Shows / Five Minutes in America
Five Minutes in America
Five-minute American stories about ordinary people, shared responsibility, and the constitutional principles that bind us together. Written and told by Tony Michaels.
www.thecoffmanchronicle.com
Episodes
Five Minutes in AmericaPass That Along
T.C. stops at Mercer’s Market for coffee and a few things for supper. When he mentions the Halloween music on the Bagnell Dam Strip, Dudley reaches for his…
Five Minutes in AmericaAcross the Dam
T.C. puts his riding vest on the pickup seat and heads toward Bagnell Dam. There’s a leather shop on the Strip that might finally persuade his patch to stay…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe First Stop
Mitchell and Dudley have more walnuts than their wagon can reasonably carry. T.C. has a pickup and already knows what’s waiting for them at Warren’s hardware…
Five Minutes in AmericaSomething on the Bulletin Board
T.C. Redford reaches Warren Pike’s hardware store just as Mitchell and Dudley come hurrying out. Two walkie-talkies on the counter explain the hurry. The boys…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Fishing Report
The next morning, T.C. stops at the Minnow Bucket for coffee before settling down to write. He wants to let Vern and Rusty know the boys made it home…
Five Minutes in AmericaSomebody Coming Home
T.C. takes the boys back to Coffman Beach Resort at the end of a tow rope. Jack Floyd and Mitchell’s father are waiting on the dock. They’ve had plenty of time…
Five Minutes in AmericaMostly Sitting
T.C. hasn’t caught a fish. Around the next point, he finds two boys whose afternoon hasn’t gone according to plan either. Dudley and Mitchell have tried…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Old Fishing Hole
At Bell’s Marina, T.C. leaves the truck behind and takes his boat out onto the Lake of the Ozarks. He doesn’t consider himself much of a fisherman. Catching…
Five Minutes in AmericaBefore You Go
T.C. Redford has a boat waiting at Bell’s Marina and an afternoon he hopes to spend fishing—or at least doing something that looks like fishing. First comes a…
Five Minutes in AmericaRoom Along the Wall
T.C. has a wrench to return and three friends he wants Cecil Boone to meet. Blue has a haircut in mind and a throttle that gets the introductions started. You…
Five Minutes in AmericaMercer’s Corner Market
Come inside Mercer’s Corner Market, where Earl makes change, June wraps sandwiches, and each has suggestions about how the other could improve. T.C., Blue…
Five Minutes in AmericaAn Extra Hand
T.C. has the parts laid out and the tools within reach. He nearly has the motorcycle fixed, too. He’s been nearly there for a little while. Then Blue arrives…
Five Minutes in AmericaCecil Is Back
T.C. steps into Cecil’s shop to ask about a haircut for a friend. He’s carrying a wrench, which gives Cecil something to say before the conversation even gets…
Five Minutes in AmericaOne Small Part
A loose muffler has left T.C.’s motorcycle at home and brought his pickup into town. Inside Warren Pike’s hardware store, there’s a replacement nut, a borrowed…
Five Minutes in AmericaBoth Wheels
Mitchell and Dudley ride into town to ask Cecil Boone what he saw the day Dudley’s cousin went down Main Street on one wheel. Before they can reach the…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Ditch
The flat tire is patched, so Mitchell and Dudley ride to a wide drainage ditch outside Coffman’s Landing. Its bottom is dry, and its banks are gentle enough to…
Five Minutes in AmericaTwo Roads
Mitchell and Dudley still disagree about which bicycle is better, so they settle on a race. On a smooth street, Mitchell’s red bicycle reaches the oak tree…
Five Minutes in AmericaOne Wheel
Dudley says his cousin rode the entire Main Street hill on one wheel. Behind the Corner Market, he and Mitchell decide to start with a level road and a few…
Five Minutes in AmericaNo Hands
After school, Dudley Floyd and Mitchell Haywood ride around Coffman’s Landing for no reason better than wanting to stay on their bicycles. Dudley has a…
Five Minutes in AmericaCome On, Haywood
Mitchell finally reaches the moment we witnessed at the beginning of the week. He gets Dudley out. Then, carried away by the game and everything he has been…
Five Minutes in AmericaAlmost One of Us
After two weeks, the school no longer feels quite so unfamiliar. Mitchell knows where to sit, which doors stick, when the tables get folded away, and how…
Five Minutes in AmericaEverybody Knows Everybody
Mitchell is beginning to recognize the faces around school. But in Coffman’s Landing, knowing someone’s name is only the beginning. Dudley knows who belongs to…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe New Kid
On Mitchell’s first morning at his new school, everybody else seems to know where to stand, where to sit, and what happens next. Everybody except him…
Five Minutes in AmericaHaywood
Lunch has been cleared away, the rubber balls are out, and Mitchell Haywood is playing harder than anybody expected. Then the other kids begin hollering a name…
Five Minutes in AmericaLoud and Clear
Mitch and Dud have gathered their last walnuts. With some help from T.C. Redford, they can finally finish the hauling and collect the money they’ve worked all…
Five Minutes in AmericaOne More Bucket
Mitch and Dud are one bucket away from earning enough money for the walkie-talkies. They’re also tired, sore, and beginning to remember their own work more…
Five Minutes in AmericaA Square Deal
Mitch and Dud need more buckets and more walnut trees if they’re ever going to earn enough for those walkie-talkies. Warren Pike has some old pails that need…
Five Minutes in AmericaWhat Five Buckets Buy
Five buckets of walnuts sounded like a pretty good start—until Mitch and Dud had to haul them over the hill and discovered how little the exchange would pay…
Five Minutes in AmericaMoney on the Ground
Most kids can walk across a yard full of walnuts and see nothing but something waiting to turn an ankle. But tell them those walnuts might help buy the…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Tow Home
T.C. Redford has a tow rope on the boys’ boat, darkness has settled over the lake, and people are waiting at the dock. Mitchell and Dudley have had plenty of…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Shoreline Telegraph
When Mitchell and Dudley fail to come back, the quiet after Labor Day begins to fill with questions. Calls travel between docks and marinas. Neighbors and…
Five Minutes in AmericaOne More Cove
There is always one more cove worth looking around. Mitchell and Dudley keep finding reasons to go a little farther. From the water, though, the shoreline…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Boat Nobody Asked For
Mitchell and Dudley have fishing poles, sandwiches, and enough confidence between them to get an outboard started. Each boy also seems to think the other has…
Five Minutes in AmericaHe Doesn’t Hold His Mouth Right
Labor Day has come and gone, and Coffman Beach Resort has grown quiet. Mitchell Haywood still can’t catch a fish. Dudley Floyd figures a change of scenery…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Truth Comes Down Main Street
T.C. Redford drives into town with the repaired F standing in the back of his pickup. Cecil Boone calls it evidence. Warren Pike brings his toolbox. And…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Missing Letter
Church lets out, and Miss Ruth Harlan spots a missing letter on the town sign. Before long, cars are lining both shoulders and everybody has a theory. Then…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Heavy End
Mitchell brings the fallen F home to Coffman Beach Resort, hoping to fix it before the rest of town notices. His father has the tools. T.C. has helped carry…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Extra F
In Coffman’s Landing, it doesn’t take much for a story to get ahead of the truth. Sometimes all it takes is one missing letter—and a town willing to fill in…
Five Minutes in AmericaThe Fence
The Fence is your first step into Five Minutes in America—a new audio series about ordinary people, shared responsibility, and the work of citizenship…
Five Minutes in AmericaFive Minutes in America | Official Trailer
Most of America never makes the history books. Five Minutes in America tells complete five-minute stories about ordinary people, shared responsibility…