Stateside

Jeffrey Seller is one of the biggest Broadway producers. Beyond ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Rent,’ Seller’s work has grossed billions of dollars. The 60-year-old Tony award winner is nothing short of a living Broadway legend. But before the spotlight, Seller was another Michigan theatre kid – an outsider everywhere but school play rehearsals. Seller's new memoir, Theater Kid: a Broadway Memoir, explores the path that took him to Broadway. GUEST: Jeffrey Seller, Broadway producer and author of Theater Kid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever feel the need to get away? Perhaps, to a galaxy far, far away? Michiganders did just this past May the 4th. Every year for two weekends a warehouse in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood gets converted into a Star Wars universe. A small army of do-it-yourself artists, makers, and fun-seekers transform a half-block of space into, well, outerspace. The detail is otherworldly – streetscapes closely resembling Tatooine (otherwise known as Luke Skywalker’s home planet), stucco storefronts, dust-covered tents, and cosplay Mandalorians decked with helmets, breastplates, and blaster pistols. Space Dive takes place atTangent Gallery, generally around May 4. There are still tickets available for this weekend’s events. Star Wars attire is mandatory, as declared by the Empire. GUESTS: John DunivantDaniel LandEric Heerspink Check out photos from the event here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mistrial was declared when a jury in Grand Rapids failed to reach consensus on the conviction or acquittal of Christopher Schurr, the police officer who shot and killed Patrick Lyoya. GUESTS: Dustin Dwyer, Michigan Public Michelle Jokisch Polo, Michigan Public To listen to full episodes of Stateside, head over here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ann Arbor Writer Michelle Yang came to the states as a child, after growing up in a Chinese family in South Korea. Her debut Memoir, Phoenix Girl: How a Fat Asian with Bipolar Found Love, is a warm, engrossing story of becoming unmoored, and finding connection and community, even as she’s fighting with fierce cultural pressures about her own body image and identity as a woman. GUESTS: Michelle Yang: author, Phoenix Girl: How a Fat Asian with Bipolar Found Love Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Audio Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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: EVENT DETAILS: GR Stories: This is our home now, 50 years of building community after Saigon 50 Years After Saigon: Vietnamese Stories of a New Home See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions and Audio Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Please take a moment to fill out our listener survey. Your feedback helps The Dish team make the show great! 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! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 April 3, a report from Reuter 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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ecorse, about 15 minutes south of Detroit, is facing major financial challenges. The city could run out of cash by the end of this month. On this episode, we hear how Ecorse ended up here—and its options for digging itself back out. GUEST: Louis Aguilar, Wayne County reporter for the Detroit News Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The city of Dearborn is launching RX Kids, a financial assistance program aimed at providing thousands of dollars for expectant mothers and their newborns. The program first begun in Flint and has expanded to Kalamazoo and several other counties in the Upper Peninsula. GUEST: Abdullah Hammoud is the mayor of the city of Dearborn. He announced the launch of the program in Dearborn during this year's State of the City address. Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since Michigan legalized marijuana more than five years ago, cannabis has become pretty visible in everyday life. Dispensaries are everywhere, you can get marijuana in the form of candy and baked goods, and the industry is generating billions of dollars every year. But there’s also growing concern about how that normalization is affecting kids. A record number of Michigan kids were hospitalized last year for cannabis, according to the state’s poison control center. In the last five years, they received about 1,500 reports of kids under the age of six being exposed to or ingesting CBD, THC, or other cannabis products. We’re talking with Michigan Public reporters Kate Wells and Adam Yahya Rayes. They’ve been digging into what the numbers tell us, talking to parents, doctors, and people in the cannabis industry about why this is happening. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With vaccine hesitancy and measles infections rising among children in the state — some parents are concerned. Here's what you should know about the virus and how to protect against it. GUEST: Dr. Rebecca Schein, a pediatrician specializing in infectious disease and a Michigan State University assistant professor, is paying close attention to the measles cases in the state. Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singer-songwriter May Erlewine’s new album offers a different side of an artist known for warm, intimate lyrics and bespoke acoustic arrangements. But the qualities that draw fans into May Erlewine’s music are still here, just with a less-compliant exterior. What It Takes is the second album she’s made with friend and producer Theo Katzman, of the post-funk band Vulfpeck. Erlewine has been thinking about the chaos of the moment and the moral choices she feels compelled to make. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaden Jefferson is 17-years-old and a senior in high school in Toledo. He's also a seasoned reporter, who has interviewed big name politicians like Elizabeth Warren and Tim Walz. Jefferson recently talked to Stateside about how he started his journey as a journalist at just 11-years-old, and what he has learned as the youngest reporter in the room. GUEST: Jaden Jefferson, Toledo-based journalist and host of the Behind the Byline podcast from the Toledo Free Press. You can find him on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms. Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way. If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work. Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.