Studebaker: The Wheels That Built South Bend

Studebaker: The Wheels That Built South Bend

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 a city’s identity.

The House of Blue Lights: Indianapolis’ Creepiest Legend

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 place becomes haunted in the public imagination. Was it fact, fear, or just a story too good to stop telling?

Milk, Bricks, and Back Home Again

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 Yard of Bricks, and the energy of Carb Day, this episode is a love letter to the rituals that connect generations of Hoosiers to the Speedway. Enjoy Carb Day, have a great race weekend, and enjoy the 500 on Sunday.

The First 500: Ray Harroun and the Marmon Wasp

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, dangerous race that proved Indianapolis had found its signature event. From the first green flag to the birth of a Memorial Day tradition, this is the story of the race that made the Brickyard come alive.

From Farm Field to Brickyard

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 that gave the track its name, this is where the legend starts.