The Next Idea Opioid addiction and meth use are making news almost every day, but tackling today’s drug epidemic isn’t easy. Treatments like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous might work for some who struggle with addiction, but not for others.

The Next Idea Facebook’s 32-year-old billionaire founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has been touring the country. He made stops in Michigan recently. He toured Ford’s Rouge plant and even tried his hand at putting parts on an F-150 pickup truck. Turns out time on the assembly line is hard work. He also privately met with Muslim students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

The Next Idea A survey of local government leaders across Michigan finds they are not happy with state government. The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey conducted by the University of Michigan heard from officials in more than 1,300 cities, counties, townships and villages.

The Next Idea More and more Americans are choosing to shop in the comfort of their homes. With a few clicks of a mouse from online retailers like Amazon and Jet.com, almost any product imaginable can be delivered to a shopper’s door within one or two days. American malls are struggling to compete on the pricing, selection, and convenience offered by online shopping. And because the retail industry built so much space during the 70s and 80s and 90s, dead or dying malls now dot the landscape of

The Next Idea In the early 1990s, I visited billionaire George Soros’ office in New York City to provide some direction on an investment his firm had made in a technology startup run by senior Israeli Air Force officers. Their technology was something akin to an iPod, and this was almost a decade before you could store your entire music collection on a device the size of a bar of soap.

The Next Idea Why is it that you can summon an Uber with one click on your smart phone, but if your child is struggling in school, you might not find out for weeks?

Not too long ago, Upper Peninsula native Dawn Verbrigghe had a career humming along in super-cool Brooklyn. Then, out of the blue, came two job offers. One, in Paris, which promised a rooftop apartment in the City of Light. The other offer: Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Next Idea Northern Michigan University has unveiled a new program: a first-of-its-kind undergraduate degree in medicinal plant chemistry where students will study the science of cannabis. Mark Paulsen joined Stateside to discuss the new program. He’s a professor and head of the Department of Chemistry at Northern Michigan University.

The Next Idea What would it mean for smaller farmers and growers to sell their crops to big distributors or for consumers to know that the head of lettuce in their salad came from a nearby farm?

The Next Idea Take the combined brainpower of Michigan State, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University-- and apply that to solving the water infrastructure problems we face not only in Flint, but across Michigan.