April Van Buren
Stateside ProducerApril Van Buren is a producer for Stateside. She produces interviews for air as well as web and social media content for the show.
Before landing at Michigan Public, April worked as a producer for Current State at WKAR and a reporting intern and producer at WBEZ in Chicago.
April graduated from Harvard University in 2012 with a degree in American History and Literature (aka the most liberal artsy of liberal arts degrees). She is a die-hard 30 Rock fan and once saw Tina Fey do the chicken dance at a party.
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Detroit student Maykol Bogoya-Duarte was driving with three other students to join a field trip when he was pulled over by Rockwood police. Now Bogoya-Duarte, who was just 3.5 credits away from earning his high school diploma, is being held by ICE in a correctional facility in the Upper Peninsula. -
Detroit artist Akea Brionne uses a digital loom to create painterly tapestries rooted in the Black experience. Her fresh approach to an age old craft recently earned Brionne accolades, and a $50,000 prize from the Knight Foundation. -
A deep dive into the history of contamination by the Gelman plume in Ann Arbor. We hear about how it started, its impacts to water and human health, and what's being done about it today. -
A mistrial was declared in the murder trial of the former Grand Rapids police officer who shot and killed Patrick Lyoya at a traffic stop in 2022 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. We talked to two reporters who were at the courthouse about the trial, the community reaction, and what happens next. -
Christopher Schurr killed Patrick Lyoya during a struggle that began as a traffic stop in April 2022. The jury deliberated for days. -
The historic Scarab Club's new gallery manager Donna Jackson spoke with us about her approach to community engagement—and the profound impact the Detroit arts scene has had on her own life. -
West Michigan author and preacher Jeff Chu took the long way to the seminary. And once he got there, faith led him farther than he expected back out into the world. It all started with a compost pile on the seminary farm. We talked to Chu about his new memoir—titled Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand. -
Ecorse, about 15 minutes south of Detroit, is facing major financial challenges. The city could run out of cash by the end of this month. On this episode, we hear how Ecorse ended up here — and its options for digging itself back out. -
A record number of children in Michigan were hospitalized for ingesting cannabis in 2024. Two Michigan Public reporters break down what's behind the rising numbers and what families should be aware of to keep kids safe. -
A conversation with a teen reporter from Toledo about how he found his calling and what the future of news looks like from his perspective.
