Beaver Island

It’s bookclub Friday here on Stateside! Today we re-aired conversations with three Michigan authors whose stories grew out of the real-life histories of our state.

On this Stateside episode, James Jesse Strang — the self-professed Mormon prophet and successor to Joseph Smith who, for a few years in the 1840s and 50s, ruled as the pirate king of a Mormon “utopia” on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan. Also, a recipe for a scone-based riff on strawberry shortcakes, and a “bitcoin mining farm” in the eastern UP.

On this Stateside episode, James Jesse Strang — the self-professed Mormon prophet and successor to Joseph Smith who, for a few years in the 1840s and 50s, ruled as the pirate king of a Mormon “utopia” on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan. Also, a recipe for a scone-based riff on strawberry shortcakes, and a “bitcoin mining farm” in the eastern UP.

Today, details of the historic exchange that allowed the U.S. to welcome home Michigander Paul Whelan from a Russian prison. Then, the founder of The Sphinx Organization reflects on the ways music-making helped him construct a sense of identity. Plus, Beaver Island State Wildlife Research Area celebrates its status as an international dark sky sanctuary.

Mary Scholl wrote The Empty House about 60 years ago. It was just published this month. Scholl joined Stateside to talk about her time at her grandparent's cottage on Beaver Island, writing her book, and how her book was brought back to life after decades in the dark.

What the Project 2025 playbook might look like for Michigan during a second Trump term. Then, a beautifully illustrated 60-year-old children’s book written by a nonagenarian Beaver Island resident publishes for the first time. And, things to keep in mind for yourself and children while summertime doom scrolling on your phone.

An update on James Crumbley's trial, a cookbook with Chinese-American recipes from a third-culture kitchen, and a trip to Beaver Island.

With no fudge shops and no souvenir traps, Lake Michigan's Beaver Island makes it a perfectly peaceful summer getaway for those looking to enjoy the state's natural beauty.

Detroit water shut-offs ramp up, alga-blooms in the Great Lakes, behind the scenes at Beaver Island and touring musicians transform the pandemic lockdown into creativity.

The United States faced growing turmoil in the mid-19th century as technological change, abolitionist and religious movements and westward expansion…