On Hand

Ukrainians woke up to the sound of explosions today as Russian forces launched an attack on the capital city Kyiv. Here in Michigan, many of us are watching this play out with horror, especially Ukrainian Americans, as tensions between the two countries reached a breaking point. Today, you’re going to hear from two Michiganders with close ties to both Ukraine and Russia. And we’ll help you understand the stakes of the conflict unfolding between them. 

GUESTS: 

Eugene Bondarenko, lecturer in Ukrainian and Russian cultures and languages at the University of Michigan

Jenny Feterovich, Russian American filmmaker living in Metro Detroit

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

Stateside’s theme music is by 14KT.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pandemic has been a time of uncertainty for a lot of us. If that’s the case for people outside jail walls, it’s doubly so for those inside. At least 120 people have spent 18 months or more in the Wayne County jail system, without a conviction or even a trial. On today's episode, we talk to two Michigan Radio reporters about how COVID is keeping people in jail for longer--before they've ever been convicted of a crime. 

GUESTS: 

Beenish Ahmed, Michigan Radio criminal justice reporter 

Nisa Khan, Michigan Radio data reporter 

Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.

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

Stateside’s theme music is by 14KT.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Metro Detroit is one of the most racially segregated areas in the country. And when you're a Black person from a place like this, you probably learn to code switch at an early age. There are many ways to switch the way you speak and behave, depending on who you're around. But today's episode is about Black people code switching as they move between majority white spaces and majority black spaces, something that's often necessary in order to get by in the world. 

GUESTS: 

Sydney James, Detroit-bred and based fine artist and muralist

Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, co-founder of Detroit Black Restaurant Week, EastEats, and IdlewildEats; a milliner by trade 

Bryce Huffman, reporter and producer at Bridge Detroit and host of Michigan Radio podcast Same Same Different

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Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.

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

Stateside’s theme music is by 14KT.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Walter F. Edwards of Wayne State University grew up speaking Guyanese Creole, which shaped his approach to linguistics. He shares how Afro-Caribbean languages have spread to African American Vernacular English and what this looks like for Black Detroiters.

GUEST: 

Walter F. Edwards, professor of linguistics at Wayne State University and director of the Wayne State Humanities Center 

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Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.

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

Stateside’s theme music is by 14KT.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"What up doe?" If you’ve heard the term before, you probably know it as a greeting or maybe even a question. But for many Black Detroiters, the phrase is a piece of home. Today, we'll talk about the history of "what up doe" and what it means to its originators. 

GUESTS: 

Biba Adams, senior daytime news writer at The Grio

Natasha T. Miller, Detroit poet, author, activist, and film producer

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Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.

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

Stateside’s theme music is by 14KT.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James Dewitt Yancy, better known as J Dilla, would have been 48-year-old this month. The Detroit king of all beats showed the world in his brief life that the city’s best musical days are not in the past, but still ahead. Dilla died in 2006, and his story is so recent, we haven’t had much scholarship on his life – until now. On today's episode, Stateside executive producer Laura Weber Davis talks to journalist Dan Charnas, whose book about J Dilla's massive influence on American music was published this month. 

GUEST: 

Dan Charnas, journalist and author of Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm

Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.

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

Stateside’s theme music is by 14KT.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might not know their names, but the people who sit on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors make important decisions that touch every part of the U.S. economy. Michigan State University economist Lisa Cook.is the first Black woman nominated to serve on the board. She’s already a star in her field, especially when it comes to talking about how economic policy influences working class families and communities of color. On today's episode, we talk about Cook's work and the barriers she and other Black economists have faced in the field. 

GUESTS: 

Trevon Logan, professor of economics and associate dean at Ohio State University

Anna Gifty Okopu-Agyeman, co-founder of The Sadie Collective and graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School

Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.

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

Stateside’s theme music is by 14KT.

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.