the_string = "{'hi': 'lol', 'us': 'no'}"
the_dict = eval(the_string)
print(the_dict)
print(type(the_dict))
>>> import ast
>>> ast.literal_eval("{'muffin' : 'lolz', 'foo' : 'kitty'}")
{'muffin': 'lolz', 'foo': 'kitty'}
# python3
import ast
byte_str = b"{'one': 1, 'two': 2}"
dict_str = byte_str.decode("UTF-8")
mydata = ast.literal_eval(dict_str)
print(repr(mydata))