Stateside Podcast

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: 

• Le Tran, art teacher at East Kentwood High School
• Christina Le, junior at East Kentwood and one of the student speakers at GR Stories event

EVENT DETAILS:

GR Stories: This is our home now, 50 years of building community after Saigon

• May 7 @ the Grand Rapids Public Museum, 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

50 Years After Saigon: Vietnamese Stories of a New Home

• May 9 @ The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. 

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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!” 

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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.