The Metro

The first exhibition upon the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit's (MOCAD) return will feature a slate of local and international artists including the renowned Olayami Dabls who is known for the Dabls MBAD African Bead Museum on the city's west side.

He is also a story teller, sculptor and painter with work spanning 45 years. His exhibition at MOCAD will be a retrospective of his work over that time. 

Dabls joined the program along with the co-director and artistic director for MOCAD, Jova Lynne to discuss it.   

Large groups of teenagers have been gathering in downtown Detroit, organized on TikTok and Snapchat. It’s part of a national trend being called “teen takeovers.” Most of the kids were just hanging out. But some of these gatherings turned chaotic. There have been brawls, vandalism, and an attempted robbery on Woodward. On April 11, a gun was fired, though no one was hurt.

Where can Detroit kids go to be safe and have fun? And, what’s the responsibility of a city to help grow and develop young people? 

Jerjuan Howard is the first director of Detroit's new Office of Youth Affairs. He spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

Young people have stories to tell. The Detroit Teen Truth Film Festival is a place for them to share those stories. It started in 2019 and has been growing ever since.

Teens from Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties create films that are just fifteen seconds long.

Each year, the festival chooses a theme. The teens help pick it, so it reflects what they care about most. The films are creative, honest, and often really powerful. This year's theme is "My Mental Health, Myself."

Finalists can win cash prizes and scholarships. But even more important, they get a chance to be heard. These films help communities see the world through young people’s eyes. It gives teens a voice and empowers them to share it.

Joining us to talk more about this creative outlet for teens is The Y Arts Executive Director Margret Edwartowski and The Y Arts Board member Nicolas Cucinella.

This year’s event is Saturday April 25 at 2:00 p.m. at the Marlene Boll Theatre at the Boll Family YMCA.

Bookstock Michigan, one of the largest used book and media sales in the country is back.

Each year at Laurel Park Place in Livonia, thousands of volunteers help collect, sort, and organize hundreds of thousands of donated books and media items. The result is an affordable marketplace for readers of all ages. 

But beyond the size of the sale, the collective effort behind it, from neighbors, to educators, and community members keeps the spirit of Bookstock alive.

Proceeds from sales go directly back into literacy and education programs across the region, helping expand access to reading materials and learning opportunities.

In the last 5 years, library visits have doubled. People are coming back to libraries, and they’re getting more than books out of the experience. Tool rentals, seed sharing, and in-person community programming are all part of the equation.

Jeff Milo, from the Ferndale Area District Library, and Lisa Peers, author of "Motor City Love Song," join The Metro to talk about what's putting wind in the sails of libraries everywhere during National Library Week, April 19-26, 2026.

Food is more than what’s on your plate. It's a direct reflection of identity, of history, it's a reflection of access and or lack of justice. Where you live can shape what you eat, how you eat, and even how long you live. 

The truth is that our food systems are rooted in histories that include displacement, inequity, and harm. 

Founded by Detroit native Gabrielle Knox and Oakland California native Josmine Evans, The Joy Project wants to reconnect people with ancestral foodways and land practices. They aim to educate and spread joy through building historical and cultural relationships between Black, brown, and Indigenous communities and the soil.

They join The Metro to talk more about food as justice, as healing, and as identity, and what it really looks like when everyone has access to food, culture, dignity and community.

Inquiries for new electric vehicles has risen more than a quarter since America and Israel's war in Iran began. But EVs need to be charged — and that’s easier to do in some places. If you’re in China, you can charge an EV in just a few minutes. In Michigan, we’re way behind that reality. But despite the Trump administration’s distaste for EVs, the infrastructure for electricity is improving.

The number of charging ports in the state grew by about 1,800 last year — the most significant uptick in one year. So, if you’re thinking about buying or leasing an EV, what does all this mean for you? Sophia Schuster is the policy principal for the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council. She spoke with Host Robyn Vincent.

Detroit City Council voted 6-2 to ask the mayor for a two-year freeze on data center permits. The city has no zoning rules for the massive facilities. A data center has already been proposed on city-owned land on the east side. And DTE Energy is pursuing enough data center contracts to nearly double its power demand.

Council Member Scott Benson is leading the moratorium effort and recently convened a working group of city departments, DTE, unions, and environmental advocates. He joins host Robyn Vincent to discuss why Detroit needs to slow down before it speeds up.

Typically, new technology becomes the standard and the old one becomes obsolete. Vinyl records break this rule.

In recent years, records have consistently generated the most revenue among all physical music formats. They leap frogged cassette tapes and CDs, which were considered more advanced than records when they were released.

Jeremy Peters, a music business professor from Wayne State University, joined the show to discuss what catapulted vinyl records back into the mainstream in the last 20 years .

We’re in a moment of polarization. We’re struggling to see each other, to hear one another, to understand different perspectives.

A 2024 Gallup poll found that 80% of adults believe we are greatly divided on our most important values. A more recent New York Times poll found that most voters don’t believe those divisions can be overcome.

There are fewer and fewer people who have faith in one another, who believe that our democracy can last, and who think we can solve problems across difference. But those who work in interfaith dialogue think there's still a chance for communication to bridge the divide.

The Metro’s Sam Corey spoke with a few of them to understand the promise, and limitations of that work.