Stateside Daily Archive

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein publicly admonished a colleague on the court for hiring a clerk whose past Bernstein thought unbecoming of the court. Bernstein's decision to lambast Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, and her clerk, has drawn sharp criticism. Bernstein issued a statement to apologize today, but not before the clerk resigned under duress. Here's Bernstein's statement: “Tod...

“Liar, Dreamer, Thief,” which is listed as a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Goodreads and Overdrive, is about a young woman trying to repair her glitched-up life as she surveils a man she works with – a man with whom she believes she shares some kind of connection. The truth that unravels turns out to be more surprising than she can imagine. Author Maria Dong joined us to talk about how her Kore...

Michigan musicians released an impressive list of hits in 2022. Joe Hertler, frontman of Lansing-based band Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers, brought us a mixtape of some of his favorite Michigan-based bands and songs from the year.  You can find the full list of songs here .  GUESTS: Joe Hertler,  lead singer of Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers ___ Looking for more conversations from States...

Four-term US Senator Debbie Stabenow announced that she will retire at the end of this term in 2025. Today we’re talking about what Senator Stabenow has accomplished in her time and what this news means for the senate race in 2024. GUESTS: Rick Pluta, Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside ? Right this way. If you like w...

Kevin McCarthy has failed, numerous times, to win over his caucus for enough votes to become Speaker of the U.S. House. What's the view from Michigan's Republicans in Congress? All of Michigan's Republicans in Congress support McCarthy for Speaker. Here's our conversation with one of them. GUEST: Jack Bergman , Republican Congressman representing Northern Michigan ___ Looking for more conversation...

After an underwhelming opening to the NFL season, the Detroit Lions are making news as potential playoff contenders. Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, Jim Harbaugh is rumored to be leaving the University of Michigan Wolverines to return to the NFL.  Nick Baumgardner, a senior writer with The Athletic , caught us up on all the football news that's unfolded over the past week.  GUEST: Nick Baumgardner , seni...

Santa Ono was appointed as president of the University of Michigan last fall. He came to Ann Arbor from University of British Columbia, where he served as president and vice chancellor. Before that, he served as provost, and then president of the University of Cincinnati. President Ono stepped into the shoes of Mary Sue Coleman, who served as an interim president following Mark Schlissel’s dismiss...

Malcolm X was a son of Lansing, where he spent some of his most formative years before becoming the iconic activist we know of today. So why aren't his the quotes and legacy we teach in Michigan schools or during Black History Month? Today on Stateside, we explore Malcolm X's family history and controversial legacy in the struggle for Black empowerment.  GUESTS: John Aerni-Flessner , associate pro...

For decades, the leadership of the United Auto Workers has come from the same group within the union. That changed in a big way with this month’s union elections, where no incumbent leadership was able to secure a win in the organization's competitive races. We talked to Detroit News editor Daniel Howes about what this could mean for the union as the auto industry makes the pivot to electrificatio...

Designer Rey Pador has transformed TV touchstones into global fashions for a constellation of brands in Antwerp, Paris, New York and Milan. Rey now calls Detroit home after taking a position with the College for Creative Studies, overseeing apparel design as part of the College’s fashion design department. For Rey, fashion is all about the surprises. GUEST: Rey Pador , fashion designer and associa...

COVID has posed a grave threat to our elders these last two years. Even if your family has been lucky enough to dodge the worst, you're probably finding moments with the grandparents in your life that much sweeter. Two Michigan photographers travelled across the country to find some of those moments, taking portraits of grandmothers and archiving their wisdom in the new book, Grandmothers of Ameri...

Michigan writer Anne-Marie Oomen chronicles years when her aging mother needed help; a mother who left her flummoxed and angry. The book is called "As Long As I Know You: The Mom Book." Today we talk to Oomen about motherhood, caregiving, and healing. GUEST: Anne-Marie Oomen , writer ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside ? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider...

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the most commonly used plastics.  It's found in everything from construction materials, to medical equipment, to clothing. Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a way to repurpose this previously unrecyclable material. They joined us to share their findings, and what it could mean for plastic consumers and manufacturers. GUESTS: Anne McNeil, profes...

It's hard to imagine a politics and policy debate in Michigan that experienced the kind of whiplash in public sentiment like that of same-sex marriage. In the span of about 15 years, Michiganders went from voting to ban gay marriage, to broadly supporting rights and marriage protections for LGBTQ couples. At the center of the national legal debate was also a couple from Michigan. Today we revisit...

Kulintang music, native to several Indigenous tribes in the Southern Philippines, has been passed down as an oral tradition over hundreds of years. That tradition has traveled 8,000 miles overseas, all the way to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Stateside Producer Ronia Cabansag helps tell part of that story.  GUEST: Gean Vincent Almendras , Philippine Ensemble Music lecturer, University of Michigan ___ Looki...

Artist Mother Cyborg, AKA Diana Nucera, is a musician, technologist, community organizer, and educator. This past summer she had a quilt exhibition at the University of Michigan’s Penny Stamps Gallery called Crafting Our Digital Legacy. The exhibition has since ended –  but today we want to revisit our conversation with Nucera. We talked to her about the digital world, community organizing, and he...

Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed Judge Allie Greenleaf Maldonado to the Michigan Court of Appeals.  As the first tribal citizen to be appointed to the role, and the first minority to ever serve in the 4th District, Judge  Maldonado is bringing a fresh perspective to the Court. Judge Maldonado tells us about her family history, career, and what she hopes to accomplish in her new role on the Mich...

As the year comes to an end, Michigan hospitals are dealing with a surge of viral illnesses. Today, we speak with a specialist about the factors behind this. GUEST: Dr. Preeti N. Malani , Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Michigan Medicine ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way . If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our wo...

University of Michigan intends to expand its reputation for excellence in medicine to mid-Michigan with a takeover of Sparrow Health Systems in Lansing. Guest on today's episode: Dustin Walsh , Crain's Detroit Business ---------- Looking for more conversations from Stateside ? Right this way . If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Ses...

In the fall of 2020, Grand Rapids resident Isaac Danian, made plans to escape the U.S. at the behest of an online conspiracy theorist. He was joined by Shukree Abdul-Rashed from upstate New York. Their journey ended with the two men lost at sea in the South Pacific, while their families still wait for answers. We talked to the journalist who investigated the men's disappearance for the New York Ti...

On today’s Stateside podcast, we look at a couple of postmortem election stories. We get into election result challenges and we also look at how redistricting has affected election outcomes. GUESTS: Clara Hendrickson , reporter at the Detroit Free Press  Matt Grossman , Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research of Michigan State University Rick Pluta , Senior Capitol Correspo...

Universities across the country, including Michigan State University, are partnering with sports betting companies. Are trusted academic institutions pawning their students for sports gambling profits? Or can we trust undergrads to make responsible decisions about betting? Read the original New York Times article here . GUESTS: Andrew Little, freelance journalist Walt Bogdanich, NYT special projec...

Early in the pandemic, filmmaker David Siev moved out of his NYC apartment, and back to his parents’ home in Bad Axe, Michigan. 2020 was a weird time for all of us, but Siev thought to capture the moment.  Siev’s new documentary film Bad Axe offers a picture of the life that his mother, a Mexican-American, and his father, a Cambodian refugee, have built in a majority-white small town. The film lea...

In "Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids,” philosophy and law professor Scott Hershovitz documents discussions with his own little philosophers, and offers ways to draw the thinkers out of yours.  GUEST: Scott Hershovitz, Thomas G. and Mabel Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan; author of "Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids”...

This week marks one year after the mass shooting that took place at Oxford High School. Teachers, family members, and student survivors continue to grapple with trauma, searching for a path toward some kind of healing. The shooter’s parents are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, but the trial actually has yet to proceed, with the Michigan Supreme Court issuing stays on both parents’ cases...