The Metro

Twenty years ago, professor Robert Darden at Baylor University wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in which he called for gospel music from its “golden era” to be preserved. That idea eventually cam to fruition with the creation of the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program. 

Stephen Newby, an ambassador for the program and a professor of music at Baylor University, joined the Metro to explain what “golden era” of gospel music is, why its still being archived today, and how Detroit artists fit into all of it.

Michigan’s skies are blanketed in haze, clouding the outlook for metro Detroiters. Wildfires burning hundreds of miles away in Canada are sending plumes of smoke all over the American Midwest, and that smoke makes breathing hard and sometimes affects our health in untold ways. 

We know breathing wildfire smoke near the source is harmful, but there’s still uncertainty about what happens as the smoke travels. 

Some emerging research suggests wildfire smoke traveling long distances chemically changes and could become even more harmful.

Pulmonary specialist Dr. Erika Moseson has been closely following the issue of wildfire smoke and lung health. She hosts the podcast “Air Health, Our Health,” where she breaks down how things like wildfire smoke  — and how climate change, which is intensifying those fires — affect our health.

Bipartisan bills are stuck in legislative gridlock in both the Michigan House and Senate. Since the legislative term started in January, only six bills have been passed and landed on Governor Whitmer’s desk. That’s despite lawmakers introducing hundreds of bills. What is going on?

Elena Durnbaugh and Nick Smith cover the State House and Senate, respectively. They joined the Metro to explain how dysfunctional lawmaking in Lansing is right now. They co-reported the story, “House, Senate not taking up each other's bills amid low number of public acts.”

WDET’s Sounds Like Detroit Live is a celebration of Detroit’s rich music legacy while uplifting local talent. Tiny Desk Contest contestants from metro Detroit were all handpicked by WDET music hosts. One of those is the multi-talented Corazon Szell.

Corazon was selected by Jeff Milo, the host of MI Local on WDET. She will perform alongside three other artists at Sounds Like Detroit LIVE at Batch Brewing on August 14, 2025. Tickets are $25 and support WDET.

She joined Metro’s Tia Graham to talk more about her songwriting and career.

60 years after the Voting Rights Act was passed, the Jackson Home, a civil rights movement landmark, is coming to The Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI.

The Henry Ford in Dearborn —- which includes the Museum of Innovation and Greenfield Village, acquired the Jackson house in 2023. It was owned by Dr. Sullivan Jackson and Mrs. Ritchie Jean Sherrod Jackson and was the site of organizing for the Selma to Montgomery Marches that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Detroit Public Library is hosting a presentation by Amber Mitchell, Curator of Black History at The Henry Ford. She will discuss the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act being signed into law and the role the Jackson Home played in the Selma to Montgomery Marches. The discussion will be at the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library, 6 p.m., Wednesday, August 6.

Guest: Amber Mitchell, Curator of Black History at The Henry Ford

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

Voters in Detroit face a defining choice in the August 5 mayoral primary election. But right now, fewer than 10% of registered voters have participated. Most of those ballots have been mailed in. In‑person early voting, which ended August 4, was minimal. The primary is Tuesday, August 5. The top two vote-getters will advance to the general election in November.

Voter accessibility has also been a question. During the 2021 election, disability advocates filed an ADA complaint saying key voting information, like where and how to vote, was inaccessible online for users of screen readers, affecting thousands of Detroiters. And, some polling locations across metro Detroit remain inaccessible to voters with disabilities.

Detroit’s top election official, City Clerk Janice Winfrey, joined Robyn Vincent to discuss.

The Metro has spoken with all of the candidates running for mayor. You can find those conversations in the podcast feed, or at WDET.org/voterguide2025.

What do Detroit voters want out of city's next mayor? This summer, the WDET News team has been hitting the streets for a new project, Citizen Vox, to help us get a clearer picture of what Detroiters want out of the next mayor.

Ahead of Tuesday's primary, WDET news director Jerome Vaughn joined the Metro to tell us more about what WDET reporters have been hearing from residents.

Detroit's mayoral primary is Tuesday, August 5, 2025. The top two vote-getters will advance to the general election in November.

Follow WDET election coverage at WDET.org/voterguide2025

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

For months, Detroiters and suburbanites have had their eyes on the mayoral race. That’s for good reason: Mayor Mike Duggan is running for governor, it’s the most competitive it’s been in years. It’s also very likely that the city will have a Black mayor once again.

But there are other races in Detroit that deserve attention. 22 candidates are competing in the Detroit City Council primary races. Those seats matter. The people who win those positions are the city’s legislators. They decide what ordinances get passed, what norms are established, and which ones aren’t. Bridge Detroit has been hosting town halls in every Detroit district leading up to Tuesday’s primary election. Two people have been leading those town halls.

Bryce Huffman is the Engagement Editor for Bridge Detroit. He, along with Malachi Barrett, a reporter for Bridge Detroit, are on The Metro this morning to give us more.

Being an artist can mean many things . There are many different art forms and you can specialize in one or be an artist with many different skills up your sleeve . We call them multi-hyphenates, multi-disciplinaries, a jack of all trades, a renaissance man. 

Samuel Nalangira is an artist who has honed his artistic craft and expresses it through whatever form he chooses. Samuel is a singer, a musician, a dancer and choreographer from Uganda. He happens to be one of the four musicians selected for the Sounds Like Detroit showcase in just a couple of weeks. WDET is hosting a showcase for their Detroit version of NPR’s Tiny Desk.

Metro Detroit’s Arab American community is large and has been through several waves of immigration. Long ago, the attraction was the $5-a-day Ford jobs that brought so many people here. Each of those periods brought new families, culture, and heritage.

From Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen, Metro Detroit is home. But the places people emigrated from will always be known as their original home. Part of what makes a place feel like home are the sights, sounds, and smells of the world around us.

Part of feeling at home is the simpler things, like food—the taste of home. Eating together as a family or with certain dishes your parents grew up making. The Arab American National Museum in East Dearborn has been building up a taste of home on the building’s rooftop.

The Al-Hadiqa Heritage Garden at the museum is hosting events like poetry readings and concerts. The next one is August 8, and events run through October 3, including a performance by Kasan Belgrave. Dean Nasreddine is a curatorial specialist at the Arab American National Museum.