What a time to be a Detroit sports fan! The Lions are on their way in the playoffs. The Pistons just cleared .500. And the Red Wings? It’s been a long time since the team was swigging from the Stanley Cup. But things seem to be looking up, after some changes in the Wings’ coaching staff, and the team has shown much-needed new energy. We talked to Helene St. James, who covers the Red Wings for the Detroit Free Press, about how the team's new coach Todd McClelland seems to be turning things around. 

GUEST: 

Helene St. James, journalist covering the Red Wings for the Detroit Free Press 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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If you love "The Moth" you'll want to listen to this hour of storytelling from Detroit's StoryFest, recorded at the Detroit Film Theater last Fall. Thanks to StoryFest producers and organizers - Tay Glass, McArdle Hankin, and Ellison Libiran.

STORYTELLERS (in order):

- Laura Weber Davis
- Bryce Huffman
- Samuel L. Jackson with "The Pelican" (Produced in collaboration with KALW's Uncuffed. Edited by Ryan Pagan)
- Shannon Cason
- Dame Wilburn

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In the fervent years of the 1970s, a group of Latino and Latina students formed a collective of makers and artists at the University of Michigan. This community-minded group, La Raza, was about everything, from art to history and movement.

Dave Choberka, curator for University Learning at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and Félix Zamora Gómez, program coordinator with the university’s Arts Initiative, display these works in an exhibition titled La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 – Today.

The contents of the display, which runs until July 20, 2025, include poems, artwork, gallery proofs and journal editions that discuss Chicano and Latino representation in the media and contain experimental visual art. According to Choberka, these editions marked the evolution and history of the organization.

GUESTS:

• Dave Choberka, Mellon Foundation curator for university learning at the University of Michigan Museum of Arts

• Félix Zamora-Gómez, program coordinator for engagement, U-M Arts Initiative

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. 

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The Detroit Auto show, and the auto industry overall, has seen a lot of change since the pandemic. This year, the show has returned to its original January schedule after a few slow years when the event was held in late summer.

Longtime autos reporter Phoebe Wall Howard provided some inside perspective on the 2025 Detroit Auto Show, what it means to generations of folks who have attended, and what companies and dealers anticipate in the coming year. 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. 

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The cabins scattered throughout the Porcupine Mountains each holds a logbook for guests to complete. Since the 1940s, parks staff have collected about 200 completed books full of decades of stories.

Special thanks to John Carlisle and Ryan Garza of The Detroit Free Press for their coverage of the Porcupine Mountains' logbooks.

GUEST:

Katie Urban, Park Interpreter for the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. 

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The next few years will be big ones for Detroit. 

In the last ten years, there’s been a national reawakening to Detroit’s possibilities. The incumbent mayor, Mike Duggan is moving on, and the city will have a very public conversation about the way forward, as his successor is chosen. 

And leadership will come in other forms, as well. 

One of the city’s non-profits, the Institute for AfroUrbanism, has come up with a series of grants supporting research into the infinite possibilities of Black futures. 

Today, a look at how the institute is empowering visionary leaders with innovative ideas for equity, opportunity, and transformation in the city.

GUEST: 

Lauren Hood, founder and executive director of the Insitute for AfroUrbanism

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Ducks are one of the first animals little kids learn about--rubber duckies anybody? But if you head to your local river or lake during the winter, the waterfowl you find there might be a bit...weirder than the kind you see during warmer seasons. Today's episode is all about those weird winter ducks and the people who love them.

GUEST: 

April Campbell, doctor and birding enthusiast 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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The new Congress is being sworn-in today in Washington D.C. That means there are some current members set to retire, including Michigan’s long-time Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee. He’s been serving as a U.S. Representative for over a decade, and representing Michigan’s 8th district since 2003. His successor, Kristen McDonald Rivet, will take office with the 119th Congress on Jan. 3rd.

Michigan Public’s Zoe Clark spoke with the outgoing Representative from Flint about his dozen years in office.

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One of the most-streamed films online is the original Star Wars: A New Hope. You can watch it in a bunch of different languages. Now, that includes Anishinaabemowin. That means Ojibwe people in Michigan and all over North America can see an absolute classic in their language. We talked to one of the actors involved in the Anishinaabemowin dubbing of the film about the project and what it meant to see one of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters in a language that many of his ancestors were once forbidden from speaking. 

GUEST:

Niigaanii-Animikii Inini Kalvin Hartwig, filmmaker and voice actor 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country after a surprise offensive launched by opposition groups, ending the 50-year rule of the Assad family.  For many Syrians living outside of the country, it's opened up the possibility of returning home, or visiting loved ones who stayed. 

We met one Syrian immigrant who built a life with his family here in Michigan after fleeing Syria over a decade ago. He reflected on his time in Syria, and his hopes for the nation's future. 

GUESTS:

• Adam Yahya Rayes, data reporter, Michigan Public
• Basel Alyasin, vice president, American Syrian Arab Cultural Association 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions. 

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