Stateside

Today on Stateside, pollster Richard Czuba on how news consumers should be looking at media coverage of polls in 2018. Plus, Stateside kicks off a week-long series about the challenges Michigan veterans face connecting with VA benefits after returning to civilian life. Two veterans, one who served in Vietnam and one who served in Iraq, discuss their experiences navigating life after returning home from war. 

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

Over the past two years, Michiganders across the state have become aware of the chemicals known as PFAS. They first made news when elevated levels were found in more than 20 private water wells in Oscoda. Now, there are 35 known contamination sites around the state.

Today on Stateside, a conversation about the dismal state of special education in Michigan in light of a recent report that names it as the only state in need of federal intervention to help improve special education curriculum. Plus, an environmental health expert talks about the potential health risks associated with PFAS exposure. 

Today on Stateside, why the auto industry is breathing "a sigh of relief" after President Trump announced the trilateral trade deal that will replace NAFTA. Plus, an Oscoda resident shares his experience of being affected by PFAS contamination, kicking off Michigan Radio's week-long series on contamination by the chemicals across the state.    

Today on Stateside, our political analysts weigh in on a study that suggests Michigan is unprepared for another recession. Then, we talk to a member of a grassroots, campus-based organization working to bridge the American political divide. Plus, the future of plant-based plastics.

Today on Stateside, we hear from a Michigan soybean farmer on how President Trump's escalating trade war with China is projected to affect the state's agriculture producers. Plus, Stateside's education commentator Matinga Ragatz weighs in on the teacher shortage crisis facing Michigan schools. 

It just got harder for the Democrats to win control of the state House in November.

That's because Jennifer Suidan, the Democratic candidate for state representative in a key Oakland County district, has been accused of stealing funds from the campaign of Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner while she was working at a Southfield-based law firm as his campaign committee's designated record keeper. 

Governor Rick Snyder still can’t build a bridge between a union and a construction trade association to end a roadwork stoppage across the state.

Today on Stateside, a former Environmental Protection Agency advisor, along with hundreds of of other former EPA employees, are speaking out against the Trump administration's plan to weaken national fuel economy standards. Plus, Detroit Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff on his new book Sh*tshow: The Country's Collapsing... and the Ratings are Great. 

Megan Abbott has been writing crime fiction for more than a decade. With two major TV adaptations in the works, many in the industry are calling Abbott Hollywood’s next big novelist. Abbott grew up in the Detroit area before graduating from the University of Michigan and heading to New York University for her Ph.D in English and American Literature.

For more than 40 years, Mustard's Retreat has been carrying the banner of folk music. The group's newest album Make Your Own Luck is out now. 

Like something out of a gangster movie, radio personality Jerry Buckley was gunned down in the La Salle Hotel in Detroit 88 years ago this week.

Buckley’s killer was never found, and the mystery of his death involves mobsters, a city mired in violence, and a corrupt mayor who was recalled, in part, because Buckley protested his election on the radio.

Were the children of Flint "poisoned?”

It’s a word that gets tossed around a lot in connection to the lead exposure caused by Flint’s improperly treated drinking water.

But in an opinion piece published in Sunday’s New York Times, Dr. Hernán Gómez and co-author Kim Dietrich argue that saying Flint's children have been poisoned "unjustly stigmatizes their generation."

There are some classic campfire stories we hear again and again, like Bloody Mary or the hitchhiker. Then there are stories unique to the place they are told.