Welcome back to This Person I Met! We are so honored to have Mr. Grant back for a second interview sharing his loving relationship with his wife, Katie. If you were with us for the first episode, you know that Mr. Grant served a jail sentence for 27 years for an armed bank robbery. And now he is the director of "A Brighter Way," an organization in Washtenaw County, serving to help people who were formerly incarcerated. Today, we invite you to join us to hear this uniquely beautiful and heart-warming love story of Mr. and Mrs. Grant.Mrs. Grant was invited to this interview, but was unable to attend due to other circumstances. However, she asked Mr. Grant to bring both Zach and I key chains and dozens of stickers, each bearing positive messages. "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us," one reads. "Each of us is more than the worst thing we've done," another says. In our next and final episode with Mr. Adam Grant, we will get to share what we have learned about his organization "A Brighter Way", and its impact in our society. Please stay tuned, and as always, thank you for your support!

Last summer, as we were planning our podcast for the new school year, an organization called “A Brighter Way” caught our attention. This organization provides help to individuals who were formerly incarcerated in Washtenaw County. As our podcast grew, we became more and more interested in underrepresented communities, and a few months later, we finally had the courage to contact their director, Mr. Adam Grant. Mr. Grant was incredibly warm and accepted our invitation to be interviewed right away. One interview turned into two, and we were absolutely fascinated and humbled to learn everything about his incredible life journey. The next three episodes will be dedicated to him and his organization, “A Brighter Way." There were so many shocking details in this episode, and one of them was his 53-page long love letter to his wife. Mr. Grant generously accepted our invitation to share his unique love story while incarcerated, which you'll hear in the next episode! As always, thank you for your support, and please stay tuned!

November 8th, 2022, We met Ms. Anna Krushelnitskaya in the Ann Arbor Public Library.It was the election day. Ann Arbor Public Library was full of voters casting ballots for all the issues and concerns in people’s minds- inflation, abortion rights, student debt, you name it. On the other side of the globe, in Ukraine, Nov 8th was another day in the war. Fierce fighting continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions; President Zelensky declared not to surrender a single centimeter of the land, and four million Ukrainian people lost power that cold winter evening.Half a year ago, in the same room, we interviewed Melania, a Huron student who came from Ukraine. During an hour-long conversation, Melania told us a lot about her experience in Ukraine and what she knew about the war. The heaviness of the conversation stunned us, and we were saddened, puzzled, and somewhat haunted by the cruelty of the war’s reality. We were eager to seek a second voice, a different perspective to talk about this war because so much we don’t know about the history, the land, and the people from both sides.Luckily, we found the right person to talk to, Ms.Krushelnitskaya. She is a writer, translator, and scholar on Soviet topics. We were honored that Ms. Krushelnitskay accepted our interview invitation.

Each year, about 13.6 million units of whole blood are donated in the U.S. Another 53.5 million units are collected in the form of plasma — a liquid element in human blood containing vital antibodies and proteins. Through some privately owned manufacturers, American donors provide 94% of the plasma used around the world. The reason is simple: unlike whole blood donors, the majority of plasma donors in the US receive compensation. For a growing low-income population, giving plasma is more than a good deed to save lives. It has become an economic coping strategy. Ms. Analidis Ochoa, a doctoral candidate from the University of Michigan is with us today to share her findings about the industry, its regulations, and its potential impacts on the vulnerable and under-represented community in the US.

Thanks for coming back for the 2nd part of Mr. Zach Damon’s story.I first learned about cerebral palsy through reading a book in elementary school, called Out of my Mind. The main character was a little girl who was born with the disorder and was also incredibly bright, most likely a genius. The book has stuck with me all these years, although it was fiction. Our guest today Mr. Zach Damon is a prime, real-life example of a brilliant mind in the disabled community.In the last episode, Mr. Damon talked about how he carried his dream throughout his teen years and became a professional broadcaster working through our local cable channel and social media outlets. Today, he shares what it takes behind the scene to make any show happen.

To start our new season, we invited a very special guest. He is a broadcaster, actor, public speaker, media project manager, supervisor, director, filmmaker, and producer. He hosts “Ann Arbor Tonight”, Michigan's first late-night live audience, televised show. Born with Cerebral Palsy, he is also a lifelong activist for the local disability community.It was a little nerve-wracking to talk with someone with so much experience in something we’re just starting at. But talking to our guest turned out to be super easy because with him being there, there was never a dull moment.So, let’s roll out the red carpet for our guest today, Mr. Zach Damon.

To start our new season, we invited a very special guest. He is a broadcaster, actor, public speaker, media project manager, supervisor, director, filmmaker, and producer. He hosts “Ann Arbor Tonight”, Michigan's first late-night live audience, televised show. Born with Cerebral Palsy, he is also a lifelong activist for the local disability community. It was a little nerve-wracking to talk with someone with so much experience in something we’re just starting at. But talking to our guest turned out to be super easy because with him being there, there was never a dull moment. So, let’s roll out the red carpet for our guest today, Mr. Zach Damon.

Our podcast is one year old! We are thankful for our wonderful guest interviewees to share their stories, and each one of our listeners and every download that makes our work so worthwhile! Special thanks go to the Fifth Ave Studio from Ann Arbor District Library for being our backbone. Mrs. Baker, our first interviewee/long-term supporter is back with us today to celebrate this small milestone and share her thoughts on our podcast. As always, we are in search of interesting stories. Please feel free to contact us with feedback or potential interviewees at [email protected].

Do you know July of each year is Disability pride month? 32 years ago, on July 26th, the Americans With Disability Act was signed into law, and since then, discrimination against people with disability was prohibited, and more and more people with disability find advocacy and support from society. To celebrate this important month in the history of disabled rights, we are honored to have a very special guest with us today, Mr. Gossage, the director of the Ann Arbor center for independent living. Mr. Gossage will share with us… the history of the independent living movement, its driving philosophy, and what it takes for people with disabilities to be independent. If you are interested in the independent living movement and want to know more about this history, Mr. Gossage recommended a documentary: CRIP CAMP: A DISABILITY REVOLUTION, that he thought would be a good introduction to this topic. We would love to extend our gratitude to the Fifth Avenue Studios in Ann Arbor Public Library, who helped us connect with Mr. Gossage and many wonderful guest interviewees in future episodes.

Half of the summer is over. We had so much planned, but so far nothing has been accomplished. Our friend Victoria sure had a better summer. She spent three weeks in Germany as an exchange student, with host parents and host siblings. Right after she landed back in Ann Arbor, we kidnapped her to share her adventures.