Stateside: Does Detroit need saving?; red flag gun bill; body image as a social justice issue

Stateside for Thursday, February 28, 2019

Today on Stateside, the co-sponsor of a gun safety bill introduced in the Michigan House explains what his proposed legislation would do to address gun violence. Plus, how a Grand Rapids conference is helping people love and accept their bodies exactly as they are. 

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

Proposed bill would offer legal path to temporarily take guns from people who pose a threatStateside’s conversation with Robert Wittenberg

• On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the first major gun control bill considered by Congress in nearly 25 years. That same day, a bill was introduced in the Michigan House that would allow the temporary seizure of guns from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.  
• Democratic State Representative Robert Wittenberg,  of Huntington Woods, co-sponsored that bill. He joined Stateside to break down the details of the legislation, and share what he thinks it would take to get a vote on it in the Republican-led state legislature.  

Howes: FCA makes a statement with plans for Detroit Jeep plantStateside’s conversation with Daniel Howes

• Fiat Chrysler announced that it wants to invest $4.5 billion and create 6,500 jobs in the Detroit area with a new Jeep plant. Detroit News business columnist Daniel Howes says it's "hard to overestimate the symbolism and economic import"of this news. He breaks down the local government incentives that Fiat Chrysler is looking for, and what he thinks the company should promise Detroit and its taxpayers in exchange. 

Building better body image is a “social justice issue” at Grand Rapids conferenceStateside’s conversation with Connie Flachs and Cassaundra Wolf

• Learning to be comfortable in our own bodies is a lifelong journey. The upcoming Better Body Image Conference seeks to help people talk back to that hypercritical inner voice telling us our bodies need to be fixed.
• We learn how the conference plans to do that from Connie Flachs, co-founder of the conference, and panelist at this year's event Cassaundra Wolf.
• The Better Body Image Conference will take place in Grand Rapids on Saturday, March 2. 

Exhibit explores colorful past of Ancient Rome’s white marble statuesStateside’s conversation with Cathy Person

• When you think of the architecture of ancient Rome, images of stark white marble structures probably come to mind. But a new exhibition called "Ancient Colors" at the University of Michigan's Kelsey Museum of Archaeology proves that's not what Julius Caesar and Cicero saw in their day.
• Cathy Person is the exhibit's co-curator. She tells us about the technology her team used to discover traces of color on pieces in the Kelsey Collection, and how their findings have changed the way she thinks and feels about ancient Rome. 

Exploring M*A*S*H’s Michigan connections on 36th anniversary of final episodeStateside’s conversation with Howard Markel

• Thirty-six years ago tonight, 121.6 million Americans tuned in for the final episode of M*A*S*H, the most-watched TV broadcast in American history. Viewers loved the exploits of the surgeons and nurses of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit during the Korean War.
• The show actually inspired University of Michigan medical historian and PBC contributor Dr. Howard Markel to pursue a career in medicine. Markel joined us to talk about why he thinks the iconic series captured audiences for over ten years — and why it spoke so deeply to him.

Shinola, Dan Gilbert, and the savior narrative about Detroit that won’t go awayStateside’s conversation with Kim Trent

• When director Peter Farrelly, upon receiving the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Green Book gave a shout out to Shinola watches for "saving Detroit," we wondered: Who gets to decide who is "saving" Detroit? And does the city need saving in the first place?
• Kim Trent is a Detroit-based writer and former journalist who sits on the Wayne State University Board of Governors. She shares her take on Farrelly's comment, the persistent nature of the "white savior" narrative in Detroit, and what she thinks is a more truthful view of the city in 2019. 

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