Students at East Kentwood High School interviewed their family members about their immigration stories in a project marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. They will be sharing those stories this week at events celebrating West Michigan's Vietnamese American community. 

GUESTS: 

• Le Tran, art teacher at East Kentwood High School
• Christina Le, junior at East Kentwood and one of the student speakers at GR Stories event

EVENT DETAILS:

GR Stories: This is our home now, 50 years of building community after Saigon

• May 7 @ the Grand Rapids Public Museum, 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

50 Years After Saigon: Vietnamese Stories of a New Home

• May 9 @ The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. 

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A look back at Santa Ono's career in higher education thus far, and what's been particularly challenging about high education administration in the last several years. 

GUESTS:

David Jesse: senior writer, Chronicle of Higher Education

Jamal Watson, PhD: editor of "Diverse: Issues in Higher Education," professor of Strategic Communication and Public Relations, Trinity Washington University

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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The Scarab Club has played an important role in Detroit’s arts and cultural scene for more than a century. But like many other Detroit arts lovers, the club’s new gallery director first stumbled into it by chance. 

On today’s pod, we’re going to be talking to Scarab Club gallery manager Donna Jackson about her approach to community engagement–and the profound impact the Detroit arts scene has had on her own life. 

GUEST: 

Donna Jackson, gallery manager at the Scarab Club 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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A new storytelling event in Grand Rapids called Unfiltered aims to bring people together through the sharing of experiences in and around the city.

Similar to the format of The Moth, Unfiltered features folks in and around Grand Rapids sharing stories about first loves, scary job interviews, weird interactions in grocery stores, make-or-break moments of adversity, and more. Storytellers are invited to tell a 12-minute story around a common theme.

Raul Alvarez, lead organizer for the event, initially pitched this idea to a group of friends with whom he regularly met for drinks. They were all excited to help plan a storytelling event, he said.

“They went to work, and we had no clue what to expect,” Alvarez said. “It was kind of a prototype, but all of a sudden it sold out.”

While Alvarez said storytelling might be a bit scary at first, because it involves a certain level of vulnerability, the community hasn't backed down.

“Now, we have the second sellout, which tells us it is a movement,” Alvarez said. “We want to keep it going, because there's a lot of stories out there. We already have stories that have been submitted for a future [event].”

The next Unfiltered is May 2, 2025 at the Four Star Theater, in Grand Rapids. The theme is “You Can’t Make This S*** Up!” 

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Back in September 2024, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged seven Pro-Palestinian protesters for allegedly defying orders from University of Michigan public safety officers. The individuals were charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor, and for resisting arrest, a felony.

In this episode we break down why the U-M Pro-Palestinian protestors want AG Nessel off the case. 

GUEST: 

Beenish Ahmed, journalist at Michigan Public

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Audio Network. 

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We are a time and place in America where more children of Holocaust survivors are with us than survivors themselves. In some ways this is the lens through which many Americans understand how the Nazi regime murdered 6 million Jews in the 1930's and 40's.

Sassa Akervall's mother survived the Holocaust. She shared part of her family's story in the book, The Ones Who Remember: Second-Generation Voices of the Holocaust. It was published in 2022 by members of Temple Beth-Emeth in Ann Arbor and contains a collection of essays telling the stories of the children of Holocaust survivors.

• For more information on the book, go to secondgenerationvoices.com 

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Daria Burke’s life wasn’t easy growing up. Her parents split up, and her mom struggled with grief and addiction, forcing Burke to take on adult responsibilities at a young age. 

Years later, she became a marketing executive in the beauty industry. Her hunger to understand her own mind led to a season of deep self-investigation, resulting in a new book, Of My Own Making: A Memoir. 

Burke joined us to talk about the book. She'll be in Detroit May 13 for an event with Fresh Air’s Tonya Mosely at the Detroit Public Library.

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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The Dish, Stateside's spinoff podcast for Michigan foodies, met up with Eric Kinsler-Holloway, the baker and businessman behind EK's Cheescakes.

More than a decade ago, Kinsler-Holloway turned to baking as a way to rebuild his life after several run-ins with the law. He's since turned his life around, and runs a humble but thriving cheesecake bakery based in Milan, Michigan.

• Read his full story here.

Subscribe to The Dish on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you love to listen to podcasts!

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West Michigan author and preacher Jeff Chu took the long way to the seminary. And once he got there, faith led him farther than he expected back out into the world. It all started with a compost pile on the seminary farm. 

On this episode, we’ll talk to Chu about his new memoir–titled Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand–which details his journey into community, stewardship, and love of the land.

GUEST: 

Jeff Chu, journalist, preacher and author of Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand

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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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President Donald Trump wants Michigan automobile manufacturers to move entire supply chains to the U.S. And he’s put steep tariffs on the automotive industry in an attempt to spur that change. But many of these manufacturers are taking a wait-and-see approach because of the administration's constantly changing policies, and the cost associated with moving production.

After President Donald Trump’s 25% automotive import tariffs went into effect on April 3, a report from Reuters estimated auto sales could decline by two million.

GUESTS:

Dr.  Jeff Rightmer, Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Global Supply Chain Management, Mike Ilitch School of Business, Wayne State University

Kate Magill, lead editor of Manufacturing Dive and Supply Chain Dive

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