Stateside

Today on Stateside, the Michigan Senate will meet in a special Saturday session this weekend to make recommendations for school reopenings. We hear from two reporters about what factors lawmakers are considering as they plan for what a return to the classroom could look like this fall. Plus, a Detroit-born journalist discusses how racial profiling and police brutality complicated his relationship with the cars he grew up loving. 

A shaken daiquiri is really simple to make. Making a frozen daiquiri at home can be done, but there’s a trick to making it right as Tammy Coxen of Tammy’s Tastings shows us.

“If you just take the regular ingredients of a daiquiri: rum, lime juice, simple syrup and put them in a blender and add some ice...When you finish mixing that up, the results going to be kind of watery,” Tammy explained. 

The way to make your own slushy daiquiri at home takes just a little bit of advance prep as Tammy learned.

Today on Stateside, playwright and Detroit native Michael R. Jackson talks about the meta-musical that earned him a Pulitzer Prize for drama. Plus, as many local newspapers close up shop, one family has kept the Minden City Herald in Michigan's Thumb running for more than 70 years. 

After decades at the helm of the Minden City Herald in Sanilac County, Paul Engel is passing control of the small town newspaper to his grandson Nathan Marks and his wife Amber. The publication has been in operation since 1889 and serves the communities of Minden City, Ubly, Harbor Beach, and Deckerville in Michigan’s Thumb.

Engel inherited the Minden City Herald from his own father, Bill Engel, who bought the paper in 1946. Before passing it on to Marks, Engel says he warned his grandson that taking on the paper would mean a huge lifestyle change.

Today on Stateside, the “veepstakes” are over and the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee is not Gretchen Whitmer. U.S. Senator Kamala Harris will be Democratic candidate Joe Biden's running mate. What does this all mean for Michigan? Plus, a new album from Michigan singer-songwriter May Erlewine offers a dreamy escape from a strange summer.

Free, luscious, uplifting, joyful. These probably aren’t words many of us would use to describe how we feel right now, in the dog days of a uniquely stressful and solitary summer.

But that’s how Michigan singer-songwriter May Erlewine hopes you feel listening to her new album Anyway. The record is a collaboration with Woody Goss of Vulfpack, and it’s scheduled for release Friday, August 14.

The pandemic is putting more families at risk for homelessness as financial pressure builds and eviction moratoriums end. Michigan already has the sixth highest rate of homeless students in the country, and many of those children rely on the consistency of walking into a physical building five days a week. Stateside talked to Jennifer Erb-Downward, a senior research associate with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, about how schools can help students experiencing homelessness, even as classes move online.

Today on Stateside, U.S. Senator Gary Peters joins us to talk about his plans to investigate delivery delays in the United States Postal Service. Also, a check in with a University of Michigan researcher on the impact of the pandemic on Michigan's many homeless students.

Today on Stateside, were you planning on socially distanced tailgating this fall? Bad news: the Big Ten has reportedly voted against going forward with the college football season. We talked to sports reporter Chris Solari about what we know so far. Plus, we've got a conversation with an Escanaba teacher about the unique challenges rural schools face when it comes to online instruction this fall.

Last week, the state’s largest teacher’s union said it would stand behind any teacher who didn’t want to return to an in-person classroom setting. Many teachers have expressed concerns about health risks, both for kids and for themselves, as well as the lack of funding to create safer conditions at schools.

Keith Kindred is one of those teachers. He teaches social studies in South Lyon and wrote this essay for Stateside.

From who grows it to who cooks it, systemic racism has a major impact on the food that we eat. Take, for instance, farming. Less than two percent of America's farm owners are Black.  Many long time Black farmers are working to shift that number. We talked to three of them about their experiences in the agriculture world and how they think about the relationship between race and food. 

Today on Stateside, a conversation with two Black farmers about the causes and consequences of systemic racism in the agriculture industry. Also, an update from the Michigan Radio newsroom on what we know about COVID infections in nursing homes.

Lester: Hi Tammy!

Tammy: Hi Lester!

Lester: That's Tammy Coxen with Tammy’s Tastings. And you have a bottle there that I really like. We visited Eastern Kille in Grand Rapids a while back. I actually bought a bottle of their rye, which was really delicious. You've got the bourbon.

In March of 2019, Daqwan Fistrunk opened up The Green Mile Grille in Detroit. Prior to starting the restaurant, Fistrunk spent seven years in prison, mostly at Lakeland Correctional in Coldwater, Michigan. That's where he met Jimmy Lee Hill, the executive chef at Lakeland who eventually became his mentor.

Today on Stateside, how a Detroit restaurateur went from prisoner to proprietor with help from a prison food program. Plus, a film critic discusses the future of movie viewing.

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Dr. Howard Markel, medical historian at the University of Michigan joined Stateside to talk about the history of vaccine development and what a coronavirus vaccine will and won't mean when it's finally ready.

Today on Stateside, we check in with two reporters and a county clerk about what the primary turnout —both in-person and absentee — tells us about the upcoming general election. Plus, a medical historian walks us through the history of vaccine development and what complicates the race for a COVID-19 vaccine. 

Today on Stateside, what a primary election looks like in the midst of a pandemic. Also, a deep dive into how leftover human feces and other waste from water treatment plants ends up on our farm fields. Plus, what back to school might look like for the University of Michigan. 

Today on Stateside, we'll talk about the biggest races and issues on the August 4 primary ballot. Plus, a conversation with the Michigan Teacher of the Year about the return to school and what it means for his students to have a transgender adult to look up to in their lives.

Today on Stateside, what big funders and foundations can do to make sure arts groups are welcoming to everyone. Plus, an update on how the auto industry is faring during the pandemic.

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Today on Stateside, a conversation with the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit’s board chair about the termination of the museum’s director, who was fired after allegations of racial discrimination surfaced. Also, we revisit a conversation with a couple of art collectors about how the business of buying and selling work by Black artists has changed over the past few decades. 

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The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) has given the green light for some fall sports to get underway. Golf, tennis and cross country can begin competition August 19 and 21. The decision for football, volleyball and soccer isn't expected until August 20.

The experiences of professional and collegiate athletes bring up more questions about resuming competition than answers. John U. Bacon is Michigan Radio's sports commentator. He has been keeping an eye on professional and student athlete's return to the field.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved challenging for restaurants, with operators struggling to navigate continuously shifting questions about staff support, finances, safety, and retooling to meet consumer needs. A restaurant’s return to patio or indoor service might look different depending on its business model, and for fine dining, where the high-end menu is just one part of the overall experience, the path to reopening is uniquely complex.

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Today on Stateside, Senate Republicans have developed a proposal for COVID stimulus that would, most notably, reduce unemployment benefits from the federal government from $600 a week to $200 a week. We talk about the pushback and potential consequences. Plus, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry. Will fine dining survive?

President Trump says he’s preparing to send federal agents to Detroit. 

Earlier this month, the president sent federal agents to Portland, Oregon, to deal with what he called the city’s inability to stop nightly Black Lives Matter protests.

Today on Stateside, we discuss the many legal questions surrounding the president’s authority to send federal agents into a city like Portland, or Detroit. Plus, we talk to the superintendent of schools in Whitefish Township about the unique challenges rural districts face in reopening.

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Listen to the full show above or find individual segments below.

As the nation grapples with how its institutions treat people of color, the surge in conversations about how systemic racism exists in our social structures isn’t confined to the criminal justice or health systems. It’s also affecting the arts community, including in Detroit, where current and former staff and volunteers at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) have formed public campaigns asking for change at these institutions.

Today on Stateside, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been vocal about her decision to only reopen schools if public health officials agree it is safe.

What are the discussions happening between the Governor and the Republican led legislature regarding schools and education funding? Plus a conversation with former Detroit Institute of Arts and Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit employees about systemic racism in art institutions. Also, we spoke with the reporter who wrote about University of Michigan football star Jon Vaughn’s story of survival in “an ecosystem of abuse.”

On May 25, the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer set off protests across the country, as well as conversations about how racial discrimination and disenfranchisement are upheld by different sectors of American society. This summer, Stateside is conducting a series of conversations on what systemic racism looks like. This week we hear from a journalist, a landlord, and the director of a community center about how systemic racism affects housing, from property rental to the way neighborhoods are structured.