Literature

Today, the story of how a B-list celebrity reshaped the Republican party…in the 1970s. We chat with the host of the podcast Landslide, which explores how the presidential face-off between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan helped shape our current political climate. Then, book lovers unite in Detroit! A community event is coming this weekend, uniting readers across genres and generations.

Today, we spoke with an ACLU attorney about the decades-long push for LGBTQ+ rights in Michigan. Plus, we revisited a conversation with Iraqi American writer Dunya Mikhail, author of the book The Bird Tattoo.

On today's show, we chatted about the tantalizing possibilities for the Lions in the playoffs, plus other football news. Then, a word with a creative writing professor on the 2022 "words of the year." We also discussed the controversy surrounding concrete crushing facilities in Detroit. Plus, we spoke about a new partnership that'll make Detroit a manufacturing hub for one electric bike company. To end, a review of a memoir that was shaped by Detroit's landscapes.

For some Black people in the 19th and 20th centuries, "passing" meant living part or all of your life as non-Black. Recent creative works — Lovecraft Country, Passing, and The Vanishing Half — have brought the idea of passing back to the forefront. This month on Stateside, we discuss the life of a Detroiter who passed as white in the '40s and return to historical, pop culture references to passing in America.

Cultural references to passing have been around for a long time. But recent works like the Rebecca Hall’s film adaptation of Nella Larsen’s book, Passing, have brought it back to the forefront. Today, we talk about the contexts that have caused this narrative to recur across the centuries.

Michigan is about to receive nearly $800 million in settlement money from opioid manufacturers and distributors to address addiction in the state. Today’s show digs into the settlement and where that money will go to tackle Michigan’s opioid crisis. After that, we revisit two of our favorite author conversations from the past year.

What novels and movies about Black people living as white can tell us about race in the United States. Check-ins on the status of Michigan’s collegiate men’s basketball teams and the state’s elk population. Plus, the year-round commitment of Michigan’s professional Santa Clauses.

Today on Stateside, new data shows a link between COVID outbreaks and schools with no mask mandate. A metro Detroit writer crosses genre boundaries with her debut novel. Then, NBA floor announcer John Mason looks back on his days in radio.

Flint born-poet, Jonah Mixon Webster, talks about his remarkable new collection Stereo(TYPE).

Author and activist adrienne marie brown’s Afrofuturist novella Grievers imagines a fictional Detroit where a mysterious and deadly illness is spreading rapidly, plaguing the city with grief.