About this podcast
Michigan is defined by the Great Lakes that surround it. But there's a so-called sixth lake that’s critical to our state, too: our groundwater. It flows deeply through every community and to every corner of our peninsulas. Yet, we have so much more to learn about this natural feature.
Like groundwater, this podcast shows environmental issues felt deeply, widely and personally across the state. It tells stories around those issues and the solutions to them. It goes beyond the headlines to bring listeners and viewers something grand yet personal to us all.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 28 episodes
- Rising to the Sun · 34 min · Season 2 Episode 9The country roads around the small town of Albion are some of the prettiest you'll see in Michigan. Take it from this podcast host, who would run them with his cross country…
- Roots Deep & Wide · 34 min · Season 2 Episode 8Michigan's crops are the second-most diverse of any state. We tried to replicate that point of pride that in this episode. We went to two seemingly disparate places to talk about…
- The New 'Silent Spring' · 35 min · Season 2 Episode 7In the mid-1900s, governments and industries across the globe were using the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT. Then came Silent Spring, a book by Rachel Carson…
- Of Swallow-Wort & Celandine · 32 min · Season 2 Episode 6Swallow-wort. A vine with beautiful, star-shaped flowers. It tricks insects into laying eggs on its leaves. When the eggs hatch, the larvae eat the leaves—and die with a one…
- The Pollinators · 31 min · Season 2 Episode 5Yes, the pollinators of Michigan are the animals and insects, like bees and hummingbirds, that help plants grow and reproduce by moving flower to flower. But "The Pollinators" is…
- SMART Service, FAST Routes · 28 min · Season 2 Episode 4Eli Cooper likes he to say he was "born to ride." He grew up taking buses and subways in The Bronx. Now, as Oakland County's transit manager, he helps the residents, workers and…
- Transit is a Small-Town Value · 31 min · Season 2 Episode 3Wexford County in the northwest Lower Peninsula of Michigan has about 33,500 residents across it’s 575 square miles. The WexExpress, the county’s transit system, provided 155,000…
- The Proof of Youth · 29 min · Season 2 Episode 2New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens. "The European Mind Cannot Comprehend This." City Beautiful. These are the (respective) internet communities, memes and influencers…
- After We Put the World on Wheels · 29 min · Season 2 Episode 1It's Season 2 of Common Groundwater! We'll be taking this podcast on the road across the state to the places where the problems, stories and solutions to the topics we talk about…
- Where Are We Now? Dunes · 13 min · Season 1 Episode 18Last year, dozens of folks came to Saugatuck to hear the plans of legislators to restore protections for dunes and their neighboring communities against destructive, risky…
- Where Are We Now? Green Buildings · 21 min · Season 1 Episode 17Update: Better building codes for all homes and building have been adopted in Michigan! You can read about it here. ---- At the confluence of ever-rising housing costs and an…
- Where Are We Now? A Better Bottle Bill · 24 min · Season 1 Episode 16Michiganders have used their state's bottle deposit system to keep billions of beverages out of our communities, nature and landfills. Now, as the system nears its 50th birthday…
- Where Are We Now? Water Protections · 18 min · Season 1 Episode 15Last year, we brough you a miniseries on the ways in which politicking has frozen and muddied longstanding water protections Michiganders expect their Great Lakes State to have…
- We Can't Be Lame Ducks - Special Feature · 39 min · Season 1 Episode 14It's a special, standalone episode of the Common Groundwater podcast, and it's packed with urgency, policy and opportunities for action. In 2025, Michigan and the nation will…
- Sights for Sore Eye · 37 min · Season 1 Episode 13Our dunes miniseries has focused on, well, dunes thus far, but the conversation we're really having is on the relationship between development and nature. Jake Parcell, executive…
- How You Dune? · 40 min · Season 1 Episode 12UPDATE: The legislation discussed failed to pass the Michigan Legislature. For the latest updates on our efforts, click here. In Saugatuck, it's symbiotic. Hundreds of acres of…
- Lines in the Sand · 33 min · Season 1 Episode 11UPDATE: The bills discussed in this podcast episode did not pass the Michigan Legislature. For the latest update, click here. Last episode, Tanya Cabala took us through the…
- Cold One Cracked Open · 34 min · Season 1 Episode 9Buy a pop. Pay a little extra. Drink it. Rinse it. Return it, and then get that little extra back. Michigan’s bottle deposit system sounds simple, and yet it’s internationally…
- Turn of the Hourglass · 38 min · Season 1 Episode 10Michigan is home to the world's largest assemblage of freshwater dunes. They run up and down the west coast of the Lower Peninsula and dotted along the Upper Peninsula. They're…
- Lightning in a Bottle · 34 min · Season 1 Episode 8Michigan’s bottle deposit system: Buy a beverage, pay a bit of upcharge, drink it, return it, get that upcharge back. It’s as routine an experience for us Michiganders as talking…
