The D Brief

How do you host a dance party when the COVID-19 pandemic has forced social distancing upon everyone? Sam Morykwas and his partner, DJ Seven Whales, figured out how to launch Wednesday Night Vibes, a weekly dance night using Zoom. Sam tells Seth and Becky of The D Brief how it all came together.

How do you expand your art from one medium into another? Sarey Ruden is a visual artist who turns misogynistic messages she receives from men through dating apps into works of art. But when she wanted to explore the issue even further, she crossed into the audio-only world of podcasting. She talks to Seth and Becky of The D Brief about what she learned in the transition.

As an Iraqi-American woman, Weam Namou didn't see stories that reflected her own in pop culture, so she wrote the novel Pomegranate. Now, she's tuning it into an indie film. She talks to Seth and Becky of The D Brief about the experience.

Arts & Scraps is a Detroit non-profit that works with schools to create educational programs involving arts and crafts with recycled materials. But what happened when schools closed and children couldn't come to the Arts & Scraps store? Executive Director Ang Adamiak joins Seth and Becky to talk about how the organization pivoted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is changing the way people think about how they use land — from where they work to how they travel. It's also causing restauranteurs to rethink how they use land. EastEats, a new restaurant voted Metro Detroit’s Best Outdoor Dining for 2021 by MLive, is Michigan’s first completely outdoor dining establishment. The co-owner, Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, joins Seth and Becky on The D Brief to explain why its use of land is setting a precedent.

In early 2021, The Detroit Historical Society became the first major museum in the area to launch a podcast. Untold Detroit: Beer explores the rich history of brewing in America. The host of the podcast, Billy Wall-Winkel, joins Seth and Becky of The D Brief to talk about the process of creating the podcast.

Check out Untold Detroit: Beer wherever you get your podcasts!

Darren Shelton, Executive Director of Planet Ant in Hamtramck, talks about the history of the improvisational theatre and performing arts training center and how the organization is adapting to the pandemic.

Lee DeVito, Editor-in-Chief of the Metro Times, Detroit's alt-weekly paper, talks about the impact that COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests have had on the local art scene and local journalism.

Satori Shakoor, founder and producer of The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers, joins Seth and Becky on the livestream to talk about her upcoming virtual storytelling event, “Black Men Count,” on Friday, June 19th.

Rochelle Riley, the Director of Arts & Culture for the City of Detroit and the former columnist at the Detroit Free Press, joins Seth and Becky to talk about the protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.