- [Eric] Across Indiana is back.

If you're listening or watching, welcome to the first episode.

Before we really get rolling on this, we naturally thought it best to get some advice from Across Indiana's creator, Michael Atwood.

- All right, right there.

Is that okay?

Is that good?

- No.

- [Eric] We immediately began reminiscing.

- You got chased by Big Foot, didn't you?

- [Eric] I think we're hot on the trail of Big Foot.

I let him know that I was once again tasked with producing Across Indiana.

They're handing this to me, Michael, do you realize that?

- Well.

They could've done better.

That's my refrigerator.

My wife's gonna love that you opened that door.

- [Eric] How did Across Indiana come to be?

- I told ya, that was the one question you weren't supposed to ask me.

- [Eric] Okay, then I won't ask that.

Don't worry about that.

- To make the world a friendly place, one must show it a friendly face.

Welcome to the 20th anniversary of the program that took this quote from Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley, and put it on your television week after week.

It began with wanting to do more features about Indiana.

- I have four horses and two dogs, two cats, and three skunks.

- Not even really knowing what we were going to do, we started doing it.

Good evening and welcome to Across Indiana.

We soon discovered that there were different aspects of Indiana that we were capturing within a show.

- [Narrator] Reporters called it the night civilization collapsed in Indiana.

- [Michael] It's history that needs to be told.

- [Eric] Dan Patch has often been called, the Sea Biscuit before there was a Sea Biscuit.

- [Michael] And just being glad that you stopped by, they have a laugh.

Well, here it is, Indiana High Point, elevation 1,257.

- [Eric] Michael wanted the audience to say at the end of each episode.

- I didn't know that about Indiana.

- It's like turning around a tanker, you know, it's gonna take.

- Which we've seen examples of recently in history.

- It takes a long time to turn a ship like that.

- [Eric] Michael was the host of Across Indiana for 20 years.

I needed to soak up the storytelling knowledge.

Have you ever had a Pierogi?

- I have.

We did a story on the Pierogi Festival.

- [Eric] And he wanted to make bread for some sort of analogy.

- Where is that, is that in Fort Wayne or?

- There's one in Whiting.

- One in Whiting.

- [Eric] But I learned a lot about him.

I knew that while hosting Across Indiana, he also worked full-time with hospice.

A decision that came after working through a family tragedy.

- 1994, unexpectedly, on the July 4th weekend, my little sister who had just turned 30 years old was killed in a car accident.

- You okay?

- [Eric] I'm fine.

- That was the very beginning seed that was planted.

I shifted from television into basically social services support, doing a bereavement program for hospice.

- It's good for cooking.

- It's good for bread, it's good for pie crust.

- Gotcha.

- [Eric] Now, Michael is retired and looks at his time with Across Indiana as an opportunity to appreciate life.

- This is your mom's recipe right?

- No.

- Oh, okay.

- 2021 was a really interesting year for me because I had an aneurism rupture in my brain and it wiped me out for most of the year.

The outpouring of support from people during that, during my recovery, was just amazing.

- [Eric] He told me that each day is a chance to tell a new story.

- It's technically referred to as proofing.

- [Eric] Even if it's just making bread.

I just need to make sure I don't miss something.

All right, so after we're done doing this, then we just pop that in the bread maker, right?

(Michael sighing) - I don't use a bread maker, Eric.

This is handmade bread.

Virtually anything can wind up as an Across Indiana story.

Let me demonstrate with what we call, "The Jump Cut".

Okay, check this out, the Broadway Diner.

Hey Britney, happy birthday.

- Hey Mike, thank you.

- Hey mom, Mike's here.

- Hello, hello.

- [Eric] Before I knew it, we were doing an Across Indiana story within an Across Indiana story.

- Hi, I'm Jody, and this is the Broadway Diner.

- [Eric] Family-owned and operated with legendary food in Fortville, Indiana.

- My husband and I opened here back in '77.

I've lived in this area my whole life.

A lot of these people depend on us.

- We love to have meaning in our lives and we are meaning makers.

Life, as random and chaotic and tragic as it can seem, that's something that distinctly makes us human.

Perfect for Across Indiana.

- I think I know what you're saying.

It's like, every Hoosier all across Indiana has a story to tell.

- Close enough.

(light upbeat music) - [Narrator] Find more stories at wfyi.org/acrossindiana.