Stateside Daily Archive

Two separate lawsuits seeking to protect abortion rights were filed in Michigan courts — one by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the other by Planned Parenthood. On today's pod episode, what this could mean for Michigan. GUESTS: Rick Pluta , Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network Deborah LaBelle , lead counsel for Planned Parenthood of Michigan in the lawsuit  &...

This week, longtime congressman, Fred Upton, took the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and announced his retirement. Having represented Southwest Michigan since 1987, he's the longest serving member of Michigan's congressional delegation. Today, we’ll reflect on what it means to lose Fred Upton as a steadfast moderate in Congress. And we’ll listen back to bits of ou...

As of now -- April 5 at noon -- jurors are still deliberating the fate of four men accused of plotting to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Defense lawyers presented closing statements on Friday, and now jurors have a web-like narrative to interpret. We will have updates on the verdict as soon as it comes in. But today on the pod, we go over what we know so far.  GUEST:  Ken Kolker , rep...

Central Michigan University was once the fourth largest public university in the state, but enrollment at the Mt. Pleasant school has taken a nosedive since 2012. Add in a global pandemic that’s impacted student enrollment across the board, and the situation can start to feel a little dire. On today's pod, a look into what’s happening at CMU–and what administrators hope will...

Every year, some of Michigan's most important wetland ecosystems form within vernal pools. On today's episode, an MSU conservation scientist and MLive reporter join to talk about what lies within these unique forest puddles. GUESTS:  Emily Bingham , reporter, MLive  Yu Man Lee , conservation scientist, Michigan State University Looking for more conversations from Stateside ? Right t...

Peabody Award-winning writer and producer, Harvey Ovshinsky became part of Detroit’s media landscape in 1965. After years of interviewing other people, Ovshinsky said it was only fair to apply the same scrutiny and inquiry into his own life. Today, Harvey Ovshinsky on his new memoir, Scratching the Surface: Adventures in Storytelling . GUEST:  Harvey Ovshinsky , author of Scratching the...

Prosecutors rested their case in the trial of four men charged in a plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. In late 2020, state and federal officials revealed that FBI investigators had gone undercover with a group of men in Michigan who had strong anti-government leanings. They said a plot developed in the group to kidnap, and possibly harm, Whitmer. Michigan Radio's Dustin Dwyer caught us up o...

I’m sure you’ve seen evidence of a loosening of COVID’s grip on your community as well. Fewer people getting sick. Fewer masks being worn in public spaces. But as nice as it’s been having a break from COVID, the virus is not gone. So, where does that leave us? On today's episode, we hear from an epidemiologist about adapting to a virus that’s here to stay. ...

DTE service shutoffs surpassed 200,000 among Detroit residents, during the pandemic. Outlier Media teamed up with ProPublica to look at the numbers: How does electricity pricing work? What are Metro Detroiters paying? And what happens when they can’t pay? What they found was another case of Detroiters being disproportionately penalized by the systems we all use and rely on.  GUEST: Sara...

In just a few weeks delegates for Michigan’s local Republican chapters will pick their representatives to send to the state party convention. This year’s a mid-term election, and lots of prize seats are in play, including the Governor’s office, and several Congressional seats - not to mention much of the state legislature. But the run up to these meetings is getting acrimonious i...

In 1914, Elsie Roxborough was born into a wealthy, Black family in Detroit. But when she died in 1949, her death certificate listed her as white. Her life was rich, curious and at times, troubled, all while attempting a sort of high-wire-act of living multiple lives, between cities and names and races. Today, we talk about her life, death, and everything in between. GUEST: Ken Coleman , writer and...

For a Black person in the 19th century or the first half of the 20th, "passing" meant living part or all of your life as non-Black. Literature, films and other cultural references to passing have been around for a long time. But recent works like the Rebecca Hall’s film adaptation of Nella Larsen’s book, Passing, have brought the idea of passing back to the forefront. Today on the podc...

Metro Detroit broadcast journalist Christy MacDonald lost her husband, sports broadcaster Jamie Samuelsen, to colorectal cancer when he was just 48 years old. On today's pod, she talked to us about her family's story and how she became an advocate for early colon cancer screening.  GUEST:  Christy McDonald, broadcast journalist and widow of Jamie Samuelsen Looking for more conversations...

Octavia Butler's 1993 book, Parable of the Sower served as a sort of upside-down comfort read for a lot of people during the pandemic. It draws readers into a 2024 America ripped apart by poverty, corporate greed, and climate calamity -- as a teenage girl leads a rag-tag group of followers through a scary world. Two of the Butler's most famous fans, Toshi Reagon and her mother Bernice Johnson Reag...

Just when you think you cannot with the cold weather anymore, here comes sugaring season, to take the bitterness of winter out of your mouth. We're dedicating this entire episode to all things maple sugar. We'll take a trip to one of Michigan's maple farms and later in show learn more about maple sugaring's Indigenous roots. GUESTS:  Kirk Hedding, owner of H&H Sugarbush Jerry Jondreau, ow...

Yesterday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke before a joint session of Congress. He brought up Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Martin Luther King Jr., and urged the Biden administration for further action in the fight for peace in Ukraine. He was met with a standing ovation from the members of Congress. But how far will the U.S. go to achieve this sort of peace in Eastern Europe? GUEST:  Peter...

For the past five months, state health officials have been telling Benton Harbor residents not to drink their tap water. But now the safety message for Benton Harbor seems to be shifting. And it’s left some residents confused about how best to keep their families safe. Michigan Radio reporter Lindsey Smith filled us in on what's going on in the majority Black community in Southwest Michigan....

When Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivered his annual State of the City address last week, he spent a few minutes talking about the wider world’s fascination with crumbling homes and commercial buildings in Detroit. It’s not the first time Duggan has talked about removing blight. Or the second, or the third. But what has the push to bring down blighted buildings  actually...

Filling up your tank is getting more and more expensive. The average price for regular unleaded gas is now above $4 dollars per gallon in Michigan. While many consumers would like to see lower prices at the pump, those worried about climate change are wary of expanding drilling in the U.S. to make up for President Joe Biden's ban on Russian oil imports. That's the solution favored by many Republic...

The federal trial of four defendants accused of a plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer began this week in Grand Rapids. Some of the defendants originally charged in what’s become known as “the plot” took plea deals. One has already been sentenced. We talked to Michigan Radio reporter Dustin Dwyer about what happened in court.  GUEST:  Dustin Dwyer, reporter at Michigan...

If it was your family, your friends under a hail of Russian shelling, what would you do? Ukrainian Michiganders are living on edge right now, thinking of loved ones in the grip of the invasion. One Ukrainian American in Ann Arbor says since all this happened, she feels like everything in her life has changed. GUEST: Irina Bondarenko, ceramic artist and lead statistician at the University of Michig...

Let’s get this straight: Liquor stores can't sell marijuana, dispensaries can't sell alcohol, you can’t consume cannabis in a dispensary, and cannabis lounges can't sell weed. But you can consume marijuana in a lounge if you bring your own? Michiganders are finding workarounds, and a cannabis industry reporter is here to tell us how. GUEST: Annalise Frank , cannabis industry reporter f...

You’ve probably noticed a coating of salt on your car or truck. But undercarriages aren’t the only place road salt accumulates during the winter. University of Wisconsin researchers are seeing more and more salt in the Great Lakes, so much that their ecosystems are starting to change.  GUEST:  Rob Mooney, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center f...

For Black University of Michigan students, finding everyday hair care products is not easy. Two students sought to change that with the Youniversity Beauty Supply Machine, the first and only vending machine on campus that dispenses Black hair care products.  GUESTS:  Mia Wilson , co-founder, Youniversity Beauty Supply Machine Rico Ozuna-Harrison , co-founder, Youniversity Beauty Supply M...

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has issued some new guidance around the COVID-19 pandemic. The new guidelines are meant to help folks make personal health decisions around masking and social distancing during this apparent break in the pandemic. Today, we talk to Michigan's chief medical executive about the new guidelines and how the state is changing its pandemic response, tw...