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Words The Podcast - Episode 5: The Statement
This week The Michigan Daily published its annual literary issue of its weekly insert The Statement. It featured 13 works of short fiction and poetry. We spoke with The Statement editor Ian Dillingham and three of the literary issue contributors (including Words' own Phil Witteveen!)
Kari Simonsen discusses her short story, The Color Blind Knitter
JP Seguin talks Allen Ginsberg and his poem Disrespect
Phil Witteveen elaborates on life, flash fiction, and his short story Course Evaluation
Read all three works, and more, at the The Statement’s literary issue.
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Words The Podcast - Episode 4: The Human Heart
Jeremy Allen is a reporter for The Ann Arbor News. His article Brothers without hearts: Man makes history at U-M Hospital as first patient discharged with Total Artificial Heart was wildly popular. Fellow Ann Arbor News reporter Ben Freed stops by to discuss newsroom antics.
Jeremy Berkowitz is a filmmaker. His story, Catherine the Caterpillar, is about an insect that burrows inside the heart of young boy, and has to decided whether it wants to burst out of the boy’s heart.
Jack Bologna is the creator of Words the Podcast, and he brought a mic to the radiology department for a recent CT scan of his heart. His dad, James, helps tell the story I Hope I Have a Broken Heart.
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Words The Podcast - Episode 3: The Next Step
Lucy Tobier is the 10-year-old editor-in-chief of The Murray Avenue Times, the monthly, hyperlocal newspaper all about Murray Ave. in Ann Arbor. If you’d like to order the February edition of her paper, email her at Lucy.is.here.101@gmail.com.
Jacob Conflitti is a writer and the author of For Your Viewing Pleasure, a short story about a dystopian future where people in deep debt are forced into gladiator-style fights for the entertainment of the wealthy.
Brandon Reisch is the director of the Ann Arbor Poetry Blast, a city-wide poetry initiative. Learn more about this project and how to get involved by visiting the Ann Arbor Poetry Blast tab on our website.
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Words The Podcast - Episode 1: Beginnings
Dave Askins, formerly of The Ann Arbor Chronicle, Dave discusses his new civic engagement project, CivCity. Dave also brings a copy of Ann Arbor’s most hyperlocal print publication, The Murray Avenue Times.
Jeff Garland wrote Shredded Duck Confit, a short story about a caterer at the Michigan Union who can’t seem to get anyone to try his hors d’ouevres. The story is based on T.S. Eliot’s poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
Brendan McCaffery is a poet who writes about sex, drugs, and college. He both disparages and challenges Generation Y. Read the poems featured on this episode.
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Online News And The First Amendment with Jennifer Dukarski
This National Library Week event, featuring attorney Jennifer Dukarski, is an in-depth look at online publishing and First Amendment issues and is co-sponsored by AADL and the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC) Institute a non-profit created to sponsor and support First Amendment education and research.
It covers a wide variety of subjects such as the intricacies of online publishing, interactivity, user generated content, crowd sourcing, defamation, privacy, copyright, and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and also features specific examples and significant case law relating to these issues.
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New York Times Modern Love Columnist Daniel Jones Discusses His New Book “Love Illuminated: Exploring Life’s Most Mystifying Subject (With the Help of 50,000 Strangers)”
Since its inception in 2004, Daniel Jones has edited the wildly popular Modern Love column, which runs weekly in the Sunday New York Times.
He discusses his just-released new book Love Illuminated: Exploring Life’s Most Mystifying Subject (With the Help of 50,000 Strangers) the story of love from beginning to end (or not). This event includes a book signing and books will be for sale.
As the editor of a column about love in the New York Times, Daniel Jones has been privy to the deepest personal revelations of tens of thousands of strangers. Deluged with stories of scheming cheaters, hopeless romantics, racy texts, and fierce devotion, he has spent much of the past decade wading through love's muck and majesty—and has taken plenty of notes along the way. In "Love Illuminated," Daniel Jones draws from the 50,000 tales of love that have crossed his desk and traces the arc of human relationships through ten phases, starting with the pursuit, destiny, vulnerability, connection, and trust of new love, and then turning to the practicality, monotony, infidelity, loyalty, and wisdom of love matured. With empathy and wry humor, he takes readers on an enlightening journey through the highs, lows, and enduring unknowns of this universal experience that rattles the head and stirs the heart.
As Jones explains, "Love is about curiosity, not certainty. It's about tossing oneself overboard into the wild seas, not remaining safely on deck."
Daniel Jones’ books include two essay anthologies, Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion and The Bastard on the Couch: 27 Men Try Really Hard to Explain Their Feelings About Love, Loss, Fatherhood, and Freedom. His novel, After Lucy, was a finalist for the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Parade, Real Simple, Redbook, and elsewhere.
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Music And Pop Culture Writer Susan Whitall Discusses Her Career And Her Amazing Interviews!
Susan Whitall was one of a handful of women on staff at the brash, irreverent Creem magazine in the mid-1970s, the rock journal immortalized in Cameron Crowe's film "Almost Famous." In the late '70s she became one of the first women to edit a national rock magazine when she took over the top editor's job.She is the author of "Fever: Little Willie John: A Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul" (Titan Books, June 2011), a biography of one of the greatest R&B singers to come out of Detroit, a favorite of Marvin Gaye, B.B. King and Aretha Franklin, best friends with Levi Stubbs and Jerry Butler."Women of Motown," numerous feature articles for magazines and newspapers, and liner notes for albums, including the booklet essay in the "Chrome Collection" Spinners box set.Since the 1980s Susan has been a feature writer for the Detroit News, writing about pop culture, music and radio, often returning to stories about the R&B and soul music that came out of the Motor City.
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Reporting the Election: The Michigan Radio Elections Team
The 2012 election is in its final weeks. What is it like to cover elections from U.S. Presidents to the state legislature to local initiatives? Michigan Radio's Elections Team will discuss the challenges of covering races across Michigan and the speed bumps that occur on the campaign trail for reporters, candidates and politicos. Panelists include: - Vincent Duffy, who has been News Director at Michigan Radio since May 2007. He is also the Chair-elect of the Radio-Television-Digital News Association (RTDNA), the world's largest professional organization exclusively serving the electronic news profession.- Zoe Clark, who is the producer of the new Michigan Radio talk show Stateside, as well as the co-host of the Friday afternoon segment It's Just Politics on Michigan Radio. She currently produces Morning Edition, Jack Lessenberry's daily essays, and Michigan Radio's local interviews, including those by All Things Considered host Jennifer White and Morning Edition host Christina Shockley. - Rick Pluta, who has been the Managing Editor and State Capitol bureau chief since 1996. His beats include the Legislature and courts, as well as environmental and legal issues. Pluta has covered the Michigan Capitol since 1987. His radio work has aired on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Marketplace, Marketplace Money, Justice Talking, and Soundprint.Do not miss this special discussion, co-sponsored by Michigan Radio and The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area.
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An Evening With Dan Rather As He Discusses His Just-Released Memoir: "Rather Outspoken: My Life In The News"
The Ann Arbor District Library is honored to host an evening with journalist Dan Rather as he discusses his new memoir "Rather Outspoken: My Life In The News." The event, which includes a booksigning, will be held at The Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty in Ann Arbor. Books will be on sale. There is no charge to attend this special evening event, cosponsored by Michigan Radio. Given his distinguished record and his long exposure on television around the globe, Dan Rather may be the best-known journalist in the world. He has covered virtually every major event in the world in the past 60 years. His resume reads like a history book, from his early local reporting in Texas on Hurricane Carla to his unparalleled work covering the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; the civil rights movement; the White House and national politics; wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, Yugoslavia and Iraq. From his first days as the Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas, in 1950, Rather has more than earned his reputation as the "hardest working man in broadcast journalism."Rather served as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News from 1981 to 2005, the longest such tenure in broadcast journalism history. He helped to found 48 Hours, a broadcast he anchored and reported for from its premiere on Jan. 19, 1988, through 2002. He was a correspondent for 60 Minutes from 1975 to 1981, and again from 2005 to the summer of 2006. Rather also helped to found and served as a correspondent for 60 Minutes II from its debut on Jan. 13, 1999, to its final edition in 2005. His regular contributions to CBS News Radio included Dan Rather Reporting, a weekday broadcast of news and analysis on the CBS Radio Network from 1981 to 2004. In 2006 Rather founded the company News and Guts and became anchor and managing editor of HDNet's Dan Rather Reports, which specializes in investigative journalism and international reporting.He has received virtually every honor in broadcast journalism, including numerous Emmy and Peabody Awards and citations from critical, scholarly, professional and charitable organizations. Rather has also authored or co-authored seven books, four of which have become New York Times bestsellers."Rather Outspoken: My Life In The News" is told in a straightforward and conversational manner. Readers will note his distinctive voice on every page. Rather discusses the major stories from his decades of reporting, including inside stories of top personalities he has either interviewed or worked with over his remarkable career. He also discusses his controversial dismissal from CBS, the Abu Ghraib story, the George W. Bush Air National Guard controversy, his coverage of the JFK assassination, the origin of "Hurricane Dan" and much more. The book also include Rather's thoughts and reflections on the state of journalism today and what he sees for its future, as well as never-before-revealed personal observations and commentary. Join us for this fascinating evening with Dan Rather.
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Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads Event: An Evening With Author Stephen G. Bloom: Making Sense Of The World
The theme for Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Reads 2012 is Language: How We Communicate. Award-winning journalist Stephen G. Bloom, the UM Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism, will discuss how he communicates through non-fiction writing - including his December piece "Observations From 20 Years of Iowa Life" in The Atlantic which set off a firestorm of controversy placing him in the national spotlight. Bloom will also discuss the role of journalists today, touching on the future of journalism and nonfiction writing. Since 1993, Bloom has been on the faculty of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa, where he is Professor and the Bessie Dutton Murray Professional Scholar. Prior to joining the Iowa faculty, Bloom was a staff writer at the Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, and Dallas Morning News. He was a Brazilian correspondent for the Field News Service and national news editor at the Latin America Daily Post. He is the author of "Tears of Mermaids: The Secret Story of Pearls," "The Oxford Project" with photographer Peter Feldstein, "Inside the Writer's Mind" and "Postville: A Clash of Cultures In Heartland America." His work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The New York Times Magazine, Washington Post, Wilson Quarterly, Salon, Chronicle of Higher Education, American Journalism Review, International Herald Tribune, Chicago Tribune Magazine, Money, Journal of Health Communication, Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, American Editor, and National Public Radio's All Things Considered.