The Hauenstein Center Collection

The Hauenstein Center is proud to introduce The Collection, an assortment of podcast episodes from different series.

The Rewind plays back different Hauenstein Center events, in audio form!

Off The Stage takes some of the brightest minds from various backgrounds and political ideologies off the stage from the Hauenstein Center events to share the passion and curiosity behind their expertise and experiences, plus hear their answers to some fun questions asked by our listeners!

The Collection is produced by the Hauenstein Center's media specialist, Maddy Miller. If you have any questions or ideas, please reach out to her at [email protected].


The Rewind

The Rewind features audio from our past event programs. Episodes come from our three different types of events: presidential studies, the common ground initiative and Wheelhouse Talks. As a presidential studies center, Hauenstein Center programming routinely welcomes authors, historians, and presidential scholars to our stage to share their research and works. Programs include discussions on presidential history, our democracy, and celebrations of national holidays like Constitution Day, Veterans Day and Presidents’ Day. The Common Ground Initiative is West Michigan’s premier forum for the promotion of civic engagement and intellectual curiosity on the issues facing our region, nation, and world. The Common Ground Event Series invites leaders and scholars to engage in dialogue across political and ideological divides and model the common ground approach for our community. Lastly, the Wheelhouse Talks are a signature program of the Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy. These events feature a brilliant group of regional, state, and national leaders spanning generations, fields, and experiences. Throughout the series, our speakers share their leadership journeys, lessons learned, and the values and philosophies that guide them today.

The audio for these episodes were captured by Mark Washburn of Jairus Media. The episodes are produced and sound engineered by Maddy Miller. 

Featured Episodes

Constitution Day

September 2022

This episode of The Rewind is from the Hauenstein Center's event on September 22, 2022. Authors of the book The People’s Constitution: 200 Years, 27 Amendments, and the Promise of a More Perfect Union, John Kowal and Wilfred Codrington III, take the stage to talk about the United States Constitution.

Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron

January 2023

This episode of The Rewind is from the Hauenstein Center's event on January 27, 2023. Dr. Richardson-Heron spoke on the Hauenstein Center at GVSU stage as part of the Wheelhouse Talks speaker series, a signature program of the Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy, in partnership with Frederik Meijer Honors College for their Winter Meijer Lecture Series. A self-proclaimed “physician by trade and an advocate by choice,” Dara shared her experience of leading through great change, and provide insight into how we can each become change agents for good in our respective fields.

Housing Solutions: What's Next?

March 2023

This episode of The Rewind is from the Hauenstein Center's event on March 16, 2023. The Common Ground Initiative partnered with Housing Next to convene a panel of housing leaders to discuss potential solutions to the local housing shortage.


Off The Stage is a podcast series featuring the event speakers from some of the Hauenstein Center programming. A hallmark of the Hauenstein Center is bringing experts from all over the country to our stage in Grand Rapids, Michigan to discuss the cultural, intellectual, and political challenges Americans face. This podcast series takes some of the brightest minds from various backgrounds and political ideologies off the stage to share the passion and curiosity behind their expertise and experiences, plus hear their answers to some fun questions asked by our listeners. This podcast series is one you won’t want to miss out on, so get excited for Off The Stage Podcast.

Off The Stage podcast

Featured Episodes

Kate Andersen Brower

Journalist & Author | February 2023

Kate Andersen Brower joins the Hauenstein Center for their Presidents' Day Celebration. Maddy interviews Kate about her childhood, choosing her major and her knowledge on the former presidents. The two also discuss Kate's most recent book, a biography of Elizabeth Taylor, the most famous movie star of the twentieth century. The episode ends with Kate discussing a challenge she faces in her career: being in a male-dominated field.

Dr. Mary Frances Berry

Historian, Writer, Lawyer, Professor and Activist | January 2023

Dr. Mary Frances Berry has done so much throughout her lifetime, winning many awards, writing several books and being an activists for civil rights, gender equality and social justice in our nation. On the podcast, Dr. Berry talks about her time working for the Jimmy Carter administration (including a funny story about a buffalo getting loose), her relationship with Coretta King, and her advice for people wanting to live a life of activism.

Adam Liptak

Supreme Court Correspondent for The New York Times | December 2022

The two start out with some questions for the famous BOQ. Then Maddy asks Adam about his first job as a copyboy at The Times, going to law school after getting a degree in English, and about bias and misinformation in his field of work. In the end, Adam shares about his relationship with Floyd Abrams and his best advice for someone wanting to go into a similar field of work.



Page last modified September 6, 2023