This is the first installment in our special podcast series in collaboration with The January Series at Calvin University. On this episode, Meena welcomes Kaitlin Curtice—Indigenous author, poet, and citizen of the Potawatomi Nation for a powerful conversation on human storytelling, cultural healing, and spirituality.

Drawing from her book “Everything Is a Story,” Kaitlin explores Indigenous storytelling as sacred practice—stories as living beings that shape identity, guide community, and call us toward justice and reciprocity. She reflects on Native American history, the legacy of the 1838 Trail of Death, faith and reconstruction, ecology and kinship, and what it means to “stay in the spiritual fire” during uncertain times.

Our trending “Conversations Without Borders” Series invites listeners into a deeper understanding of Indigenous wisdom, environmental stewardship, and the power of stories to repair a fractured world.

Kaitlin Curtice is an award-winning author, poet-storyteller, and public speaker. As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation, Kaitlin writes on the intersections of spirituality and identity and how that shifts throughout our lives. 

LINKS:

AKI Institute

Gathering the Potawatomi Nation: Revitalization and Identity by Christopher Wetzel

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, Eavesdrop with Meena welcomes filmmaker Curtis Chin and visual artist Warren King to explore art, ancestry, and the quiet power of storytelling.

Curtis Chin—acclaimed documentarian and author of Everything I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant—joins Meena to discuss his new short film for American Masters on PBS, Warren King: King of Cardboard, an 18-minute portrait of an artist whose life-size cardboard figures give form to memory, migration, and intergenerational connection. The film traces Warren King’s unconventional journey: from civil engineer and tech executive to sculptor, crafting deeply human portraits from an ephemeral material that mirrors the fragility of time, family stories, and lived experience.

Together, Curtis and Warren reflect on growing up Asian American in the Midwest, navigating inheritance and expectation, and discovering identity not as a fixed answer, but as an evolving process. The conversation weaves through themes of diaspora, legacy, and belonging—how stories are lost, recovered, and sometimes quietly passed down, like gold coins sewn into a coat or lessons learned behind a restaurant counter.

Meena guides a thoughtful dialogue on the role of art and media in shaping cultural memory, the urgency of telling stories before they’re erased, and the responsibility—and privilege—of creative work in a moment when public support for the arts is under threat. From the Vincent Chin case to family restaurants, from ancestral silence to artistic revelation, this episode is a meditation on what it means to see ordinary lives with dignity and care.

This is a conversation about seeing—with new eyes—how personal stories ripple outward, becoming collective history.

Featured in this episode:

• Curtis Chin, filmmaker and author of Everything I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant

• Warren King, sculptor and subject of Warren King: King of Cardboard (American Masters | PBS)

 Listen in for a moving exploration of art, identity, and the stories that shape who we are—and who we might yet become.

Find Warren & Curtis Online

Warren King Art

Curtis From Detroit

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

In this episode of Eavesdrop with Meena, Meena sits down with historian Dr. Derek Peterson, Ali Mazrui Chair of African Studies at the University of Michigan, to explore the paradox of Idi Amin’s Uganda.

Drawing from newly uncovered archives and his book A Popular History of Idi Amin’s Uganda, Dr. Peterson reveals how ordinary citizens—often overlooked by history—both fueled and endured one of Africa’s most infamous regimes. Together, Meena and Dr. Peterson examine how mythmaking, fear, and promises of liberation shaped a dictator’s power, and what these stories teach us about politics and social movements today.

This conversation weaves personal history with global lessons, offering a complex portrait of Uganda’s past and urgent insights for our present.

Visit Derek's Website

Connect with Derek on X

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

Award-winning filmmaker David Siev and his sister Jaclyn Siev join Meena for an intimate conversation to discuss their critically acclaimed documentary Bad Axe, a deeply personal film chronicling their Cambodian-Mexican American family’s experience navigating the pandemic, racial tensions and the evolving American Dream. What began as home footage during COVID lockdowns became a raw and resonant story that captured national attention—and earned a place on the Oscar shortlist.

Together, they reflect on themes of resilience, generational survival, and the power of storytelling to spark empathy and connection. From their parents’ journey of escaping genocide and building a new life in a predominantly white town, to the community’s mixed reactions to the film, the Sievs share what it means to belong, persist, and uplift in divisive times. A powerful tribute to family strength and new immigrant voices shaping contemporary narratives in changing America.

Grand Rapids Film Society Presents: Bad Axe (Featuring Director David Siev)

WHERE: Wealthy Street Theater

WHEN: July 17 @ 7:30pm

INFORMATION & TICKETS

Visit the BAD AXE Film Website

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

“It Only Took A Hundred Years”  Lynne Dixon-Speller is an Eavesdrop Icon you should know. Dean Dixon-Speller is an accomplished designer, academician, and visionary founder of Edessa School of Fashion in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Lynne joins Meena in this wide-ranging conversation on creative ways fashion drapes bodies and shapes culture. 

Visit Edessa School of Fashion

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

On this thought-provoking episode of Eavesdrop with Meena, journalist Sarah Leach and radio veteran Mary Ellen Murphy—aka The Two Js—join Meena to unpack the state of local journalism in America. From Ottawa County’s political shifts to the power and peril of social media, they candidly explore how truth, trust, and storytelling intersect in today’s chaotic media landscape.

With humor, heart, and deep insight, Sarah and Mary Ellen share their unconventional paths into journalism, the creation of their podcast The Two Js in a Pod, and their mission to bring underreported local issues to light. They also discuss the rise of nonprofit news models, their hopes for rebuilding civic trust, and what it really means to be an informed citizen in 2025.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about the future of news, the fight for facts, and the essential role of community-driven media.

Check out Two Js in a Pod and on Substack.

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

Ben Speggen is Vice President of the Jefferson Educational Society, a non-partisan think tank based in Erie, Pennsylvania, which aims to foster civic enlightenment. Meena’s conversation with Ben highlights the importance of civics, and the challenges of defining the 'average American' in a diverse and evolving society. Ben offers deep insights into ways civic leadership informs public life and our connection to community and national life.

Visit the Jefferson Educational Society website

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

Ben Speggen is Vice President of the Jefferson Educational Society, a non-partisan think tank based in Erie, Pennsylvania, which aims to foster civic enlightenment. Meena’s conversation with Ben highlights the importance of civics, and the challenges of defining the 'average American' in a diverse and evolving society. Ben offers deep insights into ways civic leadership informs public life and our connection to community and national life.

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

What happens when communities lose their economic lifeline—and who steps in to help them rebuild? In this episode of Eavesdrop with Meena, Meena sits down with John Austin, a visionary policy expert and advocate for regional renewal, whose work spans from Michigan’s factory towns to forgotten regions across Europe.

John shares his personal story growing up in the Appalachian foothills and how it led him to champion policies that create real economic opportunity in places too often left behind. We explore the dangers of isolationism, the false promises of populism, and the practical, people-first strategies that can transform struggling communities into thriving hubs of innovation and hope.

With clarity, candor, and deep experience, John helps us understand what it really means to invest in the future—and why smart, inclusive economic development is essential to the survival of democracy.

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.

On the May 5th edition of Eavesdrop With Meena, what happens when communities lose their economic lifeline—and who steps in to help them rebuild? In this episode, Meena sits down with John Austin, a visionary policy expert and advocate for regional renewal, whose work spans from Michigan’s factory towns to forgotten regions across Europe.

John shares his personal story growing up in the Appalachian foothills and how it led him to champion policies that create real economic opportunity in places too often left behind. We explore the dangers of isolationism, the false promises of populism, and the practical, people-first strategies that can transform struggling communities into thriving hubs of innovation and hope.

With clarity, candor, and deep experience, John helps us understand what it really means to invest in the future—and why smart, inclusive economic development is essential to the survival of democracy.

Join us May 5 for this important discussion!

Written and Hosted by Meena Ariagno

Produced by Bruce Buursma

Recorded and Edited by Kevin Burgess 

Theme Music “Never Thought” by Christopher Paul

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meena Global ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to discover more and connect with Meena.