On Hand

Soon, Michigan will have new congressional and legislative districts. How those lines are drawn will have political consequences that last a decade. But before that happens, the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Council is seeking public comment on the set of draft maps they recently released.

Today on the pod, we talk to one of the members of the commission about how that's going, and we hear from a state lawmaker who says he has some major concerns about the maps as they are drawn right now.

GUESTS:

Sue Hammersmith, executive director of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Adam Hollier, Democratic state Senator representing parts of Detroit, Grosse Pointe, Highland Park, Hamtramck and Harper Woods.

Information about the remaining public hearings:

Friday, Oct. 22, 1-3:30 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.

DeVos Place, Steelcase Ballroom

303 Monroe Ave. NW, Grand Rapids

Monday, Oct. 25, 1-3:30 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.

Treetops Resort

3962 Wilkinson Road, Gaylord

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1-3:30 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.

Dort Center

3501 Lapeer Road, Flint

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.

An unusually warm fall means more time to grow your favorite summer crops—while adding in some veggies that love cooler temperatures, too. On this episode, Luke Marion, the creator of the wildly popular MIGardener YouTube channel, explains how to make the most of your fall garden. 

GUESTS:

Luke Marion, Michigan Youtube gardner

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.

Michigan’s legislature is moving a package of bills designed to streamline operations for the state’s beleaguered child care industry. Not only have day-to-day operations changed radically because of COVID, but the industry’s financial model has been thrown into chaos because of the statewide labor shortage. This episode, two perspectives on Michigan's child care crisis. 

GUESTS:

Dustin Walsh is a reporter for Crain's Detroit Business.

Nina Hodge is the owner of Above and Beyond Learning Child Care Center in Detroit.

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.

Father Charles Coughlin's radio ministry was founded during the Great Depression, and based at this church in Metro Detroit, the Shrine of the Little Flower. He commanded tens of millions of listeners through hateful rhetoric. His conspiracy theories spun about Jewish bankers and global cabals informed a growing wave of intolerance and far right wing radicalism. Today, we dig into the history of this broadcast pioneer who spread a doctrine of intolerance and division across the United States. 

GUEST:

Andrew Lapin, producer and host of the new podcast series Radioactive for Tablet Magazine. 

NOTES:

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.

Twenty years after beginning his job as the Detroit Pistons’ PA announcer, beloved Detroit radio personality John Mason joined Stateside to look back on his work.

From his “cartoon imagination” on the mic, to the essential Mason in the Morning show on WJLB, to playing a part of the the 2004 Pistons national championship, John Mason has seen a lot.

GUEST: 

John Mason, Detroit radio personality and Pistons' PA announcer

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.

A recent study in Michigan found that schools without mask mandates have seen 62% more COVID-19 cases than in schools with enforced masking. Despite the date, the issue of masking in schools has become a political lightning rod. But there's a side of this story that hasn’t been at the forefront of the masking conversation...and it really needs to be. Today, we're talking about what COVID-19 means for students with disabilities. and their families.

GUESTS:

Andrea and Beth, two parents in Wayne County*

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.

*We are only using their first names to protect the privacy of their children. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With great bookshelves come great responsibilities. For writer and critic Douglas Wolk, that means consuming some twenty-seven-thousand comic books – the entirety of Marvel Comics’ output spanning more than half a century. And he wrote a book about it: All of the Marvels published October 12. 

GUEST:

Douglas Wolk, writer, critic, and journalist

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.

For about a week, former Wolverine football player Jon Vaughn has been camped out in a small blue tent in front of University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel's house in Ann Arbor. He's there to protest how the university has treated survivors of sexual abuse by former U of M sports doctor Robert Anderson, including himself, during mediations over compensation. And he says he'll stay there until he and other survivors can meet directly with Schlissel or members of the Board of Regents.

GUEST:

Jon Vaughn, former U of M and NFL football player

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.

At Detroit’s Fillmore theater this past summer, comedian Dave Chappelle performed four shows that became his current Netflix special "The Closer." Since then, Chappelle has been criticized for homophobia, transphobia and antisemitism. But his defenders say he is misunderstood and is pushing the bounds of comedy.

GUESTS:

Eric Deggans, television and media critic for NPR

Bryce Huffman, reporter for Bridge Detroit

Joe Aasim, comedian and host of the monthly Neapolitan Ice Cream open mic in Detroit

NOTES:

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.

Members of county boards of canvassers don’t often find themselves in the political spotlight, but that changed after the 2020 election. Now, some local chapters of the Michigan Republican Party are looking at county boards as potential battlegrounds for the next election, too.

GUEST:

Craig Mauger, Detroit News reporter

You can find Mauger's article about local GOP chapters remaking county boards of canvassers here.

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.