Michigan Public listeners know that no one covers the globe quite like the BBC World Service. From international news updates in Morning Edition, to Newshour, to hours of terrific nighttime programming, the BBC keeps us in touch with the world.
And once a month, the BBC program World Questions travels to different places around the globe to look at the questions people have about their own countries. And on June 4, "World Questions" is coming to Lansing, Mich., for an event that’s open to the public.
The BBC's Anu Anand will be moderating the panel discussion. She joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about the program and what attendees can expect at the event in Lansing.
BBC World Questions live in Lansing. Lansing Convention Center - June 4 at 6:00pm. Open to the public. Registration required.
Doug Tribou: Let’s start with World Questions. For some of the most recent episodes the BBC has traveled to Spain, the Philippines, Norway, and Zambia, just to name a few. Tell us a little more about "World Questions" and the goal of the show.
Anu Anand: So it's exactly as you set out. We go to a different country every month, but in each country it's the same format really. It's open to the public. You come in, you submit questions that you feel are relevant for the panel that we've assembled. The questions are then chosen before we start recording the program in front of a live audience.
We try to pick a range that takes in, you know, the big issues in that particular region or country. But also sometimes the questions can be about identity. They can be about parenting. They can be about young people, jobs, the climate. It's a really open format. And once we get going, the person whose question we selected asks it, and we have a debate and the audience joins in.
DT: Well, as I mentioned, the list of places that "World Questions" has visited is a long one. Why Michigan and why now?
AA: We're really excited to be coming to Lansing. I'm a Tarheel. I grew up in North Carolina. I've never been to Michigan. So for me, this is a new experience. And the fact that the U.S. is so vast, so different in different places, and the fact that most of the world doesn't tend to hear from swing states like Michigan. We tend to get our American news from Washington and New York. I think this is a brilliant opportunity to hear what voters in Michigan — and probably in other swing states — what kinds of things they're thinking about.
DT: You've got a great panel of experts lined up for the event in Lansing on June 4. Tell us a little bit about them.
AA: So we've got Sarah Anthony, who's a Democratic state senator, and John Damoose, a Republican state senator. So we've kind of got that, you know, left-right, Democrat-Republican part of the debate covered. We've got [political science and public policy] professor Matt Grossman from Michigan State University. Kaitlyn Buss is going to be there. She's with the Detroit News, right of center, a mother, really interested in a lot of issues to do with families and education and kids. So really interested to hear from her.
And then we've got Jennifer Root, who's the executive director of the SEIU union in Michigan. And again, this is about jobs. I mean, everywhere we've been, trade and jobs and livelihoods [are a] big issue and obviously a big issue in Michigan.
DT: Anu, you mentioned that you grew up in North Carolina, and you were born in India, and came here when you were very young. Since then, you've lived and reported from around the world. And I know you'll be taking a lot of questions from your guests and from the people in the audience, but I wonder what you personally hope to learn from the event in Lansing.
AA: Obviously, we have political representatives. And they represent their parties, and they represent their policies. But I think it's a very different experience — in any country — to sit face to face with people and to debate things in an open format where there's no script, where the audience really does get to tell us what the agenda is.
And it's just such a critical time in the Western world. And what I see in the U.S. and the U.K. are really big issues around democracy, around community, around our ability to have these conversations and to try and hammer — if not consensus — at least a kind of civilized debate. And these things are so important, so I'm really looking forward to that.
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Register for tickets to the BBC World Questions live taping in Lansing on June 4 here.
