Detroit comedian Melanie Hearn is one of the most unique voices in stand up.

Opening up for seasoned comedians like Maria Bamford, Mark Curry and Preacher Lawson, her unique comedic style and strong energy often leaves audiences wanting more. 

On Thursday, Hearn will be headlining WDET’s “What’s So Funny About Detroit?” comedy showcase at The Old Miami. The show, hosted by In The Groove's Ryan Patrick Hooper, is part of a monthly summer series benefitting WDET.

Hearns joined The Metro ahead of the comedy showcase to discuss her career, her approach to comedy and what to expect at tomorrow's show.

Editor's note: WDET is aware of the possibility of rain Thursday evening and is closely monitoring the radar. In the event of light rain, the show will go on. In the event of thunder and/or lightning, we will honor all June ticket holders’ purchases for our July 31 show.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit mayoral candidate and City Councilman Fred Durhal III last week announced his strategic plan for improving the city, including cracking down on blight and implementing a more "equitable tax strategy."

His plan emphasizes the importance of cutting taxes and red tape when necessary, reinvesting in communities and “main streets,” creating more affordable housing and expanding Detroit's development authority to Midtown, Corktown and to Gratiot, near Eastern Market. Durhal also wants to see more thriving business corridors, more Detroit enterprises and more city residents.

He joined The Metro on Wednesday to expand upon the priorities laid out in his strategic economic plan for the city of Detroit.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is the focus of a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday. 

The publicly-funded nonprofit, which provides funding to PBS, NPR and its affiliates like WDET, would lose $1.1 billion — two years' worth of funding that has already been approved by Congress — if the bill passed by the House earlier this month gets Senate approval. It would also rescind more than $8 billion in funding for foreign aid programs addressing global public health, international disaster assistance and hunger relief.

That bill passed in the House by a margin of 214 to 212, with four Republicans crossing the aisle to vote against the package. There were also four Democrats and two Republicans who did not vote on the bill at all.

President Donald Trump has already signed an executive order to eliminate CPB funding, claiming all public media is biased, but the Rescissions Act of 2025 would go beyond that, revoking funding already approved by Congress.

Today on The Metro, we break down what it would mean for public media organizations like WDET if the legislation gets Congressional approval.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, the world has felt different for a lot of American Jews.  Antisemitism has risen. More recently, two people were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. And a man with a flamethrower in Colorado attacked Israeli hostage advocates. 

At the same time, Israel has expanded its militarism, recently attacking Iran to destroy its nuclear capacity and potentially overturn its regime. Israel has gotten the support of President Donald Trump, as America has now also attacked Iran’s nuclear sites. 

All the while, Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has continued. There are now at least 57,000 Palestinians who’ve been killed by Israel’s attacks since October 7th, 2023. In conjunction with that, Israel’s months-long food aid blockade has put one-in-five Palestinians on the brink of starvation. 

To find out where this leaves American Jews, and what they’re meant to make of the political moment, Producer Sam Corey spoke with Rabbi Shalom Kantor from Congregation B'nai Moshe, a zionist temple in West Bloomfield. The two spoke prior to Israel’s attacks on Iran, Iran’s retaliations and America’s involvement in the war, but Corey reached out to Rabbi Kantor again to get his thoughts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit native and “wig engineer” Darnell Davis is making a name for himself in the beauty and entertainment industries.

Designing wigs for major artists like Beyoncé, Niecy Nash-Betts, Mariah Carey and Little Nas X, he has become extremely sought after by celebrities and Detroiters alike for his meticulous hand-sewn and stitched designs.

Darnell joined The Metro on Tuesday to discuss his love for hair and wig-making from an early age, and Detroit's rich legacy in Black hair innovation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit has come a long way since declaring bankruptcy in 2013, but challenges still remain.

Residents are struggling to find affordable housing, Detroit students are not keeping pace with the rest of the state or the nation, and many long-time Detroit residents feel excluded in Detroit’s transformation. So where do we go from here? And who is the right person to lead the city into its next chapter?

Come November, Detroit residents will make that decision when they elect a new mayor. There are nine candidates, plus two write-ins, that believe they are the right person for the job. 

Life-long Detroiter and businessman Jonathan Barlow is among them. He joined The Metro on Tuesday to share why he decided to run for mayor, and what his priority would be if elected. He says the city's next leader needs to focus on supporting families and legacy Detroiters.

"I'm recreating the family fabric; I want to make Detroit [a] community again, and make sure that we ensure that every home has what it needs to get by," he said.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Wayne State University is offering a genealogy workshop focused on the lineage of enslaved Black Americans as part of its 2025 Juneteenth programming.

At the interactive workshop, "Building Forward with Wisdom," participants will learn practical genealogy strategies, like how to trace one's ancestry through digital tools and historical records, under the guidance of professional genealogist, historian and researcher Dr. Carolyn Carter.

WDET’s Bre’Anna Tinsley spoke with Carter ahead of the workshop to discuss what attendees can expect and why uncovering the history of slave holders is so vital to tracing the history of enslaved people.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The night skies over Tehran have been flashing with fire since Israeli jets began piercing Iranian airspace. They have been targeting nuclear facilities that Israel insists pose an imminent threat. Hundreds have been killed in Iran and thousands injured. 

Iran has responded by firing missiles into Israel, where at least 24 have been killed.

An American-brokered ceasefire fell apart this morning with reports of Israeli and Iranian airstrikes coming after the announcement. 

President Donald Trump’s post on Truth Social Tuesday morning demanded Israel’s compliance: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

Meanwhile, the world has been watching anxiously. That anxiety grew Saturday when Trump escalated the conflict, deploying American B-2 bombers and launching Tomahawk missiles in an aggressive campaign. The president has openly hinted at regime change. 

Iran responded by striking an American air base in Qatar, home to thousands of U.S. troops. 

Diplomacy now teeters on a knife-edge as fears of broader conflict intensify. These fears are held among many in metro Detroit, especially among the hundreds of thousands of Arab and Middle Eastern residents here. Many have been watching violence and conflict erupt across the region and it brings back painful memories of the wars that forced them to leave their homes and flee to the U.S. in the first place.

Some analysts say this latest move by Israel is an attempt to entirely reshape the Middle East, which is stoking further tension and anxiety among people in the diaspora here.

Fariba Pajooh, an Iranian-American scholar of communication and media studies at Wayne State University, joined The Metro to help us understand this moment. Pajooh spent years working as a journalist in the Middle East covering conflicts. Some of that coverage led to her imprisonment by Iranian authorities. 

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Detroit has produced some of the world's greatest boxers, largely thanks to Kronk Gym.  

Kronk was established in 1971 by trainer Emanuel Steward in a gym on Detroit’s southwest side. Boxer Hilmer Kenty was Kronk’s first professional champion, winning the WBA title. Gold-medalist Steve McCrory and world boxing champion Lenox Lewis also trained there.

The original gym closed in 2006 and was long vacant by 2017 when the building was destroyed by fire. Steward later rented a space in Westland to house the gym.

Now, the historic gym is making its return to Detroit, at the Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center.

We spoke to Kronk Chief Operating Officer John Lepak and former professional boxer Tarick Salmaci ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics about the move and the gym's legacy in the sport.

Kronk Boxing Gym will reopen in the Brewster recreation center by the end of the summer. 

Associated Press writer Corey Williams contributed to this report.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

There are some areas in metro Detroit that experience significant flooding almost every time the region gets heavy rains. One of these floodplains is the Ecorse Creek Watershed.

Located in Wayne County, Ecorse Creek has 15 cities within its boundaries including Westland, Wayne, Romulus, Taylor, Inkster, Dearborn Heights, Dearborn, Allen Park, Southgate, Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, Ecorse, Melvindale, River Rouge and Detroit.

Friends of the Detroit River has been working for many years to help mitigate stormwater flooding, improve water quality and restore ecosystems within the watershed. 

The nonprofit group is one of 17 organizations recently awarded Watershed Council grants from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to address flooding and stormwater runoff problems. Friends of the Detroit River will receive $40,000 of the total $600,000 awarded.

McKenzi Waliczek, stewardship director for Friends of the Detroit River, joined The Metro to talk about how the organization will utilize the funds.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.