Peter Payette
Executive DirectorPeter joined IPR in 2000, directed news beginning in 2001 and became the Executive Director in 2016.
His job is to make sure IPR remains a vibrant source of music, news and stories for people in northern Michigan and beyond, exploring life in the upper Great Lakes and sharing the wealth of artistry at Interlochen with our neighbors.
In his former role, he reported on a wide range of issues critical to the culture and economy of northern Michigan.
Many of his favorite stories are about obscure fish in the Great Lakes or the new arrivals changing the food web. He also admires the people keeping the rock 'n' roll revolution alive in the woods of northern Michigan and enjoys any story that reconnects the past to the present.
His work has been featured on NPR, Michigan Radio, Bridge magazine and won awards from Public Media Journalists Association, the Associated Press and New York Festivals.
He has taught journalism and audio storytelling to students and adults at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Peter has vacationed in Benzie County his entire life and became acquainted with IPR through radios that were always on in family cottages on the south shore of Crystal Lake.
His wife Sarah is his biggest fan. They have four children, Isabelle, Amelia, Emmet and Juan, and they live happily in Traverse City's Kids Creek Neighborhood.
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This week, hear how high water in the Great Lakes is unearthing Native American burial sites. In some places along Lake Michigan, human remains have been…
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This week we look into why commercial fishers in the Great Lakes have been left out of federal aid for fisheries nationwide, to the tune of $300 million.…
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This week we bring you two birds with very different reputations. One is a charastmatic invasive moving into urban areas, protected by public affection.…
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Maria San Miguel was nervous about getting a coronavirus test. “I was seeing on the television and the internet that there was something they were going…
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When the late William Grawn Milliken first told his mother about his aspirations to serve in government, she told him to be a “statesman, not a…
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Interlochen Public Radio welcomes Lexi Krupp this week as our new science and conservation reporter. Lexi comes to us from Gimlet Media, where she helped…
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Dear Listeners, “Think” with host Krys Boyd from KERA in Dallas is coming to northern Michigan. Every weeknight at 8:00 p.m., listeners can expect…
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has crafted a new plan to address double-crested cormorant conflicts in the US. It proposes killing as many as 77,000…
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Life in northern Michigan relies on the water, land, forests and other natural wonders of the upper Great Lakes region. IPR is committed to journalism…
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On the guide this week, hear how 50 degrees is a threshold for all kinds of spring activity. Also the true and false morels, feasting warblers and the…