The Metro

If you saw a young person on the street, maybe waiting on a bus, would you know if they were homeless or not? Would you care? 

Covenant House Michigan has been serving the state's homeless youth population for nearly 30 years. 

For the past 12 years, the organization has hosted “Sleep Out Detroit”. The annual event is a part of an annual movement held across the globe. It's also during National Youth Homelessness Month.  

On November 20, more than 100 people will camp out to financially support and bring awareness to youth homelessness.

Megan Dunn and Detroit-based artist and public speaker Phillip Simpson joined The Metro’s Tia Graham to talk more about “Sleep Out Detroit” and the importance of spreading awareness. 

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

The Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation is the city’s workforce agency, connecting residents to jobs, training and other opportunities. 

It was created by Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration in 2012 and it’s also run by the mayor’s office. 

Mayor elect Mary Sheffield will soon be sworn in. Changes to the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation could be on the way. The agency was also doing a lot of work with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, and they’re drying up. 

At the Nov. 3 meeting, the agency discussed how they’ll navigate their finances while exploring different funding options. Producer Jack Filbrandt spoke with Detroit Documenters Jasmine Kaltenbach and Noah Kincade to learn more about the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation.

In 2021, Detroit residents voted to create a reparations task force. The goals include creating housing and economic programs to repair harms committed against Black Detroiters who have been city residents for at least 20 years. 

Cidney Calloway, co-chair of the Detroit Reparations Task Force, joined Robyn Vincent to discuss the harms the task force seeks to remedy in more detail.

A legendary Detroit band has been recognized with one of music industry’s highest honors. 

The White Stripes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this month. With that distinction, the band is now alongside some of Detroit's greats, like Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, and Aretha Franklin.

The duo exploded onto the national scene in the early 2000s and  released six studio albums across ten years. Songs like “Blue Orchid,” “Icky Thump,” and the iconic stadium banger “Seven Nation Army” are examples of the raw textures and driving beats that characterize their approach to garage-punk. 

Meg and Jack eventually split after 2011 but their contributions to music in Detroit and America will be forever recognized.  Mike Latulippe, host of The Detroit Move on WDET, played with Jack White back in the day. He joined the program to discuss the band's legacy.

Trust in major news organizations is at an all time low.

According to a 2024 Gallup poll that has tracked trust in media for over 50 years, 30% of people said they do not trust mass media. Only 6% said they lack trust in the media when the survey was first taken in the 70s. 

When Danielle Brown, a professor of journalism at Michigan State University, asked Black communities in states like Michigan if they trusted the media, she discovered that they have their own trusted messengers for news. She joined the show to discuss her findings. 

Local experimental theater A Host of People prides itself in being a collective that brings justice to the forefront, making sure all people see themselves on stage.  

The theater company explores a range of topics in their productions, including how American politics intersect with personal lives. 

Recently, A Host of People got a permanent location on Detroit’s West Side, further cementing its mission in a city that has no issue fighting back against injustice.  

Sherrine Azab is the co-director of A Host of People. She spoke with The Metro’s Tia Graham about the move and using theater to speak justice to power. 

AI data centers are rising across Michigan, promising jobs and investment while raising alarms about higher electric bills, strained water supplies, and new pressure on fossil-fuel plants.

Journalist Brian Allnutt joins Robyn Vincent on The Metro to unpack what’s driving the boom, what communities stand to gain or lose, and if this moment could reshape Michigan’s energy future.

In the years since the Supreme Court legalized sports betting across the nation, professional athletes have been in a lot of trouble.

Last month, Pistons legend Chauncey Billups was arrested in a wide-ranging federal investigation into illegal sports betting and rigged poker game schemes. His potential role in a plot with ties to the Mafia raised many eyebrows, including those of longtime sports journalist Jemele Hill.

Hill, a Detroit native and someone who has been covering professional sports for years, joins the show to share her thoughts on how betting is changing sports and how the allegations against Billups impact his legacy.

Detroit has a lot of vacant land — 18 square miles of it — that’s just sitting around. What should be done with it?

The local think tank Detroit Future City has an idea. They are creating a conservancy to protect and steward the land today and well into the future. Producer Sam Corey spoke with Kimberly Faison, the vice president for thriving and resilient neighborhoods and Sarah Hayosh, the director of land use and design for Detroit Future City.

Detroit has a number of famous representatives. Representatives John Dingell, labor leader Patrick McNamara, and Congressmember John Conyers. Charles Diggs, Jr. doesn’t often make these lists. But should he?

The first Black congressmember in Michigan, he worked with Martin Luther King, Jr, helped pass the Voting Rights Act, advocated for the end of apartheid in South Africa, and changed America's foreign policy stances toward many nations in Africa.

Why don’t more people know about him?  

Marion Orr is a professor of political science at Brown University. He spoke with Producer Sam Corey about his new book, "House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr."