Stateside

The next great Americana singer/songwriter could be not from Tennessee, not from the Carolinas, but from Southwest Michigan. Myron Elkins is an Allegan County native. His debut album, “Factories, Farms, and Amphetamines” is an ode to the Midwest, and every track carries the very grit and authenticity that’s characteristic of rural Michigan life. GUEST ON TODAY'S SHOW: Myron Elkins ____ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod,...

Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivered her fifth State of the State address last night. It’s the first of her second term as governor, and her first in-person address in three years, due to COVID. It was also an opportunity to make her priorities known working with a Democratic majority in the Legislature. Today, we’re recapping what we heard from Gov. Whitmer. GUESTS: Colin Jackson, Michigan Public Radio Network Alyssa McMurtry ____ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this...

Michigan's Upper Peninsula can get buried in snow during the winter. Some simply thank Mother Nature. Others use meteorology to explain it all. But to some members of the Finnish-American community in the Hancock area, the snow is because of Heikki Lunta. Legend has it, the mystical man's dancing has the power to summon snowstorms. Hilary-Joy Virtanen wrote her master's thesis on the the legend of Heikki, his not-so-ancient origins, and his role in preserving Finnish-American...

Lyndsay Green is a dining and restaurant critic for the Detroit Free Press, and the first Black person at the publication to hold that role. She finds that a lot of people in the restaurant world don’t expect to see her. Green recently commemorated her first year at the Free Press by writing about her year in review. The essay, which documents her experience in the food industry as a 4’10” Black woman critic, went viral. She joined us to share the ups and downs of her past year in the...

In April 2020, Gov. Whitmer assembled a taskforce to target biases and barriers that have long prevented racial minorities from receiving adequate medical care; something that was made abundantly clear during the early weeks of the pandemic. The Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities was called to identify and help reduce the disparities in COVID cases. GUESTS: Dr. Phil LevyDr. Renee Canady ____ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like...

Tapestry in Black is a new podcast that gives Black Michiganders a space to share their experiences in their own words. Each episode of the show is a new story, told from the perspective of someone who lived it. Season 1 features tales from the Civil Rights era from the 1960s to the early 70s. GUEST: Khaliph Young, Tapestry in Black director ____ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in...

There's a lot to think about when you're at the grocery store: your meal plans, your taste, your budget. But what about your plastic bag consumption? Today on the show, one artist’s cheeky take on the problem of single use plastics through art. And then, the Democratic effort to reverse the state's ban on local plastic bag bans. GUESTS: Robin Frohardt, Brooklyn-based artist and filmmaker State Senator Jeff Irwin, Democrat representing Michigan's 15th district More information about The...

This last weekend, nine candidates vying for Michigan Republican Party Chair took part in a forum in Midland. All nine endorsed false claims that the last two elections had fraudulent outcomes. Among the candidates for the top spot are some failed nominees for statewide office, including former attorney general nominee Matt DePerno and former secretary of state nominee Kristina Karamo. Craig Mauger of The Detroit News has been following the candidates as they look to lead one of Michigan’s...

At the age of 15, Leslie King was sex trafficked in Grand Rapids. For 20 years, she endured sexual exploitation, violence, and drug addiction, until finally escaping in the summer of 2000. Today, King runs an outreach organization in Grand Rapids called Sacred Beginnings. Its mission is to connect with others who may be victims of sex trafficking, and provide them with supplies and support. After years spent rebuilding her life, filling out applications, working with lawyers, and receiving...

Two months before Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington, tens of thousands gathered to watch him speak in Detroit — a city that’s home to so many Black activists, artists, and entrepreneurs. Since then, it hasn’t all been easy for Black Detroiters, but the elections of Mayor Coleman A. Young, and Congressman John Conyers brought forward a new era of Black leadership. In recent years, Detroit has lost Black representation in both local and...

Remember video rental stores? We went to one of the last ones in Michigan. _______ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Cheers!" has been a longstanding Stateside feature, and now co-hosts Tammy Coxen and Lester Graham have prepped their last call. After 100 drinks from the mixology team, they'll wrap up their run in February. Today, we toast them! GUESTS: Lester Graham and Tammy Coxen are co-hosts of the radio series "Cheers!" and co-authors of the book Cheers to Michigan: A Celebration of Cocktail Culture and Craft Distillers. Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like...

In Ottawa County - in West Michigan, a slate of nine new commissioners just took office. In their first meeting on January 3rd, they made some sweeping changes to county operations. Not everybody was happy about it. Today on the pod, a new kind of Republican takes control in reliably red Ottawa County. GUEST: Dustin Dwyer, Michigan Radio's West Michigan reporter Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our...

French documentary filmmaker Dorian Degoutte couldn't bare dumping his 1997 Ford Fiesta. So instead he took took his car from France for one last journey to where it all began: Detroit. Read the original article here. GUEST: Dorian Degoutte, filmmaker Phoebe Wall Howard, reporter at the Detroit Free Press _______ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Additional music by Blue Dot...

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein publicly admonished a colleague on the court for hiring a clerk whose past Bernstein thought unbecoming of the court. Bernstein's decision to lambast Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, and her clerk, has drawn sharp criticism. Bernstein issued a statement to apologize today, but not before the clerk resigned under duress. Here's Bernstein's statement: “Today, I apologized to my colleague Justice Kyra Harris Bolden in-person at the Hall of Justice...

“Liar, Dreamer, Thief,” which is listed as a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Goodreads and Overdrive, is about a young woman trying to repair her glitched-up life as she surveils a man she works with – a man with whom she believes she shares some kind of connection. The truth that unravels turns out to be more surprising than she can imagine. Author Maria Dong joined us to talk about how her Korean-American identity and experience living with ADHD informed the protagonist's adventure in...

Michigan musicians released an impressive list of hits in 2022. Joe Hertler, frontman of Lansing-based band Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers, brought us a mixtape of some of his favorite Michigan-based bands and songs from the year. You can find the full list of songs here. GUESTS: Joe Hertler, ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions. See...

Four-term US Senator Debbie Stabenow announced that she will retire at the end of this term in 2025. Today we’re talking about what Senator Stabenow has accomplished in her time and what this news means for the senate race in 2024. GUESTS: Rick Pluta, ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin McCarthy has failed, numerous times, to win over his caucus for enough votes to become Speaker of the U.S. House. What's the view from Michigan's Republicans in Congress? All of Michigan's Republicans in Congress support McCarthy for Speaker. Here's our conversation with one of them. GUEST: Jack Bergman ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions. See...

After an underwhelming opening to the NFL season, the Detroit Lions are making news as potential playoff contenders. Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, Jim Harbaugh is rumored to be leaving the University of Michigan Wolverines to return to the NFL. Nick Baumgardner, a senior writer with The Athletic, caught us up on all the football news that's unfolded over the past week. GUEST: Nick Baumgardner, senior writer, The Athletic ___ Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If...