On Hand

In the mid-1960s, Michigan State University fielded the first fully racially integrated football team. And they were really good. Those teams forever changed college football. And there efforts are documented in radio special "Teams of the Century" by producers Elizabeth Meister and Dan Collison with Long Haul Productions. Thanks to them for sharing their work on Stateside.

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West Michigan chef Abra Berens is publishing a series of cookbooks drilling down on seasonal best. A former farmer  and veteran of Zingerman’s Deli kitchen and the cafe at Chicago’s celebrated Local Foods grocery…she’s got chops fancy enough for the company, as well as crowd pleasers that will work on a weeknight. 

GUEST:

Abra Berens, author of multiple cookbooks, including "Pulp"

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Michigan Public's newsroom launched a new web series this week called "Voter Voices" that hears from a diverse collection of Michiganders about what concerns them as they head into the voting booth this fall.

GUEST:

• Jodi Westrick, director of digital audiences, Michigan Public
• Briana Rice, Detroit bureau reporter, Michigan Public

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A professor at Eastern Michigan University compiled stories of women in journalism who covered COVID, collecting oral histories of how the pandemic affected their work and lives. 

GUEST:

• You Li, Assoc Professor of Journalism, EMU

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Artist Tiff Massey is the first Black woman to graduate from Cranbrook’s metalsmithing department. The multimedia artist is is perhaps best known today for her jewelry.
While some of Massey's rings and chains are wearable, others are as large as furniture pieces, evoking the place these things have in Black culture.

Stateside host April Baer visited Massey's studio last spring, in advance of the opening of her installation at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The exhibition, titled 7 Mile + Livernois, is open through May 11, 2025.

GUEST ON THIS EPISODE:

• Tiff Massey, metalsmith and multimedia artist

When people ask what the Stateside podcast is, we say that it’s the most essential conversions from the state of Michigan. But that doesn’t mean it’s just the biggest and latest headlines, or deep political dives… it’s also about introducing you to artists from this state, meeting incredible chefs and biologists and woodworkers. It’s about better understanding your state. Please consider chipping in a couple bucks to keep these essential conversations going in Michigan.

Click here to make your donation.

Thanks!

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Michigan Central Station once represented an era of industry and opportunity in Detroit, and served as a point of convergence for folks coming from all walks of life.

Jamon Jordan, official historian for the city, joined Stateside to talk about what makes the renovation and reopening of the station building, now called Michigan Central, so meaningful.

Hear April Baer's full conversation with Jordan on today's podcast. Find Stateside's coverage of Michigan Central's grand opening here.

GUEST ON THIS EPISODE:

• Jamon Jordan, founder and operator of The Black Scroll Network, City of Detroit historian, and professor at the University of Michigan

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If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work.

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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For 33 years, the story of Anita Wiley's disappearance was unresolved. Now, Antonio Wiley, and Anita's sister, Tonya Mosley, have a produced a podcast about Anita's story called She Has a Name. The series chronicles the realties of the drug epidemic in Detroit in the 1980s, Wiley's and Mosely's experiences with trauma and grief, and the reconstruction of family bonds.

We revisit Stateside's conversation with Mosely and Wiley on today's podcast. Find the original episode here.

GUESTS ON THIS EPISODE:

• Tonya Mosley, Emmy award-winning journalist; cohost of Fresh Air; founder of TMI Productions
• Antonio Wiley, executive producer of She Has A Name

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 Sessions.

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Folks in Flint will tell you, Comma Bookstore and Social Hub has been lifting the life of the city in many ways since its opening in 2020. But post-pandemic, amid economic uncertainty, this community asset is struggling to keep the doors open.

Comma owner Egypt Otis recently started a GoFundMe campaign for the store. In doing so, she hoped to keep alive the vision she brought to life four years ago. Today, we’ll talk about what it takes to keep our indie bookstores alive–and why it matters gthat we do. 

GUEST: 

Egypt Otis, owner of Comma Bookstore & Social Hub in Flint

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 Sessions.

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When queer folk icon Phranc first started identifying as an "all-American Jewish lesbian folksinger" in the early 1980s, the world was in a very different place when it came to talking about queer identity. But the artist managed to carve out a space for herself with bright, cheery songs that celebrated queer love as often as they dealt with the darker realities of prejudice. This fall, Phranc is on the University of Michigan's campus to talk about her long career and share some of her sculptural work as part of a residency with the University of Michigan LSA Institute for the Humanities.

We talked to Phranc about her lifelong journey to make space for queer people–herself included–to be themselves. 

GUEST: 

Phranc, musician and artist behind the exhibit "The Butch Closet" 

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If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work.

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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James Earl Jones died on Monday, at the age of 93.

This week, stage and screen fans are saying goodbye to a Michigander who was one of the United States most experienced and compelling talents. From the sinister authority of Darth Vader to the caring wisdom of Mufasa, Jones was - still is - a fixture of command. He could capture a movie in a single scene, or even a solitary line.

Today, how the actor's early life in Michigan shaped who he became. And, we’ll hear about the statue dedicated in his honor in Brethren in Manistee County, near Jones’s boyhood home. 

GUEST:

• Cynthia Asiala, Chair of the Arts and Culture Alliance of Manistee County

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 Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.