Hoosier State Stories

Season One of Hoosier State Stories concludes with the story that ties everything together. Why is Indiana known as the Crossroads of America? From Native American trails and winding rivers to the National Road, railroads, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and today’s Interstate Highway System, Mike and Kylie explore how Indiana’s location shaped its history and helped connect a nation.

This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie visit Richmond, a city whose influence stretches far beyond Indiana’s eastern border. From its founding by Quaker settlers and its role in the Underground Railroad to the National Road, Wayne Works, and the legendary Gennett Records, Richmond helped shape American transportation, manufacturing, and music. Along the way, they explore Earlham Colleg...

During World War II, Evansville became one of Indiana’s most important home-front cities. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie tell the story of how a southern Indiana river city helped power the war effort. From factories converting to wartime production to the Evansville Shipyard building LSTs on the Ohio River, this episode looks at the workers, welders, women in factories, long s...

This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie head west to Vincennes, one of Indiana’s oldest and most important cities. Set along the Wabash River, Vincennes was shaped by Indigenous history, French settlement, frontier trade, the American Revolution, and Indiana’s earliest days as a territory. From Fort Sackville and George Rogers Clark’s 1779 victory to Grouseland, Vincennes University, an...

One of the most recognizable shapes in the world has an Indiana connection. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie tell the story of the Coca-Cola contour bottle and the Terre Haute glass company that helped create it. In the early 1900s, Coca-Cola needed a bottle that stood apart from copycats, something people could recognize by touch, even in the dark. From the Root Glass Company to...

Welcome to the first City Spotlight bonus episode of Hoosier State Stories. This week, Mike and Kylie head to Elkhart, a northern Indiana city shaped by rivers, railroads, music, manufacturing, sports, and reinvention. From its early formation near the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers to its rise as the Band Instrument Capital of the World and the RV Capital of the World, Elkhart has always been a ci...

In the years before the Civil War, an ordinary brick home in Fountain City became one of Indiana’s most important stops on the Underground Railroad. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie tell the story of Levi and Catharine Coffin, the Quaker couple whose home became known as the Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad. From late-night arrivals and hidden danger to the coura...

What happens when people try to build the perfect town? This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie travel to New Harmony, Indiana, a quiet town on the Wabash River that became the site of two bold utopian experiments. First came the religious Harmonists, led by George Rapp. Then came Robert Owen and William Maclure with a vision built around education, equality, science, and reform. The pe...

Studebaker was more than a car company. It was a South Bend story. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie trace Studebaker from a small wagon shop in the 1850s to one of Indiana’s most important industrial names. From wagons and early automobiles to bold designs, racing ties, factory life, and the painful 1963 South Bend plant closing, this episode looks at how one company helped shape...

Some Indiana stories are history. Others live somewhere between rumor, memory, and myth. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie explore one of Indianapolis’ strangest local legends: The House of Blue Lights. From the mysterious north side mansion tied to Skiles Test, to stories of eerie blue lights, late-night drives, and the infamous glass coffin rumor, this episode looks at how a pla...

The Indy 500 is more than 500 miles. It is the song, the command, the milk, the trophy, the bricks, Carb Day, and the feeling that Indiana turns race weekend into a holiday. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie wrap up Indy 500 month with the traditions that make the race feel bigger than sports. From “Back Home Again in Indiana” to the Borg-Warner Trophy, Louis Meyer’s milk, the Yar...

The Indy 500 had to start somewhere. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie continue Indy 500 month with the first running of the Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Forty cars, a massive crowd, 500 miles on the bricks, and no guarantee the race would work. They cover Ray Harroun, the Marmon Wasp, the single-seat controversy, the rearview mirror, the early pace car moment, and the wild, dangerou...

Before the roar of engines, before the milk, before the Borg-Warner Trophy, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was just a bold idea on the west side of Indianapolis. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie begin a month of Indy 500 history with the story of how open Indiana farmland became the Brickyard. From Carl Fisher’s vision to the dangerous early surface and the 3.2 million bricks th...

Before Jesse James and Butch Cassidy became legends, one of America’s first moving train robberies happened in Indiana. This week on Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie head to Seymour to tell the story of the Reno Gang, a group of outlaws who helped change American crime history. From the 1866 train robbery to the Pinkertons, Marshfield, and the violent rise of vigilante justice, this is a stor...

Deep in the rugged hills of Southern Indiana, a sprawling oasis of luxury and vice emerges. From the "Eighth Wonder of the World" to the era of Pluto Water and illegal high-stakes gambling, Mike and Kyle tell the story of how French Lick and West Baden became the playground of the elite and the infamous.

A quiet stretch of track outside Hammond turned into one of the most shocking moments in Indiana history. In the early hours of June 22, 1918, the Hagenbeck‑Wallace Circus was asleep aboard its train when a troop train slammed into it at full speed, sparking a fire that spread faster than anyone could escape. Mike and Kylie walk through the chaos, the heroism, and the heartbreaking aftermath , fro...

In the mid-1800s, steel rails carved their way across Indiana farmland, transforming quiet towns into busy hubs of commerce and connection. Railroads didn’t just move freight , they reshaped the state’s economy and identity. This episode explores how the railroad era helped turn Indiana into the Crossroads of America.

In the early 1900s, the Lincoln Highway became the nation’s first transcontinental road, linking New York to California through the heart of Indiana. Mike and Kylie trace its path across the Hoosier State and uncover how it changed travel, business, and small-town life forever.

In 1906, U.S. Steel built a city from the ground up along Lake Michigan. Gary, Indiana quickly became a symbol of industrial power and opportunity. In this episode of Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie explore how the city rose fast and what its story says about Indiana and the American dream.

On any given Friday night in Indiana, high school basketball isn’t just a game — it’s an event. In this episode of Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie spotlight the seven largest high school gyms in the state and explore why small towns built arenas that rival small colleges. From packed bleachers to deafening student sections, we take you inside the buildings that define Hoosier basketball cult...

During the Civil War, Indianapolis became home to one of the largest Union prisoner-of-war camps in the North. Camp Morton held thousands of captured Confederate soldiers inside the capital city. In this episode of Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie explore what life was like behind the fences, how the camp affected Indianapolis, and what its legacy still reveals about Indiana’s role in the war...

In July 1863, the Civil War crossed the Ohio River and stepped onto Indiana soil. Confederate cavalry moved through southern Indiana, local militia rushed to defend their towns, and the Battle of Corydon became the only Civil War clash fought in the state. In this episode of Hoosier State Stories, Mike and Kylie tell the story of the day Hoosiers realized the war was no longer far away.

He grew up in Indiana. He became Public Enemy Number One. In Public Enemy: The Indiana Kid, we explore John Dillinger’s rise during the Great Depression , from prison to crime spree, from folk legend to federal target and the lasting legacy of the outlaw who put Indiana in the national spotlight.

For days, the rain fell without mercy. Then the rivers took over. Homes floated away. Downtown streets became waterways. Families climbed to rooftops waiting for rescue. In “The Week Indiana Went Under,” we tell the story of the Great Flood of 1913 — the storm that changed Indiana and tested the resilience of an entire state.

Indiana didn’t just grow in the 1880s it ignited. When natural gas erupted from the ground, it sparked one of the fastest economic booms in state history. Towns exploded with opportunity and industry thrived. For a moment, it felt limitless. Then the pressure dropped. In “When Indiana Burned Bright,” we tell the story of ambition, excess, and the fire that changed Indiana.