books

August Snow is a retired Marine sniper. He's also an ex-police detective who became a multimillionaire after he sued for wrongful termination. But above all, Snow is a Detroiter, and he's the main character in author Stephen Mack Jones' latest novel, Dead of Winter.

Jones joined Michigan Radio Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about the third book in his August Snow series, and plans to make a television show based on the novels.

Every year, the Library of Michigan releases a list of Michigan Notable Books, which features books that are about or set in Michigan — or that were written by authors from the state. But in 2020, the selection committee faced a unique challenge: compiling a list of notable works published in a year like no other.

Today on Stateside, old tensions between Governor Whitmer and state legislative leaders flared during the lame-duck session. Plus, a conversation with the author of the satirical novel The Great American Cheese War about its eerie parallels with some of 2020’s biggest stories. And, we talk more about the vaccines and how distribution is going in Michigan. 

Sometimes fiction tells new truths about history. That’s what happens in author Alice Randall’s latest novel Black Bottom Saints, which draws from the experiences of Black Detroiters who lived in the city’s historic Black Bottom neighborhood. The book is structured like a book of saints in the Catholic tradition. Many of the saints are based on real people, and they give voice to a place that continues to influence Detroit, and the rest of the world, today.

Before 1968, most Americans had never heard music played on a synthesizer, which was then still an emerging technology. Many would also have said at the time that they didn’t know anyone who was transgender. All that began to change, though, when composer Wendy Carlos released her debut album, Switched-On Bach.

The United States faced growing turmoil in the mid-19th century as technological change, abolitionist and religious movements and westward expansion altered American society. Out of the fracture and fervor emerged an unexpected king: a lawyer named James Jesse Strang. He claimed he was a prophet and the new head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, moved his followers to Beaver Island and declared himself the monarch of a Mormon “utopia” in northern Lake Michigan.

Today on Stateside, we talk to Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin about her call for a more coordinated national response to the spread of COVID-19. Plus, we talk to the author of a novel, based on a true story, about a young teacher living alone in the Upper Peninsula during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

Rachael Denhollander has become known in recent years as the leader of the "sister survivors" — a large group of women and girls sexually abused by disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar.

Denhollander was the first person to speak on the record about the sexual abuse she suffered under the guise of treatment. Now, she's out with a memoir about her life and her advocacy titled What Is A Girl Worth: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth About Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics.

After working as a correspondent for Time magazine in Europe and South America in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Charles Eisendrath came to Ann Arbor.

For 30 years, he directed the University of Michigan's Knight-Wallace Fellowships, a program for journalists. 

But his love of Michigan began further north.

Today on Stateside, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is forcing Michigan ports to make expensive changes, even though ports nearby, including one in Toledo, don't have to do the same. Plus, the long and gruesome history of the invasive sea lamprey’s presence in the Great Lakes.

Today on Stateside, what impact does the impeachment inquiry into President Trump have on the auto industry? Plus, a new memoir about the price people pay when they are displaced from their true roots, generation after generation.

Today on Stateside, Michigan’s House Minority Leader shares her reaction to the agreement between Governor Whitmer and Republican legislative leaders to remove the issue of road funding from state budget negotiations. Plus, we talk to Aimee Stephens, a transgender woman involved in an employment discrimination case that is scheduled to go before the United States Supreme Court in October. 

Today on Stateside, a Detroit-based company tries to mediate the “plague” of tax foreclosures in the city of Detroit. Plus, we hear from a judge who might have made a legal path for LGBTQ people to go to court for discrimination even though there are no civil rights protections for them in Michigan.

Today on Stateside, former Michigander Jimmy Aldaoud was deported to Iraq, a country he had never been to, in June. This week, his family says he died after not being able to obtain insulin for his diabetes. We talk to a family friend about what happened. Plus, the challenges of finding inclusive long-term care facilities when you're an LGBT senior.

Today on Stateside, how two new major US Supreme Court decisions will impact Michigan. Plus, with the anniversary of the Stonewall riots this Friday, we look at the history of the gay rights movement in Michigan.

Today on Stateside, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel comments on the recent dismissal of charges against state officials and others for actions related to the Flint water crisis. Plus, an interview with the writer of an "Afrofuturistic techno choreo-poem" set in 3071 Detroit. 

Today on Stateside, Michigan bean farmers send a lot of exports to Mexico. So, what happens to those farmers if President Trump follows through on his threats to add tariffs to Mexican goods? Plus, we hear about a tricked out bicycle with accordion and percussion instruments that blends classical music and public art. 

Today on Stateside, how will the auto industry be impacted if President Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on Mexican goods? Plus, a theater in Kalamazoo brings its productions to life for people with blindness or visual impairment.

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

Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice is the title of a new anthology showcasing regional poets laureate. Our reviewer John Freeman walks us through this new collection of poetry.

Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice is an anthology that acknowledges old questions about whether poetry can affect social change.

Today on Stateside, a Wayne State University law professor remembers Judge Damon Keith, the longest-serving black judge in American history who died Sunday at age 96. Plus, why the popular flower baby’s breath poses a threat to the coastal sand dunes of the Great Lakes.

In her new collection of poems, Goodbye Toothless House, Michigan writer Kelly Fordon takes aim at the idealized facade of marriage and motherhood. Ann Arbor-based poet and writer Keith Taylor has this review for us.

Dorene O’Brien brings exquisite art and unsentimental heart to the characters in her new short story collection, What It Might Feel Like to Hope, published by Baobab Press.

Today on Stateside, the legislature revisits Michigan’s high auto insurance rates, but will a decrease in rates only come with less guaranteed medical care? Plus, a study looks at how an all-renewable energy grid would have fared in January’s polar vortex.

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

In need of some last-minute gift ideas for the book lover in your life?

Never let it be said that your friends at Stateside didn’t try to help you out!

Who better to guide us to some great Michigan books than a couple of Michigan librarians? Tim Gleisner is manager of special collections at the Library of Michigan and Jessica Trotter is with the Capital Area District Library.

Joni Mitchell is one of the most influential singer-songwriters in music history. But earning that title was no simple feat.

Susan Whitall, former writer and editor for the magazine Creem, has edited a new book about Mitchell's life and career called Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters with Joni Mitchell. The book is an anthology of interviews with Mitchell that took place between 1966 and 2014.

Bill Harris has been a central figure in the cultural life of Detroit for a long time. The Kresge Foundation gave him their prestigious Eminent Artist Award several years ago, and his plays have been produced around the country. He has also published poetry and innovative interpretations of African-American history that defy any easy categories.

I know I am one of many readers across Michigan who is very happy to see mystery writer Steve Hamilton bring back our favorite detective, Alex McKnight.