On Hand

Ruth Carter took home the Oscar on Sunday for Best Costume Design in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." It’s the only Oscar the film was awarded, despite being nominated in multiple categories. But it doesn’t take the Academy’s votes to see that the Black Panther films were a global phenomenon. 

Hannah Beachler is the production designer who worked with director Ryan Coogler in imagining and crafting the world of Wakand. She came to the University of Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities as a guest speaker earlier this year. She shared what it took to design the landscapes, government, and rituals of Wakanda, and the weight that this imagined universe carries for Black audiences around the world. 

GUEST: 

Hannah Beachler, production designer for both "Black Panther" films

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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Chopped is a competition cooking show in which a constellation of totally weird ingredients are set before three hardworking chefs to see what they can make. Chef Mamba Hamissi, co-owner of Baobab Fare with his wife Nadia, recently competed on the show. Given an ingredients basket filled with fried gluten, leeks, scallops, and chai tea, Mamba made a sweet and spicy taco so delectable and complex that it helped him win $10,000. On today's pod, Chef Mamba on why being who you are, and knowing what you know, is sometimes the key to getting you through a completely unfamiliar situation.

GUEST: 

Chef Mamba Hamissi, co-owner of Baobab Fare in Detroit 

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Democrats in Lansing have been busy lately: they’ve passed civil rights protections for the LGBT+ community, quashed the state’s 1931 ban on abortion, and repealed Michigan’s decade-old right-to-work law.

Today, lawmakers were urged to make another change: gun safety legislation.

Krista Grettenberger, whose son Troy Forbush was shot and wounded in the MSU shooting, spoke about her experience before the House Judiciary Committee. Shortly after, the Michigan House passed a universal background check bill.

On today’s podcast, we hear tape from Grettenberger’s moving testimony. Plus, we talk with Dr. Thomas Veverka, a Midland trauma surgeon specializing in gunshot wounds, who also spoke at the capitol earlier today. Dr. Veverka, along with a group of other doctors, traveled to Lansing to urge lawmakers to act on gun safety legislation.

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GUESTS:

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Last week we got some really hard news about a UP institution. Finlandia University is shutting down operations, after 126 years in operation. Founded as the Suomi College and Theological Seminary, it’s kept Finnish culture alive Up North, in ways that have affected thousands of peoples’ lives over the years. 

GUEST:

Timothy Pinnow, President of Finlandia University

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Lorri Thomas, aka Lady L, is a tattoo artist in Detroit. After years of sexual harassment and frustration with lack of representation in the industry, Thomas founded Ladies of Ink in 2015, a collective for Black women tattoo artists. They tour the country uniting and connecting with other women artists.

GUEST:

Lori Thomas, founder of the Ladies of Ink tour

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Grand Rapids native Annie Rauwerda was finding a lot of strange and charming articles on Wikipedia. So she made started posting her findings to social media. Her project has not amassed 1.2 million followers on Instagram.

GUEST:

Annie Rauwerda, creator of the Depths of Wikipedia

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The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is a non-profit project started by this third-generation tree nursery owner as a way to preserve species now in terrifying decline due to climate change and habitat destruction. They take cuttings from the biggest, strongest, oldest tree species on several continents, coax the cuttings to sprout roots, and nurture them until they can be replanted. We talked to the team at Archangel about what they do and what role ancient trees could play in the fight against climate change.

GUESTS: 

David Milarch, founder of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive 

Jared Milarch, owner of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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A new investigation from the New York Times offered a deeply disturbing picture of children, mostly teens, working hazardous jobs all across the U.S. Reporter Hannah Dreier outlined how young migrants – many as young as 13 who entered the country unaccompanied – are working long, dangerous hours in places like food packing facilities, construction sites, and poultry processing plants.

Child labor laws, in theory, protect kids from unsafe and exploitative working conditions. But Ana Raquel Devereaux, managing attorney at Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC), told us many young migrant children slip through the cracks.

GUEST:

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In the illegal street racing scene of 1970s Detroit, there was one car that ruled them all: The Black Ghost. The black ‘70 Dodge HEMI Challenger would appear only occasionally to race, win, and then disappear into the night. It later turned out that was because the driver–the late Godfrey Qualls–was a Detroit police officer. 

Today on the pod, we hear about a Detroit street racing legend–and his son’s mission to share his story. 

GUEST: 

Gregory Qualls, son of Godfrey Qualls, owner of the Black Ghost

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In the weeks following the shooting at Michigan State University, a central question around campus security has emerged: What measures can schools and universities take to protect their communities when there is an active shooter?

GUEST:

Dave Boucher, reporter, Detroit Free Press

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