When Sylvia Moy auditioned for Motown as a singer it opened a lane for her as a songwriter. But she would eventually discover that that lane would be littered with barriers.

Moy persevered, building a career at Motown as a songwriter and producer on some of the label’s biggest tracks. She also played a role in developing Stevie Wonder’s career as he began to notch multiple hit songs.

Moy, however, was not given credit for her efforts, and for many years, the scale of her impact remained unknown.

Dr. Margena Christian wrote about Moy’s career in her new book  “It’s No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown’s Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy.” In it, she chronicles Moy’s early life, and her struggle to receive credit for her contributions to Motown and music history.

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For comedians, every crowd is different.

Sam Tallent is a comedian, novelist, and host of the Chubby Behemoth Podcast. After touring comedy clubs across the country and internationally, he has learned that each crowd responds in unique and surprising ways.

Tallent, known for his comedy specials “Waiting for Death to Claim Us” and “The Toad’s Morale,” has built a career with a distinct comedic voice which caters to his audiences.

He’s headlining the second What’s So Funny About Detroit comedy showcase of the summer on Thursday, June 25. The event will feature some of the funniest comedians in metro Detroit, including Blaine Hill and Johanna Medranda, with Tallent closing it out. 

Tallent joined the show ahead of his What’s So Funny About Detroit appearance to discuss stand-up comedy crowds, his creative process, and his upcoming novel “Brut.”

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Longtime chef Tyrrell Hutchins curates meals with a dual purpose: connect ancestral traditions with contemporary technique. He demonstrates this through his Happy Sunday pop-up events. It’s an immersive multi-course dining experience that takes place every other month.

On June 14, the menu will feature Black American cuisine in anticipation of the Juneteenth holiday.

Hutchins joined The Metro to explain what inspired this month’s  menu and the Happy Sunday format. Additionally, Hutchins discussed why it’s important to connect and work with local farmers.

“I feel like it’s very vital to capitalize on the things around us,” Hutchings said. “Our urban farmers are using a lot of ingenuity to create and produce and I want to highlight what they’re doing at the highest level.” 

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Frank Anthony Polito is an award-winning, self-published author and playwright from Hazel Park, Michigan.

His recent focus has centered around a murder mystery series starring Domestic Partners in Crime, Peter ‘PJ’ Penwell and JP Broadway. These characters are inspired by Polito’s own relationship.

“We’ve been together for 36-and-a-half years,” Polito said.

“Dragged to Death” is the fourth installment of the series, in which Melody Mansion, a young drag queen from the Detroit drag scene, is smothered to death by her own wig.

When people begin to suspect the drag house mother, Harmony House, the Domestic Partners in Crime band together and determine the culprit.

Polito will be presenting his novel and renovation strategies at 6:30 p.m. inside the Hazel Park Library on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.

He joined The Metro to discuss his book, his lived experiences in Detroit and New York, and the perseverance necessary for the role of a self-publisher.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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Restaurants in Detroit are now eligible to receive a Michelin star rating. That’s 20 years after the Michelin Group awarded its first star to restaurants in the United States.

The designation was born from the French tire company’s efforts over a century ago to recommend places for drivers to stop. It has since become an authority on where to eat worldwide.

Detroit is one of six cities being scouted to identify Michelin Star caliber restaurants for the American Great Lakes guide that is expected to publish in 2027. Currently, Chicago is the only Midwestern city with a restaurant that has secured a Michelin star.

Detroit Free Press dining and restaurant critic Lyndsay Green joined The Metro to explain what the Michelin star designation means, why Detroit is being considered, and if a metro Detroit food spot has a real shot at receiving a star rating.

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Over in the Rosedale Park neighborhood on Grand River is an art gallery for children. It’s a space where some of the city’s youngest artists can create and display their work. 

The RED: Children’s Art Museum and Gallery nurtures and displays the work of kids who want to exercise their creative skills. 

Yvette Rock is the founder and executive director of the gallery. She has been working with young artists for decades, encouraging them to develop their skills and exposing them to career artists right here in Detroit. 

The museum re-opened in March in time for the summer season, so Rock joined the show to talk about the museum’s work and how she develops young artists.

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Roberto Clemente is a baseball icon. Over his 18-year career he won two world series, acquired 12 golden gloves, four batting titles, and is one of only 33 players in baseball history to collect 3,000 hits in his career. Clemente’s resume jumps off the page. 

But what Clemente was able to accomplish on the field may not even be his greatest contribution. Clemente’s record as a civil rights advocate and humanitarian is as synonymous with his reputation as his athletic achievements. 

Tragically, Clemente’s desire to help others led to his death in December 1972. On a trip to escort aid to Nicaragua after an earthquake hit the country, his plane crashed and he was never seen again. 

To honor him in the years since the accident, the MLB gives the Roberto Clemente award to the player who demonstrates exceptional work off the field. 

In an effort to further enshrine Clemente’s legacy, a new stage play tells his story.

“Roberto Clemente: A Diamond Within” is an original play written by Candido Tirado. The play is being  produced by Plowshares Theatre Company and it runs from June 12th through June 28th in the Marlene Boll Theatre at The Boll Family YMCA. 

Gary Anderson, Producing Artistic Director of Plowshares Theatre Company, joined the show to explain why he’s bringing this take on Clemente’s life to a Detroit stage.

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A Professional Women’s Hockey League team is coming to Detroit – a milestone that was inevitable. The hockey fans here are passionate, the championships are plentiful and the hockey history here is long. Considering the city’s deep connection to hockey, it’s fitting for Detroit to be one of four cities joining the PWHL in its fourth season.

Maya Smith, a journalist with the women’s athletics platform The IX sports, joined the program to discuss how it happened.

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“Black Summers” – a book about growing up in the urban outdoors –  is a compilation of writings from Detroiters. In it they detail what it’s like to experience a summer here. But it’s not just about playing tag at the park or barbeques on Belle Isle. The book balances the joys and freedoms that come with the season while remaining very aware of how our racial history at one point restricted it. 

The 33 entries in the book range in their style and depth. Together they paint a picture of what it’s like to be outside in Detroit. Desiree Cooper is the editor of the book. She joined the program to explain how she weaved these pieces together. 

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Before the massive crowds and international acts that the Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit has grown to attract, electronic and dance music in the city was largely underground. In the 80s and 90s you had to catch names like Jeff Mills and Carl Craig in warehouses or after hour Detroit clubs. 

The late Ken Collier is considered to be Detroit’s “godfather of house” The DJ was known for his iconic sets at Club Heaven – a well known Black LGBTQ afterhours spot in the city.

At a time when people were ostracized for unconventional lifestyle, Collier’s work and many other regulars at Club Heaven made it a place where Black LGBTQ+ folks in Detroit could find support and guidance. 

Damon Percy came of age during that time. He is a member of the House of Charles at Club Heaven, a cultural historian, and a writer who has been working to preserve the club’s history. He is the archival producer for the upcoming film “Heaven in Detroit,” which is loosely based on his own experience there.

Damon Percy joined the program to talk about his experience. 

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Liberation work doesn’t look one way. For multidisciplinary artist Darryl DeAngelo Terrell, it looks like photography, videography, and sound working in concert to create a world free of race and gender constructs.

Rooted in their lived experience growing up Black and gay in Detroit, Terrell’s work questions our conventional understanding of desire, beauty and home then forces those who experience the work to confront how limited our portraits of Blackness within those themes actually are.

Terrell joined the show to explain how their art, in all its forms, serves as a tool to realize a world free of those limitations.

279º W 42º21’39” N 83º2’20″W Detroit, MI by Darryl DeAngelo Terrell

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Since we last spoke to food critic Melody Baetens, new restaurants have opened, Detroit’s culinary scene has the opportunity to gain national and international attention, and the summer food festival calendar has rounded into shape. 

Melody is a restaurant critic and dining reporter at the Detroit News. She joined the show to catch us up. 

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When relationships get tough, couples can venture into infidelity. While cheating remains as frequent as it has always been, we wanted to better understand why it happens. 

Todd Shackleford is an evolutionary psychologist from Oakland University. He joined the program to discuss how and why infidelity happens.

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For a long time the main focus of health was physical. It’s generally accepted that everyone should visit a doctor at least once a year. The same can’t be said about our mental health. But in many ways that’s beginning to change.

Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to pay more attention. The increased awareness on mental health has shifted the way we think and talk about it—and it is literally altering the way an entire generation communicates with one another.

Terms you would typically only hear in therapy like “trauma,” “gaslighting” and “narcissist” are being used to refer to everyday experiences. Does the adoption of therapy terms in popular language help remove stigma around mental illness? Or does it dilute the terms’ original meaning?

Kristen Abraham, a professor and the chair of the psychology department at the University of Detroit Mercy, joined the show to explain how the mainstream use of therapy terms is changing our understanding of mental health.

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In recent years, notable art theatres in metro Detroit have shuttered or completely changed the way they operate. 

Main Art Theatre which was in Royal Oak and Cinema Detroit which was based in midtown Detroit are recent examples. They both showed more niche, independent or foreign films you could not catch at a commercial movie theatre. The Main Art Theatre was demolished and replaced with apartments, and Cinema Detroit now operates as a pop-up. 

When theatres like them closed, John Monaghan and Kevin Maher became motivated to build a community that replicates the experience they provided.

The two started Motor City Cinematheque which is a series of art film screenings that will take place over the next few weeks. It supports independent, niche, art films and theatres in the metro area. John Monaghan joined the show to discuss their upcoming screenings and what they provide for the Detroit film community.

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This weekend Detroit will experience a legendary performance. The Detroit Opera house is hosting Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan on Saturday, May 9. 

The ensemble has been performing for over a century and is considered to be the world’s best mariachi bands.

The style of music grew in popularity after the Mexican Revolution and has remained a representation of unity for the country and its people ever since. 

Martina Guzman, a journalist and the founder and program director of VERDAD, and Arthur White, the director of community and audience engagement at the Opera House, join the show to discuss Mariachi Vargas and the broader genre’s relevance today. 

Additional event details can be found here.

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Some public health researchers are turning to a new kind of prescription to address the problem. It’s called “social prescribing.” According to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Americans are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, and it’s a problem that only seems to be getting worse.

Around 40% of Americans ages 45 and up report being lonely, which puts them at higher risk for all kinds of serious health concerns like dementia and stroke. 

Some public health researchers are turning to a new kind of prescription to address the problem. It’s called “social prescribing.”

Dr. Mary Henningfield is the executive director of the Wisconsin Research and Education Network at the University of Wisconsin. She joined the show to discuss why is loneliness so common, why it is difficult for people to overcome, and how “social prescribing” can help the healthcare can system address loneliness, instead of only its negative consequences.

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There has been a lot of discussion in the recent years about the direction romance is heading. The marriage rate is lower than it was at the turn of the century, technology has shaped the way dating is measured, and people are embracing new forms of the practice.

Jessica Moorman, an associate professor of communication at Wayne State University, joined the show to discuss the state of today’s dating scene, how complicated it can be, and whether coupling should even be the goal.

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When political tensions are high, artists and creatives use their work to weigh in. In 1960’s Detroit, a poet and a painter, built a place for that work to live and be shared across the country and the world. 

In 1969, Ann and Ken Mikolowski taught themselves how to operate a printing press, and launched The Alternative Press in the Cass Corridor. For 30 years, the periodical published writings and poetry from their contemporaries that spoke to the political and cultural moment. 

Rebecca Kosick, an associate professor of comparative poetry and poetics at the University of Bristol, is recognizing those efforts in her new book “Dispatches from the Avant-Garage.” In it she details the Mikolowski’s story and their efforts launching The Alternate Press. Kosick joined the show to discuss the publication’s lasting impact.

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