hear your ideas, see your pictures or hear your feedback.____________________________________________________________________You can help me out by:Please hit “download” on every episodePlease hit Followplease leave me a reviewdownload each of my episodesplease leave a 5-star rating    This helps me grow as a podcaster please tell 1-2 friends or family about this podcast_______________________________________________________________________You can support the people who support the Smoky Mountains, black bears  and wildlife by going to:Friends of the Smokies.          https://friendsofthesmokies.orgAppalachian Bear Rescue.     https://appalachianbearrescue.org________________________________________________________________________** Click here to get $20 off a paid Buzzsprout account to start your own podcast.  It's fun, start today!!https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2014700_________________________________________________________________________The short music intro and outro is:"Hickory Hollow" by Dan Lebowitz.  I love this music.  Thank you, Dan.This music is royalty free.Designer Mini Goldendoodle puppiesDesigner Golden Doodles offers the best quality mini and micro mini goldendoodle puppies.Support the show

Send us a message!The more we explore, the more it feels like this whole mirror realm might hide even darker secrets—possibly even tied to the mysterious poisoner. Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

On this week's episoe of the Grab My Banner Podcast: Kyle calls up his Ex, Hemlock, and remenisces on their previous relationship. Plus, the boys talk about the rise of Apex Legends in the streaming community as big names attempt to play the game for the 1st time, which raises the question: Is Apex too hard for the beginner? Does the beginner experience need more attention? The boys discuss. The boys also hit the draft board with special guest Jhawk & Donny to hash out a baseball-themed draft in honor of Opening Day in the MLB. Lastly, the boys round out the show with Voicemails. Enjoy!https://linktr.ee/AlmostDoneStu

https://linktr.ee/AlmostDoneStu

Send us a message!In this episode, Anja finally discovers what might be making Snow sick, and she finds a whole lot more than she expected! Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

What are your must have planning supplies?

Send us a message!We have several running theories that COULD happen, but no concrete evidence suggesting any of them is correct. However, there are new developments at the end of this episode that Anja will need to investigate to find who, or what, is harming Snow. Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

Cassie and Laura tackle a novel from up-and-coming fairy tale reteller T. Kingfisher with her Snow White adaptation Hemlock and Silver. They discuss the beauty of a looser retelling, the importance of a strong narrative voice, and their delight with the unique and occasionally brain-breaking world-building.Spoilers somehow again for Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie a little bit. Content warning for talk of poisons and murder.Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our Patreon including the Official Of Slippers and Spindles Book Club, exclusive polls, monthly bookmarks, Zoom hangouts, and more! https://patreon.com/ofslippersandspindles Visit our our merch store, Facebook group, Instagram, Discord, and more! https://linktr.ee/ofslippersandspindles This episode was edited by Brianna Jean.We love to hear from you! You can reach us at ofslippersandspindles@gmail.com Music: Through The Woods by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com 

Send us a message!We start a new literary journey with Anja, the poison master/healer, as she embarks on a perilous retelling of Snow White and travels through the magic mirror to find a cure that no one believes exists. Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

The Bible tells us "...don't just listen to God's Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves." James 1:22. Discover what that means, and what it has to do with a Mule staring at a Mirror! Pastor Clayton of the Well Church in Hemlock, MI

The Bible tells us "...don't just listen to God's Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves." James 1:22. Discover what that means, and what it has to do with a Mule staring at a Mirror! Pastor Clayton of the Well Church in Hemlock, MI

This time we discussed Hemlock & Silver, written by T. Kingfisher, and narrated by Jennifer Pickens Hemlock & Silver [Libro.fm] / [OverDrive/Libby] The Muppet Show (2026) [Disney+] Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography [Libro.fm] / [Overdrive/Libby] Castle Hangnail [Libro.fm] / [OverDrive/Libby] Sworn Soldier (Series): What Moves the Dead [Libro.fm] / [Overdrive/Libby] Wolf Worm [Libro.fm] / [OverDrive/Libby] A Sorceress Comes to Call [Libro.fm] / [Overdrive/Libby] Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell [Libro.fm] / [Overdrive/Libby] The Butcher of the Forest [Libro.fm] /  [Overdrive/Libby]   Spinning Silver [Libro.fm] / [Overdrive/Libby] 

On this edition of Madison BookBeat, host Sara Batkie chats with author Melissa Faliveno about her debut novel, Hemlock, now available from Little, Brown. Sam, finally sober and stable with a cat and a long-term boyfriend in Brooklyn, returns alone to Hemlock, her family's deteriorating cabin deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods, where her mother disappeared years before and never returned. But a quick, practical trip takes a turn for the worse when the rot and creak of the forest starts to creep in around the edges of Sam's mind. It starts, as it always does, with a beer. As Sam dips back into the murky waters of dependency, the inexplicable begins to arrive at her door in the forms of a neighbor who leaves no trace, a talking doe who sounds just like Sam's missing mother, and a series of mysterious gifts that might be a welcome or a warning. And as Sam's stay extends—as the town's grip on her tightens and her body takes on a strange new shape—the borders of reality begin to blur, and she senses she is battling something sinister—whether nested in the woods or within herself. Melissa Faliveno is the author of the essay collection Tomboyland, named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR, New York Public Library, Oprah Magazine, Electric Literature, and Debutiful, and recipient of a 2021 Award for Outstanding Literary Achievement from the Wisconsin Library Association. Her essays, interviews, and reviews have appeared in Esquire, Paris Review, Kenyon Review, and Literary Hub, among many others. A first-generation college graduate, Melissa received a BA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She is currently the Margaret R. Shuping Fellow and assistant professor of creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Cassie and Laura return from the holiday hiatus to sit down to revisit Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and introduce the books and movies we'll be exploring in this fairy tale's second era. All discussion of killing children really does require context.We will release in a slightly different order than listed in this episode, due to illness in Cassie's household affecting recording schedules. We will kick the era off with our Faerie Tale Theatre episode, and then release Hemlock and Silver.Join our community! View all of the benefits of joining our Patreon including the Official Of Slippers and Spindles Newsletter, bonus episodes, exclusive polls, Zoom hangouts, and more! https://patreon.com/ofslippersandspindles Visit our our merch store, Facebook group, Instagram, Discord, and more! https://linktr.ee/ofslippersandspindles We love to hear from you! You can reach us at ofslippersandspindles@gmail.com Music: Through The Woods by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com 

Hemlock Springs takes a break from touring and working on her new album “the apple tree under the sea” to share the anime she would recommend to Chappell Roan and Conan Gray, how anime like Solo Leveling inspires her music, and more! Have a question for The Anime Effect? Ask it here. To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patrick was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan.  He grew up hanging out with his dad at work on Saturdays and has spent 30 years working here at Fullerton. As a kid, he'd caddy for his dad and Dick Terry during Fullerton's golf league. In 1989, Patrick started working at Fullerton in the steel department doing piece work and eventually moved to engineering (where there may still be a few of Patrick's auto cad tool drawings in the system). Throughout time, Patrick moved to the estimating department, became the office manager, and in 2002 moved into sales and became Vice President for Fullerton. In 2006, he became involved in international sales, and in 2008 he became President. Patrick truly loves this industry and manufacturing; he serves on several State and National boards that focus on manufacturing and local economic development. Patrick went to Central Michigan University, graduating in 1993 with a BSBA in Industrial Engineering. While there, he met the love of his life Jenny in a business fraternity and the two have been married for the past 26 years. They have three children, Greyson (24), Aidan (22), and Isabella (13). They also have a silver lab named River and a tabby cat named Royal. They attend St. Peter Lutheran Church in Hemlock, Michigan. Patrick also enjoys attending a men's Bible study group with a few co-workers and local business associates. Patrick also is a major sports fanatic thanks to his dad's influence and is a huge outdoorsman absolutely loving to fish, hunt, golf - especially with family and friends.

In this episode, we explore plants that play with mimicry and disguise, showcasing nature's wit and wonder. We also discuss how plants were used to trick others. This episode spotlights Elizabeth Blackwell, a botanical illustrator of the 1700s who played an integral role in the accurate and comprehensive identification of plants. Plants featured in this episode include: (i)   Corydalis cheilanthifolia a.k.a. the False Fern,  (ii)   Titan arum a.k.a. the Corpse Flower, (iii) Phytolacca americana a.k.a. Pokeweed, (iv) Myrrhis odorata a.k.a. Sweet Cicely and (v) Conium maculatum a.k.a. Hemlock.   Molly Marsh is the Visitor Experience Manager at Chelsea Physic Garden and has expertise in the medical humanities. John Constable is the Glass House Manager and gardener at Chelsea Physic Garden. He is an alumni of Future Gardeners, a horticultural training scheme delivered by the Bankside Open Spaces Trust (BOST). Mary McLeod is a volunteer guide at Chelsea Physic Garden. She enjoys sharing the lesser-known stories about plants, showing how plants have helped shape our societies. Please note that parts of this episode contain reference to racialised violence, slavery, kidnapping and suicide.   Find out more about Future Gardeners: https://bost.org.uk/future-gardeners

Bri was a guest on The Cup Duet Reviews for the North American premiere of “Wing Chun Dance Drama”, directed & choreographed by Han Zhen and Zhou Liya. This episode was made possible by Cup of Hemlock Theatre and Edery & Lord Communications. Thank you Jill, Mackenzie and Ryan for having me on!Wing Chun Dance Drama is playing at Meridian Hall until January 4, 2026. Tickets can be purchased from the following link: https://www.wingchundancedrama.com/pe… Follow Jillian on InstagramFollow Cup of Hemlock Theatre on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @cohtheatreReferences to check out:Sze-Yang Ade-Lam (Wing Chun teacher in Toronto) – Instagram : @likewaterwingchunFilm: “The Grandmaster” (2013)Film: “Wing Chun” (1994)

It's December 24, the final day of Advent, and Coode Street has just two more episodes to go before our holiday break. Today, Gary and Jonathan chat with Ursula Vernon about her writing alter-ego T.Kingfisher, about what she's read lately and would recommend, her recent work like Hemlock & Silver, What Stalks the Deep and Snake-Eater, her holiday traditions, and what she's been working on and has coming out including Wolf Worm and Daggerbound. As always, our thanks to Ursula for making time to talk to us today. We hope you enjoy the episode.

0:30 - Brown/MIT: They got their guy 31:57 - Immigration angle 56:48 - Retired FBI supervisory special agent James Gagliano faults Brown University’s lack of functioning cameras for delaying the shooter investigation and the death of an MIT professor days later. 01:14:57 - Writer and photographer Chris Arnade, currently walking around the world, asks why Americans are unhappy — even in the most successful country in human history. Chris is also the author of Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America and his substack Chris Arnade Walks the World 01:32:42 - Senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism, Wesley J Smith: Illinois Swallows the Hemlock of Assisted Suicide. Follow Wesley on X @theWesleyJSmith 01:47:29 - Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement, on why strong vetting is essential to protecting American values from radical Islamism. Dr Jasser is running for congress in Arizona’s 4th district - z4az.com 02:07:34 - 2025’s Final Open Mic Friday!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 644 - Marshall Fine - Journalist, Critic, Historian, Filmmaker, and Author of Hemlock LaneAbout the authorAfter a fifty-year career as an award-winning journalist, critic, and filmmaker, Minneapolis native Marshall Fine made the transition to writing fiction in 2024 with the Kindle best-selling novel, "The Autumn of Ruth Winters." Fine has written biographies of filmmakers John Cassavetes and Sam Peckinpah, directed documentaries about film critic Rex Reed and comedian Robert Klein, conducted the Playboy Interview with Howard Stern, and chaired the New York Film Critics Circle four times. The author currently lives in Ossining, New York. His second novel, "Hemlock Lane," will be published in November 2025.Book: Hemlock LaneIn this riveting story of family bonds and buried truths, a young woman's homecoming becomes a reckoning as four days together threaten to shatter the comfortable lies that have held her family together.In the summer of 1967, the Levitsky family convenes for a long weekend at their home in the suburbs―an idyllic holiday for the perfect family.But Nora has always known better.Growing up, she learned to tiptoe around her mother Lillian's explosive temper. Her father did the same. Nora's sole confidante was their housekeeper, Clara, and their bond has only strengthened through the years. In fact, it's all that's keeping Nora together for her homecoming. But under that lifetime of pressure, the facade is beginning to splinter.Over the next four days, everyone's secrets are at risk. None more so than what Nora really wants for her life, how Clara has helped her get it…and how they've orchestrated it all behind Lillian's back.As the family grapples with the complex ties that bind them, Nora discovers that facing the truth―however painful―might be the key to finally breaking free. This weekend, Nora's bravest act may be in knowing which bonds to cherish and which ones need to be gently set aside, making room for a future of her own choosing.https://www.marshallfine.com/https://amzn.to/4n9ZIEDSupport the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca

Character-driven fiction, multi-perspective narrative, and historical fiction await in this episode of the True Fiction Project! I'm Reenita Hora, your host, sitting down with award-winning journalist and novelist Marshall Fine. We'll explore his new novel Hemlock Lane, releasing today, November 25, 2025! It's a women's fiction masterpiece told through a multi-perspective narrative over four days. Marshall shares his creative writing process, narrative structure techniques, and how film criticism and writing shaped his character development approach. Set in 1967, this book club fiction tackles second-wave feminism through family drama. Finally, Marshall reads an excerpt from Hemlock Lane which follows Nora Levitsky, a young woman on a quiet drive through upstate New York in the summer of 1967, at a roadside stop and with a handwritten note from her boyfriend which stirs unexpected emotions and the realization that she may be ready to imagine a future she once swore she'd never want.What You'll Learn in This Episode: ✅ How to structure character-driven fiction using a multi-perspective narrative approach that reveals secrets gradually over four days✅ Narrative structure techniques for writing historical fiction set in 1960s America while making themes resonate with contemporary readers✅ How film criticism and writing, biography writing, and documentary filmmaking experience can enhance your creative writing process and character development skills✅ Methods for crafting compelling women's fiction and book club fiction that explores second-wave feminism and family dynamics through literary character study✅ Hemlock Lane is releasing on November 25th and is available for pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/Hemlock-Lane-Novel-Marshall-Fine-ebook/dp/B0F1Z37XX6Subscribe to Reenita's Storytelling Den on Substack for free at https://substack.com/@reenitahora and to her YouTube channel to watch the video version of this episode! https://www.youtube.com/@reenymalCheck out her website to stay up-to-date on events, book releases and more! https://reenita.com/TIMESTAMPS:  00:00 Introduction to Marshall Fine's character-driven fiction novel Hemlock Lane and his background in film criticism and writing, biography writing, and documentary filmmaking01:49 Marshall's restless creativity philosophy and his approach to the creative writing process while working on multi-perspective narrative projects08:33 Discussion of Hemlock Lane's narrative structure: four days told from different character perspectives, classified as women's fiction and book club fiction11:06 Exploring the character development of domineering mother and daughter dynamics in historical fiction writing set in 1967 with second-wave feminism themes16:59 Marshall reads an excerpt from Hemlock Lane, introducing Nora Levitsky, demonstrating literary character study and flashback narrative techniques in contemporary fictionKEY TAKEAWAYS: 

In today's episode, Sarah empties her email inbox (and some other life inboxes) in real time! Find out how much time it took her to get from ~140 messages (half a week's worth of accumulation) in her primary gmail inbox to 0, what she did with all of those little pieces of information, and some takeaways for you if you struggle with task management or collecting all of your inputs. She then takes listeners through other digital inboxes, including WhatsApp and her texts.Then, she shares her review of Hemlock & Oak's new 70gsm daily / weekly / monthly planner offering!Link to the H&O planner she discusses is here: https://www.hemlockandoak.com/products/2026-weekly-daily-12-month-cloth-flex Episode Sponsors: Green Chef: Make this fall your healthiest yet with Green Chef. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠greenchef.com/50bestlaid ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and use code 50BESTLAID to get fifty percent off your first month, then twenty percent off for two months with free shipping. Mint Mobile: Ready to save on your wireless? Make the switch at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mintmobile.com/BLP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. PrepDish: Meal plans ready to go, in your inbox each week. You can try 2 weeks free at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠prepdish.com/plans⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Organize 365: Visit ⁠organize365.com/sunday-basket⁠ to check out the Sunday Basket® today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Behind the Mic, host Jo Reed welcomes our resident horror expert, Alex Richey. Together they discuss three gripping audiobooks that are more about the spooky atmosphere than jump-scares. A catastrophic event kicks off a series of bizarre deaths in LUCKY DAY by Chuck Tingle, read by Mara Wilson; a woman falls into a mirrored world in HEMLOCK & SILVER, T. Kingfisher's unique take on Snow White, read by Jennifer Pickens; and a boy who can see and speak with ghosts hides in a haunted abbey in AMONG GHOSTS by Rachel Hartman, read by Will Watt. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  LUCKY DAY: Published by Macmillan Audio HEMLOCK & SILVER: Published by Macmillan Audio AMONG GHOSTS:   Published by Listening Library Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile's website   Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracey Testo-Smith returns to Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley to share her knowledge and experience about foraging. In this episode, Tim and Jean sit down with Tracey Testo-Smith, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Columbia and Greene Counties, to discuss the practice of foraging. This interview was originally recorded as part of the Digging In With Master Gardeners radio show on WGXC 90.7FM and now repurposed for a podcast format. Tracey reviews some of the misconceptions about what foraging actually is. Foraging doesn't need a vast array of information about everything in the forest. The main thing to know is whether a plant is useful, either for food or medicinal purposes. Tracey leads foraging walks in the spring at the Hudson CCE campus and in the fall at the Acra campus. Her classes before the walks teach folks how to identify individual plants before they even step into the woods. She often brings in co-presenters to expand their access to expertise. The public can enroll online and sign up for quarterly newsletters at http://ccecolumbiagreene.org. There are always common sense caveats: know the history of the site you're collecting from... for example, a former farm may have residual pesticide contamination. don't forage along a roadside where contamination happens daily from passing cars. Another factor to be aware of is the name of the plant. Often a common name will be misleading. Hemlock, for instance, can be a benign evergreen tree or a poisonous weed. Knowing the botanical name avoids any such confusion and danger. To start as a forager on your own, Tracey suggests that you really get to know a plant, even for as long as a year. Familiarity with the plant's different stages lets you know the most useful times to “harvest”, She cites the dandelion as an example, whose different parts are useful in different seasons. Then leaves can be harvested first in early spring, then the flower buds, then petals, and finally the roots. Their values range from food to dying tints to medicinal, all varying according to part and season.Some plants, like pokeberry and elderberry, have certain parts that are edible while the rest of the plant is poisonous. Tracey finds salad greens in chickweed and blue violets, and bittercress. While these can be eaten raw, always stay aware of the possibility of pollutants when using plants near water. Ramps are famously a popular dish in restaurants, in season. These are wild leeks, and very specific as to their growing conditions. They are very slow growers, taking up to a decade to reach maturity. Tracey advises that you be exceptionally thoughtful if collecting in the wild. The leaves and bulbs are both edible. Don't try to take them home to grow because they will not survive the removal. There are now growers who can sell you bulbs to start at home without disrupting fragile populations. Teas are another way to use foraged plants. Most mints are amenable to teas, as are clovers and yarrow. These are all amenable to drying as well, so can be stockpiled for winter use. Plants are not the only target of foragers. Tracey covers the practice of mushroom hunting. Different seasons produce wild crops of different varieties of mushrooms. Early spring is for Morels, midsummer for Chanterelles, and autumn for Chicken (or hen) of the woods. Tracey reviews what the warning signs are of poison mushrooms, and reviews the possibility of growing your own, with CCE classes available. Every mushroom, by the way, is safe to handle, even if toxic.Going deeper into the subject of what's poisonous, the environment can alter the nature of a plant. Stinging nettle can absorb heavy metals from a polluted site. Know your location's history if possible. There are plants that are a contact risk, like poison ivy or water hemlock. It's wise to know the plants that grow around your foraging target plants.  Tracey advises to harvest moderately, so as to insure the future of the plant. The exception to this practice is invasives. If a plant is invasive... eat it all. The example she uses is Japanese knotweed. Sprouts taste like asparagus blended with rhubarb, it's full of antioxidants. The leaves can even be utilized in a paper making process. Hosts: Tim Kennelty and Jean Thomas Guest: Tracey Testo-Smith Photo by: Jean Thomas Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Tim Kennelty, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski, Jean Thomas Resources

We heard rumors about Hemlock's alleged $80 baked potato — and we had to know more. Our Hey Boise's newsletter editor Blake Hunter and host Lindsay Van Allen are just a couple of Idaho kids who grew up on russets, so they made reservations to see what kind of culinary magic or madness would make a tater cost that much. The local restaurant, which opened in the spring on the ground floor of the Inn at 500, made quite the impression with their fine dining style spud.  Want some more Boise food news? Head over to our Hey Boise newsletter where you'll get a cheatsheet to the city every weekday morning. And when you join our City Cast Boise Neighbors program, you'll get great perks like ad-free listening, access to members-only events, and much more. Become a member for just $10/month here.  Interested in advertising with City Cast Boise? Find more info HERE. Reach us at boise@citycast.fm.

09-02-99 St Charles 57 Hemlock 8

The Bad Batch stumbles into a leftover thread from the Clone Wars that makes them question what exactly is Emperor Palpatine up to.   In this fully armed and operational episode, we discuss: The Bad Batch's confrontation with Cid and the potential repercussions, Dr. Hemlock's introduction, How this episode ties to The Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars, and other Star Wars content, The reveal of the monster and the structure of the reveal, and What this episode may mean for the Bad Batch going forward. We replayed this episode after discussing similar plot points recently in episode 930 and 933. Make sure to check them out if you haven't already.   Thanks for joining us for another episode! Subscribe to Podcast Stardust for all your Star Wars news, reviews, and discussion wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.   Find Jay and her cosplay adventures on J.Snips Cosplay on Instagram. Follow us on social media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube. T-shirts, hoodies, stickers, masks, and posters are available on TeePublic. Find all episodes on RetroZap.com.

This week, Liberty and Emily discuss Hemlock & Silver, The Unseen, What Hunger, and more great books! Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and never miss a book. Sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. Book Riot is hiring a digital content specialist! If you love books and know the ins and outs of social media strategy, and especially social video, consider joining the team. Find details and apply by August 22, 2025, at riotnewmedia.com/careers. Use code BOOKRIOT to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan at https://incogni.com/bookriot This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed On the Show: Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher  What Hunger by Catherine Dang  The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas The Unseen by Ania Ahlborn Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders The Once and Future Me by Melissa Pace  Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City by Bench Ansfield Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill For a complete list of books discussed in this episode, visit our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tune in for the final episode of T. Kingfisher's NETTLE & BONE audiobook. You can buy NETTLE & BONE in full here. Stay tuned for a sneak peek of T. Kingfisher's upcoming HEMLOCK & SILVER! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've just concluded serializing the NETTLE & BONE audiobook by T. Kingfisher. Now we're excited to share a sneak peek of her upcoming dark reimagining of “Snow White” — HEMLOCK & SILVER. T. Kingfisher's HEMLOCK & SILVER will be on sale 8/19. You can preorder your audiobook here—don't miss this eerie and enchanting tale! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ICYMI: Hour Two of ‘Later, with Mo'Kelly' Presents – Regular guest contributor & Associate Director of Communications for VIZIO, Chris Woolsey joins the program to share the latest offerings from VIZIO's ‘Watch Free+' including Free Summer Flicks with ‘Blue Crush,' ‘Fever Pitch' & ‘Deep Blue Sea' AND Award-Winning Horror TV Series with ‘Hannibal,' ‘Hemlock' & ‘Grove, South of Hell'…PLUS – A look at which films qualify for California' film and TV tax credit program AND thoughts Cobra Kai star Martin Kove allegedly biting co-star Alicia Hannah-Kim during a red carpet fan event - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app & YouTube @MrMoKelly

Gokuraku and Ichi share a very heterosexual moment together, the DanDaDan crew travels into the eye of the typhoon, and Hemlock reveals that while you were making out and having fun he was studying the blade!   12:22 - Ichi the Witch 37 22:16 - Blue Box 198 36:30 - Chainsaw Man 205 42:37 - Dandadan 197 47:37 - Kaiju No. 8 127 55:11 - Spy x Family 117 1:06:16 / 66:16 - Embers 18 1:13:16 / 73:16 - Hima-Ten! 45 1:23:40 / 83:40 - Otr of the Flame 5 1:34:03 / 94:03 - Syd Craft: Love is a Mystery 27 1:40:00 / 100:00 - Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi 47 1:46:31 / 106:31 - Marriagetoxin 130 1:54:14 / 114:14 - Nue's Exorcist 101 2:02:35 / 122:35 - Akane-banashi 161 2:09:29 / 129:29 - One Piece 1151 2:16:48 / 136:48 - Favorite Series and MVP

On this episode, Tony Brueski digs into the chilling legend of Dice Road Cemetery, often dubbed the most haunted graveyard in Michigan. Nestled in the wooded outskirts of Hemlock, this unassuming cemetery has attracted ghost hunters, skeptics, and thrill-seekers for decades. Central to the mystery is the spirit of Anna Rhodes Millerton, a figure said to have suffered a tragic fate in the 1800s. But what do we really know about Anna—and is her ghost truly walking among the stones?  We unravel the deeper question: Are the hauntings at Dice Road Cemetery real, or is this legend just the product of fear and folklore? From EVP recordings to alleged poltergeist connections down the road, this episode takes you deep into the heart of Michigan's ghostly reputation—one eerie footstep at a time.

On this episode, Tony Brueski digs into the chilling legend of Dice Road Cemetery, often dubbed the most haunted graveyard in Michigan. Nestled in the wooded outskirts of Hemlock, this unassuming cemetery has attracted ghost hunters, skeptics, and thrill-seekers for decades. Central to the mystery is the spirit of Anna Rhodes Millerton, a figure said to have suffered a tragic fate in the 1800s. But what do we really know about Anna—and is her ghost truly walking among the stones?  We unravel the deeper question: Are the hauntings at Dice Road Cemetery real, or is this legend just the product of fear and folklore? From EVP recordings to alleged poltergeist connections down the road, this episode takes you deep into the heart of Michigan's ghostly reputation—one eerie footstep at a time.