A Conversation With Chef and Writer Tunde Wey

Wed, 07/11/2018 - 8:56am

Nigerian-born chef and writer Tunde Wey opened a restaurant in Detroit in 2013. A year later, realizing that the influx of capital to the city was not contributing to an inclusive revival but to the profit of those already "fluent in the language of privilege," Tunde left the restaurant and moved to New Orleans. 

He now travels around the country holding dinners, using food as a medium to have conversations about race, equity, and cultural values. Recently, the has received national press for Saarti, his lunch counter in New Orleans where white patrons were asked to pay $30 per plate and people of color were charged $12 per plate as a way to call attention to racial wealth disparity. Participants of color could “opt-in” to receive the profit redistribution. 

In this video, artist and Stamps School Professor Rebekah Modrak (whose works, such as Rethink Shinola, critically intervene in consumption) moderates a conversation with Tunde about his work as a chef, his decision to use food as provocation, the possibility of transforming consumptive acts through dinners and pop-up restaurants, discriminatory development, racial wealth disparity, and the importance of self-determination in affecting the outcomes of your life and community.  While in Ann Arbor, Wey also hosted two private dinners for local residents and advocates concerned with equity and race and offered food truck conversations for four nights.

Poetry Event: Marcus Wicker

Fri, 05/25/2018 - 3:22pm

Marcus Wicker is the recipient of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, a Pushcart Prize, The Missouri Review's Miller Audio Prize, as well as fellowships from Cave Canem, and the Fine Arts Work Center. Join us as he discusses his life, his poetry, and his newest collection Silencer.

#46 Ann Arbor Stories: The Battle of Ann Arbor

Thu, 03/01/2018 - 5:34am

Four nights of rioting, dozens of injuries to cops and citizens, and more than 70 arrests—it was an event The Detroit Free Press dubbed “The Battle of Ann Arbor”. What sparked this violence and how did the insane scene play out in the summer of 1969?

Music by FAWNN & ZShipps

#45 Ann Arbor Stories: Highway Snipers

Wed, 02/07/2018 - 5:30am

There wasn't a lot of traffic on M-14 on that last day of August 1981. It was 3am. Semi trucks bound for points in Michigan and throughout the Midwest, cars carrying people headed to work, cars taking people home after long nights. It was at this time on this day on this stretch of highway that more than 200 bullets rained down on speeding cars, trucks and semis, causing mass panic and chaos. This is the story of the 1981 highway snipers.

Music by Michna and Ben Benjamin, courtesy of GhoLicense.

Author M. Joanne Nesbit Discusses Her Book "Legendary Locals of Ann Arbor, Michigan"

Sun, 12/03/2017 - 3:21pm

Graced by the Huron River with an abundance of parks, Ann Arbor offers residents and visitors entertainment, sports, shopping, dining, and of course, the University of Michigan.

Legendary Locals of Ann Arbor, Michigan celebrates its citizens. Many are creative artists, inspiring educators, dedicated public servants, and determined business owners. With the exception of Lewis the cat, who reigned at Downtown Home and Garden, this book is filled with stories about people who have made and are making Ann Arbor one of the best places to live in the United States.

Co-author Joanne Nesbit discusses some of the great stories they discovered while putting together the book and how local legends were selected. With a career spanning journalism and as a public information officer at Indiana University and the University of Michigan, Nesbit has always been fascinated by local history, stories, and people. She is the author of three other books, and is the founder of Knitwits at the University of Michigan.

#44 Ann Arbor Stories: Professor Foxy Truesport

Thu, 10/12/2017 - 5:30am

This is the story of Thomas Clarkson Trueblood—the first golf coach at the University of Michigan, one of the most respected orators in the world during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and noted professor --- of lovemaking.

Get to know Professor Foxy Truesport.

Music by Tunde Olaniran

#43 Ann Arbor Stories: How the Hippies Almost Killed Football

Thu, 09/28/2017 - 5:30am

In 1970, one man tried to stop the University of Michigan and Michigan State from playing their annual football game. And he kind of had an argument. A story of rock music, drugs, sex, love-ins, college football and judicial precedent - fun for the whole family!

Music by Hollow & Akimbo

Listener Warning: Episode contains references to sex, drugs, and the Ann Arbor band The Seventh Seal which played music so mind bending that it drove people to riot.

#42 Ann Arbor Stories: The Chameleon

Thu, 09/14/2017 - 5:30am

You're going to hear a story about a man. It may seem too good and too weird to be true, but trust me—what you are about to hear is 100% real. This is the story of William Douglas Street, better known as The Chameleon.

Music by Shout Out Out Out Out

Vietnam Vet Tim Keenan Discusses His Journey On The Appalachian Trail and His Book "The Good Hike"

Wed, 09/06/2017 - 10:56am

In 1967, Tim Keenan grew to loathe the impenetrable jungle of Vietnam during his one-year tour of duty as a combat soldier. For the 47 years following, he couldn’t shake his dread of the woods, until he confronted his fears head-on and began a hike of the 2,178.3-mile Appalachian Trail.

The Good Hike is Keenan’s story of finally coming to peace with himself, buoyed by the healing powers of nature and his fellow hikers. His story weaves in the beautiful towns and mountains of the great Appalachian Trail with his experiences in the jungle and battle zones around Dak To, including the infamous Hill 1338.

#41 Ann Arbor Stories: Skyscrapers

Thu, 08/31/2017 - 5:30am

Skyscraper is such an elegant word. Two decades after it was first used in print to describe Chicago's tall-building craze, Ann Arbor had its first skyscraper—the seven-story Glazier Building. Twenty years later, the 10-story First National Building went up. This is the story of some of Ann Arbor's first skyscrapers, it's tallest building and the 30-story behemoth that never was.

Music by Chris Bathgate.