The Metro

How is the Trump administration doing overall at managing the economy? 

There are bright spots: inflation is down, unemployment is low, and the stock market is strong. But there are also concerns: Prices are still high in many areas, there's been a hiring freeze across a number of industries, and most of the investments energy is are concentrated in artificial intelligence — not spread across a diverse range of sectors. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is traditionally pro-free market, pro-business, and conservative leaning — and that's also true for their partner organizations around the country.

Faye Nemer is the CEO of the Middle East North Africa American Chamber of Commerce, which operates out of Dearborn. She told producer Sam Corey that she generally likes how the Trump administration is managing the economy. She thinks the tariffs are strategic. And while Nemer realizes small businesses are hurting, she thinks that's likely to change as national policies will trickle down to everyone else.

Online child exploitation is a criminal act that targets the most vulnerable people in our communities, kids and teens. Online child exploitation comes in many different forms, including online grooming, enticement and solicitation.

The REPORT act which passed in 2024 changed how we categorize these crimes.

Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She's a renowned expert in the psychosocial and technological factors associated with cybercriminal behavior, with a focus on the criminological characteristics and grooming strategies of online child sex offenders.

Customers staying home. Workers not showing up. Revenue dropping. Small businesses across metro Detroit's immigrant communities are under pressure as federal immigration enforcement reshapes daily life in neighborhoods like Southwest Detroit, Dearborn, and Hamtramck.

Mark Lee, president and CEO of The Lee Group, joins Robyn Vincent to discuss what he's hearing from business owners across Southeast Michigan — and whether the damage can be undone.

Michigan ranked worst in the nation for restoring power after outages in 2023. DTE Energy has filed four rate hikes in five years — and cut power to 150,000 customers for nonpayment. Now, a grassroots group in Ann Arbor is collecting signatures to put a city-owned utility on the November 2026 ballot. If voters say yes, Ann Arbor would become the first Michigan city to attempt taking over its grid from a private company.

Sean Higgins, president of Ann Arbor for Public Power, joins host Robyn Vincent to talk about what's at stake and why organizers believe this fight could crack the door open for cities across the state.

Research shows that people who socialize more are more likely to participate in politics — to vote, to show up at meetings, to put money behind a cause. So what does it actually take to get people out into the world and into each other’s company?

Ian Solomon is an artist, journalist, and organizer. He joined the program to discuss what it looks like to build community power.

Rube Foster was a pioneer in American baseball. His efforts in the early 20th century to organize Black baseball teams sparked professional Negro Leagues. The league's style of play, the players, and the business model would go on to arguably alter the course of U.S. history. 

Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, joined the show and described how Foster’s grit and business savvy tactics turned a fractured era in baseball into a lasting pillar of America’s favorite pastime.

Water and sewer rates in metro Detroit have climbed nearly 40% since 2018. Now, the Great Lakes Water Authority is proposing one of its steepest increases yet — roughly 7% for water and 6% for sewer — to fund repairs to a system where more than 83 miles of pipe are past their useful life.

Noah Kincade of Detroit Documenters joins Robyn Vincent to break down what's behind the numbers, what residents said at GLWA's January board meeting, and how to weigh in before the board votes on Feb. 25.

In metro Detroit, the vast majority of residents live within a 10-minute drive of a grocery store. But if you don't have a reliable car, it's a different story. Less than half of all residents can reach those same stores by walking, biking, or taking a bus. And the same pattern holds for schools and healthcare facilities. 

We need to do better at linking the city and suburbs by bus, bike, and foot. But how? Ben Stupka is the executive director of the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan. He spoke with Robyn Vincent about what the RTA hopes to accomplish this year to connect neighborhoods and people.

Late last year, Rogelio Landin ran for mayor of Detroit on a simple platform: the city should annex some of its surrounding communities. Detroit needs people, and those suburbs need money. With annexation, the city could expand and gain more revenue to share with its new residents.

Landin didn't get many votes, but the idea was provocative. What if metro Detroit acted more like a coherent region, instead of dozens of separate municipalities all going it alone? What could that unlock?

Rogelio Landin spoke with Robyn Vincent about that and more.

Across Michigan, city leaders and police chiefs are asking a question: How should they work with federal immigration officers? From January to October of last year, ICE arrested over 2,300 people, according to the Deportation Data Project. That number nearly tripled from the year prior.

Many Michigan mayors are staying quiet on the issue. That’s not the case for Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor, where nearly 28% of residents are immigrants. He’s recently made headlines for wanting his city’s police department to separate itself from federal agents. He spoke with Robyn Vincent about what kinds of ICE policies he thinks Michigan cities should have.