President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have many concrete plans for what he wants to do when he gets into office. His policy list is thin, but there are two things he’s talked about a lot: deportations and tariffs. 

Trump has said he plans to deport millions of people in the U.S. who don’t have legal status. Yesterday, he said he would use the military to carry out this plan. He also wants to use tariffs to develop industry here.

But how will these policy changes affect neighboring countries like Canada and Mexico? Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens joined The Metro on Tuesday to talk about the potential impact in Canada.

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Dilkens says Canada has long been impacted by U.S. immigration policy at the Mexico-U.S. border.

“The millions of people who have crossed [the U.S.-Mexico border] in the last four years, many of them have made their way up to Canada, crossed illegally into the country,” he said. “And so in my city today, I’ve got two hotels who overlook the Detroit River and stare at Detroit, full of people who have crossed into our country, waiting for their cases to be adjudicated by our immigration and refugee group in Canada.”

In 2004, the U.S. and Canada entered into a Safe Third Country Agreement, a treaty between the two governments with the goal of better managing the flow of refugees better manage the flow of refugees seeking asylum at the border.

As part of the agreement, individuals seeking asylum in Canada are required to request refugee protection in the first safe country they arrive in, unless they qualify for an exception, Dilkens said.

“If you’re entering Canada to claim refugee status from the United States, you’re now required to wait in the United States to have your case adjudicated,” he said. “We’re no longer going to put you up in hotels and have you hang out here.”

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro Nov. 19, 2024: 

• What is today known as the Knights of Columbus Hall in Clawson, used to be a raucous concert venue called The Hideout from 1966 to 1969. It was the third location in a series of teen clubs in southeast Michigan, where legendary musicians like The MC5, many of Bob Seger’s early groups, and The Subterraneans once played. Martin Hirchak, a Detroit cartoonist and graphic designer, joined the show to talk about the former venue, and an upcoming event at Knights of Columbus, “Tales from the Clawson Comic Book and Toy Show.”
• Educators at the College of Creative Studies (CCS) have made it their mission to stoke the flame of creativity already inside the students they teach. Fiber Flux, a new exhibition on view through Dec. 14 at the Valade Family Gallery on CSS’ campus, pays homage to arts educators across the Midwest through fiber art. Wayne State Associate Professor of Fashion and Fibers Heather Macali and Professor and Section Lead of Fiber and Textiles at CCS, Jeremy Noonan, joined the show to discuss the exhibition.
• Last week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced he won’t run for another term. WDET’s Senior News Editor Quinn Kleinfelter joined the show to discuss the mayor’s legacy and what the future might hold for both the city of Detroit and Duggan’s political future.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Editor’s note: This conversation discusses some disturbing subject matter, including torture.

A U.S. jury last week awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago.

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The decision from the eight-person jury came after a different jury earlier this year couldn’t agree on whether Reston, Virginia-based CACI should be held liable for the work of its civilian interrogators who worked alongside the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004.

The jury awarded plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’ad Al-Zubae $3 million each in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages.

The three testified that they were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other cruel treatment at the prison.

Al-Ejaili joined The Metro on Monday along with Troy attorney Shereef Akeel — who represented the plaintiffs in the case — and local interpreter and attorney Mohammed Alomari, to discuss the case.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

-Reporting by Matthew Barakat, Associated Press

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 18, 2024: 

• The Kresge Foundation’s Artist Fellowships program has been supporting metro Detroit artists since 2008. Starting in 2025, the Foundation will increase the fellowship awards to $50,000 per artist. Katie McGowan, deputy director for Kresge Arts in Detroit, joined The Metro to talk more about the fellowship program.
• A lot of people are struggling to purchase homes right now. A limited supply of affordable housing options is a part of that problem, propelled by labor shortages, supply shortages and regulatory issues at the city level that make it harder to build. Houm, an architectural design firm in Detroit, is working to change that by building cheaper, more efficent homes. Co-founder Breck Crandell joined the show to talk more about Houm’s efforts to build more affordable homes.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Michigan’s firearm deer hunting season officially opened on Friday, meaning thousands of enthusiasts from around the state and beyond are preparing to take part in the popular tradition — including our executive producer David Leins, who is in northern Michigan doing just that!

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For some, hunting is more than just a hobby. It’s a way of life — a way to feed their families. Others simply hunt deer for sport. But there are many Michiganders who’ve had little to no exposure to hunting, and one local organization is working to make it more diverse.

Antonio Cosme is a co-founder of “Black to the Land Coalition,” a nonprofit working to build back the connections between people of color and the natural world. Cosme joined The Metro along with avid hunter Andrea Di Cresce, who serves as global kids program coordinator for Black to the Land.

The Coalition offers hunting safety courses and they’ll be hosting a “hunters of color” network gathering next week, Cosme said.

“We just want to create a network, create some support opportunities,” Cosme said. “We’re really interested in helping urban hunters get access to private land. That’s something that we are particularly interested in because that is gonna be your best opportunity to hunt deer.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 15, 2024:

• Since Michigan legalized recreational marijuana five years ago, weed edibles have been getting into smaller and smaller hands. From 2020 to 2022, the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center recorded a 75% increase statewide in unintentional youth cannabis ingestion. Detroit City Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway joined the show to discuss an effort to keep weed advertisements out of sight from kids.
• The Detroit Documenters play a crucial role in improving our access to public information. They’re at all the city’s public meetings, taking notes on what leaders and community members are saying. Public comment dominates these meetings, often stretching for an hour or two. The board could soon make changes to their public comment process that some worry could have a chilling effect on free speech. Detroit Documenters Coordinator Lynelle Herdon joined the show to discuss these potential changes. 
• Macomb is a swing county. That’s been true in previous elections and on Tuesday, Nov. 5, it was proven to be true as a lot of people came out to vote for President-elect Donald Trump. In Michigan, many of those voters were in Macomb County, with 20,000 more residents there voting for him this time compared to 2020. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel joined The Metro to share his thoughts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The Michigan Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision next year on a case that will help determine the rules on environmental cleanup of a class of “forever chemicals” in drinking water.

The court heard arguments Wednesday that are part of the state’s long-running battle with the manufacturer 3M over cleaning up PFAS contamination.

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PFAS are a family of chemicals that have become ubiquitous in our environment because of their widespread use in things like clothing, cookware, food packaging, building materials, firefighting foam and more. These chemicals  have been linked to cancer, they don’t break down, and they have contaminated our food, lakes, rivers and groundwater.

The state has passed regulations in recent years to address that. But the case heard by the Michigan Supreme Court this week could roll back those regulations if the court rules in favor of 3M. The company argues that the state did not follow the rules for adopting drinking water regulations. Lower courts ruled against the state. 

William Dichtell is a chemist at Northwestern University who researches how to break down PFAS in energy efficient ways. He joined The Metro on Thursday to talk about his research and how microbes can help break down the forever chemicals.

Dichtell says he gets asked a lot how to avoid PFAS, but due to their prevalence in the environment, there is no way to prevent human exposure.

“We’re using PFAs in so many different contexts, and we have so much historical contamination,” he said. “This has to be solved at the societal level. This isn’t a matter of just changing the brand of toothpaste that you use or drinking a different kind of bottled water or something like that.”

MPRN reporter Rick Pluta contributed to this report. Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation with William Dichtell.

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 14, 2024:

• Beginning in the 1950s, Mad magazine has been poking fun at  important figures in our politics, our movies, and our broader culture. It’s been done with a purpose to demonstrate that they are flawed like the rest of us. A new documentary about Mad by Pleasant Ridge resident Alan Bernstein makes its local debut at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Redford Theatre. Bernstein joined the show ahead of the screening to discuss his new film.
• The Detroit City Council have passed a new animal ordinance going into effect in January that outlines the type of livestock allowed in the city.  Animal owners will need to apply for a license and pay an annual fee to have chickens, ducks and bees in their backyard. Roosters are not allowed and wild animals remain prohibited. Jerry Hebron Jerry, executive director of the North End Christian Community Development Corporation, joined the show to talk about the impact the new ordinance will have on urban farming. 
• “Monopoly: Detroit edition” features iconic locations like the Ambassador Bridge, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Princess boat and the Renaissance Center. Game maker Top Trumps USA has been creating special city editions of the classic board game for a decade. Tim Barney, of Top Trumps, joined The Metro to talk about the Detroit edition and why they chose to feature the Motor City.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Across all religious groups, people of the Islamic faith have some of the lowest recovery rates from mental health challenges. That’s according to studies looking at Muslim communities in different parts of the world.

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Some things have deepened those challenges, like the pain of experiencing Islamophobia or the reverberations of violence happening abroad — like the Israeli wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and the escalating conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

A new mental health facility at the Islamic Center of Detroit marks an important milestone for people of the Islamic faith. Staff at the center believe it to be the first mental health clinic located within a mosque nationwide. The facility, called My Mental Wellness, offers free on-site and virtual therapy to people of all ages. 

Director of My Mental Wellness Danish Hasan and one of the center’s therapists, Takween Dwaik, joined The Metro to discuss the work they’re doing. 

One of the challenges that comes with providing mental health support to the community is a different cultural understanding around therapy in the Muslim world, Hasan says. This has also caused My Mental Wellness to think about how they’re communicating and introducing the services they provide to people.   

“Considering our location being in the heart of Detroit, neighboring Dearborn, there is a huge diaspora from across the Muslim world. And one of the things that we’ve realized is therapy is a concept that is so distant from them,” Hasan says. “The western world has really furthered the conversation regarding therapy. But in so much of the Muslim world, people are either struggling silently in their homes, or because of the stigma they’re being institutionalized in mental facilities, or they’re being taken to religious leaders, and this middle ground that we have in the western world of therapy doesn’t exist.”

He says that while that cultural gap poses some difficulties for the clinic, it also reinforces the importance of their work.

“We not only have to reduce the stigma, but also introduce the concept of therapy, and also do it in a faith-based approach.” 

Use the media player above to listen to the conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 12, 2024: 

• Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. is a printer who moved to Detroit about a decade ago to practice his craft. He’s now building a studio on the East Side, and he recently pulled together his work in a book called “Citizen Printer.” The Metro’s Producer Sam Corey sat down with Kennedy to discuss why he loves printing, how Detroit influences his work and why he thinks it’s important that his art thrusts the ugly sides of history into the faces of his audience. 
• The city of Ferndale is known to gather for communal events. Whether it’s a city-wide yard sale or Ferndale Pride, Ferndale residents turn out. This weekend, the Jingle and Mingle Underground Holiday Market will make an appearance and quickly vanish like Santa in the night. Organizer Mark Loeb joined the show to discuss this year’s market
• Every generation thinks the musical era they grew up with is the best. But was that actually the case with the ’90s? Think about the R&B, the diversity of genres from Seattle grunge, the fact that it’s known as the golden age of hip-hop. No one can actually prove one era is better than another, but we can pay homage to the good music of each decade. Gary Graff joins the show to talk about his latest book, “501 Essential Albums of the ’90s.”

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The holidays are right around the corner. The days around Thanksgiving and Christmas are known for many things: pretty lights, hearty food and lots of time with family members.

But what do we do when quality time with family becomes contentious? Do we confront the situation head on and work through the tension, or do we pretend the tension doesn’t exist? That’s one of the key questions the new film from Detroit filmmaker Christine Swanson asks.

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“Albany Road,” debuting Nov. 15, stars Renée Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton,” “Anything’s Possible”) and longtime actress Lynn Whitfield (“The Retirement Plan,” “The Chi,”). The story follows a high-powered woman on her way to the most important meeting of her life and while on her way is forced to share a rental car during a snowstorm with the mother of her ex-fiance.

Swanson joined The Metro on Friday to discuss the project. As writer and director of the film, Swanson said she wanted to explore some serious themes, but in a comedic form.

“It’s almost like a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down-type of approach. So when you have someone who has great comedic timing — like Renée Elise Goldsberry, who’s the original Angelica Skylar from ‘Hamilton,’ — and then you match her up with the legendary Lynn Whitfield, most people are gonna walk away thinking I did not know Lynn Whitfield was just funny, but then the humor takes a serious turn,” she said. “So is equal parts hilarious and equal parts gut wrenching.”

More headlines from The Metro on Nov 8, 2024: 

• It’s Detroit Documenters Friday on The Metro. The Detroit Documenters play a crucial role in improving our access to public information. They’re at all the city’s public meetings, taking thorough notes on what local officials and community members are saying. Recently, they spent some time at a different kind of meeting than what’s normally on their docket. The meeting was part of University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions series. This one focused on community violence intervention. Detroit Documenter Perry Sylvester and Noah Kincade, coordinator for the Detroit Documenters, joined the show to tell us more.
• Starting a business can be tough especially if you aren’t familiar or understand how to get started. Some don’t have the connections that could support their growth. For the last three years Creator Con has stepped up to fill in the gaps. This year, the two-day conference will convene at the Cambria Hotel in Detroit. Attendees will learn about branding, the creative process, and more. Creator Con Founder Robert Courtney joined The Metro to share more about the event.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

President-elect Donald Trump won both the electoral college and the popular vote in the presidential election by gaining support from a broad swath of Americans.

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One notable area of support came from union members. Generally when the leadership of an organization supports a candidate — as United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain did Vice President Kamala Harris — many rank and file members tend to support that candidate as well. Recent polling of UAW members and member households across key battleground states showed strong support for Harris over Trump by 22 points. But for some UAW members, Trump’s messaging resonated more than Harris’.

Brian Pannebecker, a retired auto worker and 25-year UAW member from Macomb County, was one of them. He spoke with The Metro Producer Sam Corey about what drew him to Trump and the difference in views that exist between union members on opposing sides of the presidential race.

Pannebeckers says he left the UAW when “Right to Work” laws came about in Michigan in 2017. He organized the Facebook group “Auto Workers for Trump,” which amassed thousands of followers — including auto workers and auto suppliers. He also spoke at several of Trump’s rallies in Michigan.  

“Trump appeals to the average working man and woman. I mean, that’s who he speaks to. And I know a lot of people find that, you know, sort of unusual to consider,” said Pannebecker. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro Nov 7: 

• The 21^st annual Detroit Tree Lighting is set to take place on Friday, Nov. 22 at Campus Martius in Downtown Detroit. Laura Dean, director of parks and public spaces for the Downtown Detroit Partnership, joined The Metro to talk more about this year’s event.
• When President-elect Donald Trump took office in 2016, we started hearing the word “unprecedented” a lot. Trump has obliterated all kinds of norms and fundamentally changed the office of president. To discuss this drastic shift in American politics, professor and historian Jeremi Suri joined the show.
• This election season left some voters feeling seen and heard while others are at a loss and maybe even grieving. No matter who you voted for, anxious feelings leading up to this election were felt from many directions. Now that the election has been called, those feelings have been amplified for some. Dr. Rheeda Walker, a clinical psychologist and co-author of  “Calm in Chaos: A Quick-Relief Guide for Managing Anxiety and Overwhelm in Loud and Uncertain Times,” joined the show to share some advice.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Skateparks are more than just a place to sharpen your skills. They’re a community hub that draws people of different backgrounds and skill levels together.

They are also a place where kids can build confidence — and with new skateparks popping up around Detroit in recent years, skateboarding is having a huge impact in the city.

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Back in June 2022, Tony Hawk came to Detroit to help dedicate a new 15,000-square-foot skatepark in Chandler Park on Detroit’s east side. Hawk also helped design the new It Takes a Village Skatepark, located on the grounds of The Shepherd — an arts and cultural center also on Detroit’s east side — as well as the skatepark at Riverside Park in southwest Detroit.

The proliferation of skateparks in the city is a point of pride for many, with community members playing key roles in creating and maintaining them.

One organization that’s been integral in nourishing skating and skateboarding in Detroit is Community Push. The nonprofit, co-founded by Derrick Dykas and Evan Hutchings, funded the creation of The Wig DIY Skatepark in Midtown in 2014. The Wig is now a permanent skatepark and fixture in the community. 

Dykas and Hutchings joined The Metro on Friday to talk about Detroit’s skateparks and how they are unique from one another. Dykas noted how in 2019, when the Riverside skatepark first opened, many in the skating community thought it might be their only chance to have a state-of-the-art park. 

“We tried to get as much stuff included into it as possible, in case we didn’t get the second opportunity. But once we start getting, you know, a second park, a third park, and you get more of a catalog, it’s easier. You don’t want the same stuff here as over there. And, you know, you get to get a little bit more creative with each piece and kind of rework some things that are traditionally built one way,” Dykas said. “And it’s worked. And now a lot of the stuff that we’re building, those professionals are ripping us off and building it in other places across the world. And it’s cool to see. You know, you can’t really put a trademark on some of the stuff.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 1, 2024:

• The Detroit Police Department is getting a new temporary leader. Former Detroit Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison will take over for Chief James White, who was hired to lead Wayne County’s largest mental health agency. Bettison has been the Detroit deputy mayor for the last three years, but he was in the police department for 27 years. Bettison joined the show to discuss his new position, which officially starts on Nov. 11.
• The music of Burt Bacharach will be celebrated this weekend at the Detroit Opera House. The Mark Morris Dance group is returning for “The Look of Love,” an evening of dance to the music of Bacharach. Ethan Iverson is the pianist and organizer of the event. He spoke with WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper about the magic of Bacharach’s songwriting. 
• The Detroit Documenters play a crucial role in improving our access to public information. They are at all the city’s public meetings, taking notes on what local officials and community members are saying. The parks are one of our favorite subjects to discuss on The Metro because we know they make an impact on our quality of life. To talk more about a project that sent Documenters to neighborhood parks across the city, Detroit Documenters Coordinator Noah Kincade and WDET’s Jack Filbrandt joined the show.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

George A. Romero’s 1968 film ‘Night of the Living Dead’ featured an invasion of ghouls – mindless cannibals, thriving off the flesh and brains of humans. While not called zombies in the movie, for many people it was their first introduction to these kinds of paranormal beings.

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The term “zombie” is said to come from Haiti, and Haitians used it to describe an enslaved person being controlled by the will of another. And that story tracks, especially knowing Haiti’s history involved with the enslavement of Africans and Natives on the island of Hispaniola. 

To talk about how the term “zombie” transformed from its original meaning to its current one, we were joined by Chera Kee, a Wayne State University assistant professor teaching film and media topics with a focus on the horror genre. Kee is also the author of “Not Your Average Zombie: Re-Humanizing the Zombie from Voodoo to Zombie Walks” and “Corpse Crusaders: The Zombie in American Comics”

Kee says zombies really took off in 1929 when author William Seabrook wrote “The Magic Island” about his travels in Haiti. 

“He had a whole chapter on zombies and he was thoroughly impressed, because he’d never heard of anything like this,” Kee said. “It was completely unique to his experience. And people were like, ‘We can take you to see real zombies,’ and that really blew his mind.”

A quarter century of screams in Pontiac 

While Erebus Haunted House does not have a history as long as zombies, co-owner Edward Terebus and his brother Jim have been in the haunted house business for almost 45 years. They’re celebrating 25 years of making people scream at Erebus Haunted Attraction in Pontiac. 

Edward Terebus spoke to WDET assistant producer Dorothy Jones about the haunted house’s history. In 1981, the Terebus brothers set up their first haunted house in the K-Mart parking lot at 12 Mile Road and Van Dyke. It grew over the years until they founded a permanent haunted home in Pontiac.

At Erebus Haunted Attraction, there’s no age limit, Terebus says. If your kid can’t watch horror movies, the haunted house probably is not for them.

“I’ve seen five year olds make it through the haunted house. I’ve seen 25 year olds pee themselves and faint. So it really depends on the person and the people coming through,” Terebus says. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversations with Terebus and Kee.

More headlines from The Metro on Halloween 2024: 

• To win the race for president, the Harris campaign needs to win over moderate and swing voters, which likely includes people who often vote republican. That’s why it was significant when Fred Upton endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris last week. Upton served 36 years in the House of Representatives and is the most prominent Republican in Michigan to publicly back the Democratic presidential nominee. Upton joined the show to discuss his decision to support Kamala Harris over Donald Trump and why he thinks other Republicans should also do so.
• It was November 2020 and President Biden had taken the lead in the election. Meanwhile, poll workers in Detroit were sifting through piles of absentee ballots. Dozens of protesters, some of them armed, showed up and claimed there had been election fraud. They were echoing Trump’s false claims and pushing for a recount. WDET senior news editor Quinn Klinefelter spoke with Detroit election officials and poll workers to discover how things have changed ahead of this year’s presidential election.  

The day before Halloween is referred to as Mischief Night in many parts of the country, but in Detroit, it used to be called Devil’s Night.

For decades, that night filled many with fear, as neighborhoods with abandoned homes or businesses prepared themselves for possible arson. City of Detroit Historian Jamon Jordan joined The Metro on Wednesday — the day before Halloween — to share more about the history of Devil’s Night in Detroit and how community members came together with the city to put an end to it.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Throughout the U.S. there’s always been pranks connected to Halloween — draping toilet paper on trees, throwing eggs at cars, and other mischief that didn’t cause the most damage. 

In the 1980s there were about 800 fires around Halloween, Jordan said. Community groups and the city took steps to wipe out Devil’s Night, oftentimes doing patrols the day before Halloween and enforcing youth curfews. In the ’90s, the community and city started doing joint patrols and renamed it Angel’s Night. 

“So these things begin to work in concert with one another, and there’s thousands of people who begin to volunteer. By this point, with so many people out on the street with eyes on almost every neighborhood, especially the vacant houses in the neighborhood, it begins to make it have an effect on stopping the fires,” he said. “Within a few years, the fires really go way way down and then eventually we don’t even talk about Devil’s Night…”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Jordan.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 30, 2024:

• Yesterday, a poll by The Hill showed Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump by five points. But polling has generally been very tight, and most political scientists believe this election could easily go either way. To discuss why the election is so tight in Michigan and how voters are feeling right now, we were joined by Matt Grossman, head of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. 
• In the latest spooky episode of CuriosiD, WDET’s Jeff Milo looked into chilling rumors that the Detroit Public Library’s Main Branch on Woodward might be haunted by ghosts. 
• Early voting is underway in Michigan, and we’ve heard from some of you that with more than 20 Detroit Public Schools Community District Board candidates vying for three seats, people are feeling overwhelmed with all the choices. To help us break down the race we’re joined by Chalkbeat Detroit Bureau Chief Lori Higgins.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

In the 1940s, Detroit, like many communities across the country, saw the highway system tear through Black neighborhoods. It disrupted the way of life where new music, foods and culture thrived. 

But now, Michigan and other states around the country are working to re-connect communities torn apart by highways. That’s true for the project to undo I-375 and it’s also true for a new project to cap I-75 that would connect downtown to midtown Detroit. 

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Downtown Detroit Partnership, Michigan Department of Transportation and The City of Detroit have spearheaded this initiative. Public engagement sessions began recently on the I-75 project. 

To explain the details and idea behind capping I-75, Downtown Detroit Partnership CEO Eric Lawson and Detroit Director of Planning and Development Antoine Bryant joined The Metro.

“It’s, as you said in the opening, an opportunity to really start to think about how we reconnect our communities, how we repair some of the damage that was caused back in the ’50s and ’60s,” Lawson says. “But most importantly, how we can lean into the growth and the momentum that is taking place both in the core as well as throughout the city.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Lawson and Bryant.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 25, 2024: 

• Detroit Documenter Tyrone Anderson and Documenters Coordinator Noah Kincade return to The Metro to discuss changes that could be coming to the city’s rental ordinance program. Data Driven Detroit estimated that there are over 120,000 rental properties in the city and only 9 percent of these properties have a certificate of compliance. 
• This week you’ve been hearing conversations with candidates running for two open seats in Detroit’s 36th District Court. Today, we conclude our series with Andrea Bradley-Baskin. 
• The Arab American Empowerment Summit is taking place today and tomorrow at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. The event features music, food and panel discussions led by local leaders. Co-founder of the Arab American Foundation Warren David joined the show.

Jonathan Peregrino never thought the reaction to his shop would be so warm.  That was until Filipinos and others from around southeast Michigan flocked to his bakery —  JP Makes and Bakes. 

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They were craving his ube cookies and other baked goods they remembered from their childhood. The Metro’s Producer Sam Corey sat down with Peregrino in his shop along Woodward in New Center. 

Peregrino is a first generation Filipino American and he went to the Philippines to learn the art of pastry . 

“I was just looking for somewhere to study pastry for a little bit of a shorter program, that was also financially feasible for me,” Peregrino said. “But with my parents and my grandparents all being from the Philippines, I’m first generation Filipino American, so I wanted to sort of go back as an adult and sort of see how it was.”

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Peregrino.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 24, 2024: 

• A new innovation is helping Detroit tackle a public health problem. University of Michigan Professor and co-founder of BlueConduit Eric Schwarts joined the show to discuss how his company is using artificial intelligence to find lead service lines in the city.  
• Black Tech Saturdays, in partnership with Rocket Community Fund, recently passed out $120,000 in grants to help close the digital divide. The goal is to make sure everyone has access to the internet and other technologies. That money is also meant to bolster the growing tech field and help local residents create their own jobs. CEO of Ecosphere Organics Brittanie Dabney, one of the grant recipients, and Co-founder of Black Tech Saturdays Johnnie Turnage joined the show. 
• The election is two weeks out and today on the show, we bring you a conversation with 36th District Court candidate William Burton Jr. It’s the second of three conversations you’ll hear on the show this week with candidates running for the two open seats in the court.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The next polo champion or Olympian could be a Detroiter. 

Historically, horseback riding isn’t an activity you see often in urban settings like Detroit, but the local nonprofit Detroit Horse Power is trying to change that. They are working to make events like dressage and horseback riding more accessible to all people, especially young Detroiters. 

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On Monday, Detroit Horse Power broke ground on a state-of-the-art facility in the Fenkell-Linwood community on the city’s Westside. The 14-acre site will serve as a training center and offer a summer school program. 

Founder and executive director of Detroit Horse Power David Silver and Executive Director of Hope Village Revitalization and Detroit Horse Power Board Member Jeff Jones joined The Metro on Wednesday to discuss what the new facility could mean for Detroiters. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Silver and Jones.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 23, 2024:

• Echoes from the Rust is a new art exhibit at the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery at Wayne State University. It’s taking a closer look at cities in the rust belt and the people who call them home. Curator Kemuel Benyehudah and artist Halima Afi Cassells joined The Metro to discuss.
• In Detroit’s 36th District Court, the largest district court in Michigan, three candidates are running for two open seats during a time when the court has seen major changes. The court entered into a bail reform agreement with the ACLU of Michigan that prohibits imposing high cash bail under most circumstances. This week, we’re speaking with the candidates to see where they stand on this agreement and how they would make Detroit’s justice system more equitable. In this episode, co-host Robyn Vincent spoke with Malaika Ramsey-Heath.
• Election Day is almost here and Michigan has become ground zero for the Harris and Trump campaigns. One Tuesday, former President Barack Obama came to Detroit to rally for Vice President Harris along with Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Eminem and Calvin Johnson. WDET Senior News Editor Quinn Klinefelter joins the show to recap the rally and talk about the election that’s 12 days away.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Oftentimes, when we think of the immigrant story, we think about people coming to a new country for better opportunities and a safer place to grow a family. 

It’s often a scary and intimidating process, but that’s why the Patchwork Culinary Project exists. Created by a soviet immigrant, the nonprofit restaurant and education program aims to train new Michigan residents in the culinary arts. 

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It’s not just kitchen training and certification that goes on at the Patchwork Culinary Project. The space doubles as a restaurant and it’s also a kitchen many people in the program will work at.   

Nick Sanchez, founder and lead chef at Patchwork joined The Metro on Tuesday to share more about the project. He says the idea was born from his own personal experiences and wanting to help others find success in the U.S. 

“It came from being an immigrant myself, and starting a restaurant at a young age, and you know — learning how to deal with all the impediments and hassles of opening up a restaurant,” Sanchez said. “So I just figured we have an influx of folks coming into this country, so why not try to set them up for success?”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Sanchez.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 22, 2024: 

• The new Editor-in-Chief of Outlier Media, Erin Perry, joined the show to talk about her goals for the publication. Perry has worked at Outlier since 2021. She’s also a practitioner-scholar and uses her knowledge to make journalism more accessible. 
• It’s a pivotal time for Detroit Public Schools Community District. The results of the November election could change the makeup of the school board as over 20 candidates are vying for three open seats. If they’re elected, new board members could disrupt the current harmony on the board and make it more difficult for Superintendent Nikolai Vitti to achieve his goals. Proposal S would make a huge financial difference for the DPSCD if voters approve it. The proposal would pay off the school district’s debt and help make new investments. Robyn Vincent, co-host of The Metro, spoke with DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti about Proposal S and the school board election.
• The U.S. presidential election is just a few weeks away and while our focus is usually on how the election will impact us here in the United States, our neighbors in Canada are also watching the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris closely. So closely, in fact, that Canada’s national broadcaster, CBC Radio, teamed up with NPR’s The Middle and WDET to host a live call-in special from WDET on Sunday, featuring Jeremy Hobson — host of The Middle — and Ian Hanomansing, host of CBC’s nightly news program The National and Cross Country Checkup. Stephen Henderson spoke with Hanomansing ahead of the broadcast to discuss the relationship between Canadian and U.S. politics. 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit’s Poletown neighborhood is now home to a restored forest.  

Detroit Future City and Arboretum Detroit worked with community members, the city of Detroit’s Neighborhood Beautification Program and others to restore 1.3 acres of land back to nature. 

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Circle Forest is located along 12 Poletown city lots and will serve as a communal space for residents in the neighborhood. 

Arboretum Detroit Executive Director Birch Kemp and Park Maintenance Assistant Robyn Redding joined The Metro on Thursday to talk about the forest project and trail. 

The first step in the Circle Forest project was clearing 60 yards of garbage from the site, Kemp said.

“There’s this healing aspect that happens with liberating the land from garbage. And everybody who’s been a part of these volunteer work days has felt that, right?” Kemp said. “And planting a tree too, you feel like you’re actually doing something in this world [that] is very tangible, and we’re doing it together and basically building the Detroit we want to see.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Birch Kemp and Robyn Redding of Arboretum Detroit.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 17, 2024: 

• Detroit, like other cities around the country, is trying to reduce its emissions and ensure clean air, clean water, and safe green spaces for residents to explore. One recent step the city has taken to make Detroit more environmentally-friendly is  offering a new composting program. Patrice Brown, associate director of urban agriculture for the city of Detroit, joined the show to discuss the initiative.
• The fall colors are beautiful in Michigan. And while you’re admiring the trees, Michigan state officials are also asking people to keep an eye out for invasive Asian long-horned beetles, which pose a danger to trees — especially maples. To talk more about this invasive species, we’re joined by Axios Detroit reporter Annalise Frank. 
• For all you beer and Detroit Public Radio lovers out there, we’ve got something special brewing in honor of WDET’s 75th anniversary. WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper joined The Metro to talk about a new collaboration between the station and Batch Brewing commemorating the milestone. Our new WDET Beer – “It’s So Kölsch in the D” – will be unveiled at a special beer release party tomorrow night at Batch. 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

It’s the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month, and to celebrate, The Metro was joined by a Detroit musician, activist, historian, and educator who has dedicated his career to improving the lives of Latino residents in southeast Michigan. 

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Osvaldo “Ozzie” Rivera currently teaches at Wayne State and the University of Michigan. He also writes for “El Central” newspaper, serves on Detroit’s Historic Designation Advisory Board and is the former director of Southwest Solutions. He was instrumental in the creation of the Wayne State Center for Latino/a American Studies, established 1971. 

Rivera was born on the island of Puerto Rico but is a lifelong Detroiter. His father was a musician and early in life, Rivera became interested in both music and activism. If you attended this year’s Concert of Colors, you might’ve seen Rivera perform with his band Rican Struction, a Bomba music ensemble. 

Rivera joined the show to discuss the importance of Latino culture in southeast Michigan and work done to support the community. One of the issues in the Detroit Latino community that Rivera fought against was systemic racism in public schools.

“There’s some broad brushes to discuss in terms of just acknowledgement and civil rights, but specifically as it related to the Latino community in Detroit, there were issues with the lack of bilingual education,” Rivera said. “Actually, many students were funneled into special-ed classes only because they spoke Spanish. So La Sed … also put in a successful lawsuit against the Detroit Public School system for funneling, directing Spanish speaking students and some who weren’t even Spanish speaking, they were put in special rooms and some would say some closets. And so you have to fight for bilingual education and against standardization or delegitimizing Latin students.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Rivera.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 15, 2024: 

• A new early childhood educator workforce index shows that child care wages remain low in Michigan and across the United States. Director of Multi-State and International Programs at Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment Caitlin McLean joined the show to discuss the new report.
• There are a lot of issues voters care about, but depending on your party, voter priorities are very different. We’re less than a month away from the presidential election, and that leaves us wondering what might turn out the vote most for either party. Joining us to discuss the upcoming election and what’s on voters’ minds, The Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta joined The Metro. He’s covered politics with a close eye on both the white, evangelical christian movement in this country and the shifts happening in the Republican Party. He will also be speaking at an event called “Democracy at a Crossroads” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on Michigan State University’s campus.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is holding annual community walks across the country this weekend, allowing people to remember loved ones who died by suicide while also working as a community to create more mental health support. 

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Over the past 10 years, the suicide rate has increased 16%. The vast majority of the suicide deaths were men, and most were firearm-related.

To discuss the Metro Detroit Out of the Darkness Walk taking place on Belle Isle this Saturday, volunteers Alicia Lyon and Max Olive joined The Metro.

Olive said the most challenging moment he faced in his life was when his cousin died from suicide, three years ago.

“And going through it at the time, it’s so difficult, right? You wonder how someone could think that way, why that would be an option. And it takes a lot to understand that that is something you’ll never understand,” Olive said. “And what you can do, and what I think it did really well for us, is it galvanized us as a family. So I’m closer with my cousins and my uncle now, more than ever. And I think so highly of him, and my involvement in this is a way to really honor Ryan. And he was such a gorgeous, hilarious soul and owned the room.”

You can register for the walk online ahead of time or in-person beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday. If you or someone else needs support, a trained counselor can be reached by calling or texting the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with walk volunteers Alicia Lyon and Max Olive.

More headlines from Oct. 14, 2024: 

• New Detroit is a racial justice coalition that formed in response to the ‘67 rebellion. On Thursday, the organization is hosting its third annual Just Lead conference, recognizing community leaders and organizations that are working towards racial equity. New Detroit Director of Transformational Change Rebecca Irby and Director of Community Engagement Marshalle Favors joined the show to discuss the conference.  
• The Tigers lost to the Cleveland Guardians in Game 5 of the American League Division Series, ending a miraculous season for the team. To help us recap the series and look ahead, we’re joined by Tigers staff writer for The Athletic, Cody Stavenhagen. 
• Womxnhouse Detroit is a collection of women creatives in the city who aim to spread their knowledge and crafts with interested folks while welcoming more people to the arts. This conversation is a continuation of an interview we did on The Metro last week featuring the co-founder of Women House Detroit Asia Hamilton, ceramics artist Michaela Ayers and fiber artist Cat Washington.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

There’s a long history of Irish and Mexican people blending together in North America and in Detroit specifically. 

After a 19-year hiatus, the Mexican Irish Festival returns to the Southwest and Corktown neighborhoods on Sunday — celebrating both cultures and how they intersect in the city. 

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Former President of the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation Maria Elena Rodriguez joined The Metro to discuss how the festival started along with the history and cultural fusion of MIrish – Mexican and Irish – people in Detroit. 

There are many commonalities between the two cultures, Rodriguez says. One thing that many Mexican and Irish people share is the Catholic religion.

“Ask an Irish person and ask a Mexican person, the answer may be the same. It’s like if things are going well, ‘It’s God’s will.’ If things are not, you know, if it’s really awful, ‘It’s God’s will.’ You know, so that’s how we kind of look at life,” Rodriguez said. “And we love to party, not to stereotype or generalize. And we have huge family gatherings. I mean, there’s all of that that parallels, not to say it’s exclusive to us, but we embrace it. And so much so that over 50% of the weddings that take place at Most Holy Trinity in Corktown are MIrish.” 

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation with Maria Elena Rodriguez about Detroit’s Mexican Irish Festival and history.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 11, 2024: 

• Poet, educator, Gilda Fellow and lifelong Detroiter Brittany Rogers is releasing her new book “Good Dress” on Oct. 15. She joined the show to discuss the collection of poems and short stories about community, womanhood and the audacity of Black Detroiters. 
• The Detroit Repair Cafe is a band of crafty and creative people that will help you fix your broken items and keep them out of the trash. And at the Halloween Repair Cafe, they’ll even help you make your Halloween costume on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at ArtBlock. To talk about the Detroit Repair Cafe we were joined by its founder, Diana Graham. 
• The Detroit Documenters are teaming up with their newsroom partners, including WDET, for a Detroit Public Schools Community Board Candidate Forum on Oct. 15. There are 22 people running for three open seats. One of the moderators, WDET Education Reporter Sascha Raiyn and Detroit Documenters Coordinator Noah Kincade, joined the show to preview the forum.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Tejano music, or Tex-Mex music, is a blend of different sounds and instruments from Mexico and other countries — like Poland and the Czech Republic. 

Martin Solis helped make Tejano music popular in Detroit with his band Los Primos. 

As a self-taught musician, he started playing the Bajo Sexto, a Mexican 12-string instrument from the guitar family, and developed his own unique musical style.

Solis wasn’t born here, but Detroit was his home. And the history of Southwest Detroit can’t be told properly without the inclusion of Martin Solis and Los Primos. Solis is the first person from Michigan to be inducted into the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame in San Benito, Texas, and the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame in Alice, Texas.

Martin Solis’ son, Frank Solis, is a local historian who’s preserving Tejano music in Detroit. He joined The Metro to discuss his father’s legacy.

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There were few recordings of Los Primos, but Frank found some lost treasures while cleaning out his father’s attic. He uncovered a bag of cassettes, filled with rehearsal recordings of the band.  

“(Jack White), he’d hear these Mexican bands, and that was my dad,” Frank said. “So he assigned his brother to clean them up with an engineer. They cleaned up the tapes, and the album came — his first and last album.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Frank Solis about Tejano music in Detroit.

More headlines from The Metro on Oct. 10, 2024: 

• A local author wants to spread the joy of reading, writing and stretching imagination. Mianne Adufutse is a graduate of Columbia College of Chicago where she studied fiction writing and poetry. Adufutse joined the show to discuss her new book, “Garbage Dump” – a dystopian fictional story set in Detroit. 
• The Tigers are red hot. They beat the Houston Astros in the wild card round and now lead the Cleveland Guardians 2-to-1 in the American League Division Series. The Tigers could win the series and move on to the next round if they win today at Comerica Park. Detroit Free Press Sports Columnist Shawn Windsor joined the show to talk about the team’s unpredictable run. 
• The holiest day of the year for the Jewish people starts tomorrow night. Yom Kippur goes from sunset to sunset and is marked by fasting, prayer and atonement. For Jews observing the holiday, that means apologizing directly to those they’ve wronged over the year. Professor and writer Susan Shapiro joined the show to talk about apology, forgiveness and why those two things are important to everyone, everywhere. Shapiro’s most recent book is titled “The Forgiveness Tour: How To Find the Perfect Apology.”

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.