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Second Friday of the month (third Friday in five-week months) at 6:45 am, 8:45 am and 5:44 pm. Why's That? explores the things in Southwest Michigan – people, places, names – that spark your curiosity. We want to know what makes you wonder when you're out and about.

WSW: Keeping Asking Us "Why's That?"

WMUK

How did that get it’s name? How is that a park? What’s the deal with Kalamazoo’s water? Over the last year we’ve fielded questions about what makes people curious in Southwest Michigan. 

Why’s That airs once a month. WMUK reporter Sehvilla Mann, finds a question, seeks an answer, then tells us what she found. Mann says public radio station WBEZ in Chicago originally asked listeners to submit question about anything that they thought might make a good story. The idea has spread to other stations, and was launched by WMUK last year.

A lot of the questions are about names, such as cities, streets and rail yards. Several local history questions have been asked, there have also been some scientific or environmental queries.

But Mann says it’s hard to tell what questions will make the best stories. WMUK reporter Rebecca Thiele asked a question for a promo about West Main park – “How is that a park?” It turned out there was a tragic story about a train operator who wasn’t in place to put a gate down. After the accident, the gatekeeper decided to move and sold the land to the city as a park.

But Why’s That is not confined to local history. A question about Kalamazoo’s hard water took Mann to the city’s water plant. It was explained that minerals are in the water taken from the ground. Softening the water would be expensive.

Mann says she usually tries to include the person who asked the question when producing the story, but it’s not mandatory. Questions can be submitted in any form, but there is a box on the front page of our website. Mann says the basic parameters are that it should be a question that relates to Southwest Michigan. She says it doesn’t have to be a “really cool sounding question.” Mann says sometimes a basic question is “the tip of a very interesting story.”

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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