Tony Michaels is a Missouri writer, broadcaster and storyteller based in Jefferson City. He is the publisher of The Coffman Chronicle and the creator and host of Five Minutes in America and Along the Way.
Michaels’s work explores citizenship, liberty, dignity, work, concentrated power and the responsibilities people carry toward one another. His approach combines direct constitutional commentary with the front-porch storytelling traditions he first encountered growing up in Central Missouri.
Current Work
Five Minutes in America is a weekday radio and podcast storytelling series written and performed by Tony Michaels. Set in the fictional town of Coffman’s Landing, its stories use ordinary people and small events to explore larger questions about community, citizenship, memory, liberty and belonging.
The series launches September 7, 2026. Listeners can follow it at:
Along the Way is Michaels’s weekly program about personal growth, citizenship and the experience of building a meaningful life. Through personal stories and lessons gathered along the road, Michaels examines the choices, failures, relationships and moments that shape who we become.
Both programs are published by The Coffman Chronicle.
The Coffman Chronicle
The Coffman Chronicle is the public home of Tony Michaels’s work.
It publishes American storytelling, constitutional commentary and independent reporting centered on working people, shared responsibility and the work of citizenship. It is also home to Five Minutes in America, Along the Way and the archive of The Tony Michaels Podcast.
The Tony Michaels Podcast Archive
Tony Michaels previously hosted The Tony Michaels Podcast, an independent political commentary and accountability program that produced more than 1,100 episodes.
Regular publication ended in July 2026. The podcast is no longer publishing new episodes, but its archive remains available as a record of Michaels’s political commentary on democracy, constitutional power, corruption, oligarchy, executive overreach, media failure and the working-class struggle against concentrated power.
The Work Continues
The format has changed, but the central questions remain:
Who holds power?
Who is responsible for keeping it accountable?
What do citizens owe one another?
And what kind of citizen are you?
Follow Tony Michaels’s current work through The Coffman Chronicle:
