The Metro

Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline cuts beneath the Great Lakes, stretching over 600 miles and crossing beneath the Straits of Mackinac. For decades, the pipeline has raised concerns because of its potential to spill oil and contaminate water for millions of Americans. This water is also a source of sustenance, culture and sovereignty for tribal communities.   

Now, Enbridge has a proposal on the table to build a new oil tunnel to replace a section of Line 5. The Canadian oil and gas company says this will address aging infrastructure. An executive order from the Trump administration could expedite the construction of this project.

But advocates argue that the construction of this new oil tunnel and potential leaks from it pose many threats, especially to tribal fishing rights and livelihoods.

Andrea Pierce is a member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the policy director at Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition. She spoke with me on the shores of Mackinac Island ahead of a rally on Thursday protesting the proposed oil tunnel. 

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Countless media organizations and journalists attend the Mackinac Policy Conference to gain a better understanding of what business, nonprofit and political leaders are doing to try to improve the state.

Annalise Frank, a reporter covering Detroit for Axios, is among them. She joined The Metro to talk about the Detroit mayoral debate planned for Thursday night and what else she is covering at this year's conference.

There will be five candidates participating in tomorrow's debate, including Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, Former Detroit City Council President Saunteel Jenkins, Detroit Councilman Fred Durhal III, Detroit pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr., and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig.

She says she is hoping to get a sense of what business and philanthropic and political leaders want to see from Detroit's next leader.

"Mayor Mike Duggan is not running for reelection, so it's kind of a new time for Detroit next year," she said. "So what are the policy priorities; how do we grow population in Detroit; how do we improve neighborhood corridors — there's just so much to talk about and limited funding to do it."

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The next mayor of Detroit is not just tasked with managing the city, they also manage relationships with business and policy leaders from across the state.

Detroit’s mayor regularly attends the Mackinac Policy Conference to help build those relationships. But this election season, the candidates vying for that seat are here making their case for why they should be elected the next leader of Michigan's largest city.

Saunteel Jenkins is one of those candidates. The former Detroit City Council president most recently served as the CEO of The Heat and Warmth Fund – otherwise known as THAW. She joined The Metro to talk about how her past experience has prepared her for the role, and what her priorities would be as the city's next mayor. 

"I had to build coalitions with legislators in Lansing and in D.C., and work on both sides of the aisle to bring resources home for our families," she said. "There are a lot of things that I did as the CEO over the last decade that correlates with the job of the mayor."

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In 2016, many liberals didn’t take Donald Trump seriously. They thought that he was wacky, ridiculous, offensive, and not a serious candidate for president. 

But during that time, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell thought differently. She was speaking with her constituents Downriver, and it was prior to President Trump’s first term that she realized he was well-liked, that he had a good chance at becoming the most powerful person in America. 

Almost a decade later, Trump has become central to the Republican Party and our politics writ large. Democrats have spent a lot of that time becoming the “anti-Trump” party. But after losing the 2024 election, many Democrats believe that position is not enough. They need to stand for something. 

So, what do Democrats stand for? What should they stand for? And what do they need to do to win back the country — specifically the low-income and marginalized people they claim to champion?

Dingell joined The Metro live from the Mackinac Policy Conference to discuss how she stays connected to her constituents.

"Every weekend I try to be at a couple farmers markets...I try to be in a union hall, I try to be in a veterans hall, I go to special events, I go to the grocery store — where real people are," Dingell said. "And I don't go with anybody, I go with no entourage, I don't have any staff, I go me, and people talk to me and they tell me what's on their minds, and a lot more Democrats need to do that."

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Michigan U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin spent three terms in the U.S. House before running to replace outgoing Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. She bucked the pro-GOP trend to beat Mike Rogers last November for the seat.

She spoke with WDET All Things Considered - Detroit host Russ McNamara at the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference to talk about proposed cuts to Medicaid in the GOP's "Big Beautiful Bill," supporting EV manufacturing in-line with consumer demand and more.

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

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said that the Detroit-Windsor area is the “busiest active border crossing in North America,” and that about $200 billion of trade flows between the two countries annually. 

A border that is active has plenty of infrastructure that needs to be maintained. Regine Beauboeuf, CEO of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel for American Roads, oversees the bridges, tunnels and toll roads that exist between the two countries. 

She joined The Metro live from Mackinac Island on Wednesday to discuss what her job entails and to provide more insight on the consequences of the trade war between the U.S and Canada. 

American Roads is a U.S.-based owner and operator of transportation infrastructure, including toll assets, and currently operates three toll bridges — including the international tunnel connecting Detroit with Windsor.

She spoke about the region's unique cross-border economy and why she doesn't expect to see a major impact at the border from Trump's recent tariffs.

"Together Detroit and Windsor, really that's its own ecosystem," she said. "We've been working together; it's not just trade, it's also people [who] will come to work, like the health care workers who are coming here; you have people with families or in-laws in other countries...so there is a very strong history between Windsor and Detroit and I don't think you'll see that being affected."

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News media has changed a lot. In just the last decade, people have more access to information than they have in human history. 

That’s changed the state of journalism. And in the last eight years, some journalists and scholars say news outlets — like CNN, the New York Times and NPR member stations like WDET — are under attack. President Donald Trump has labeled the press the enemy of the people and has been attempting to discredit the things we say — making it harder to tell truths that are inconvenient to those in power. 

Devin Scillian shares these concerns. He’s best known for being an anchor at WDIV-TV. He held that position for nearly three decades, retiring last December. Before that time, he won multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards. And this month, he received a “lifetime achievement award” from the Society of Professional Journalists. 

He joined The Metro live from the Mackinac Policy Conference to discuss where the media is at now, the ways it’s been under attack, and what journalists need to do to meet viewers where they’re at.

"In the same way that voting is a responsibility for being an American, I happen to believe that being informed is a responsibility of living in a Democratic society," Scillian said. "Information is the most precious resource in the world. You can have all the petroleum, diamonds, gold, silver, copper...if I can have information. I just think it's the most vital resource that courses through the veins of the world."

Scillian also touched on the importance of consuming news responsibly by maintaining a well-balanced media diet and avoiding echo chambers.

"We can live in a silo if we want to, but it's the equivalent of sitting down and just eating caramel corn for every meal — I'm not sure it's a great idea," he said. "Everybody should be availing themselves of a lot of different news sources every day."

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Ember LaFiamma is part of the future Detroit promised.

She grew up in the city surrounded by the sound — techno, house, ghetto tech— without knowing what the world called it by name.

Later, she learned that the music that shaped her was born right here.

Her journey deepened at the Underground Music Academy, where she learned to build beats from scratch and sharpened her skills as a DJ and producer. There, she began to truly understand the legacy — and the labor — behind the sound.

LaFiamma is not just performing, she is building. She co-leads Homie Hangz, a nonprofit that hosts free and donation-based DJ sessions and production workshops in community spaces across Detroit. She makes her own music, teaches, and builds bridges.

She is now preparing to open the Detroit stage at the Movement festival on Saturday. So, what does it mean to carry forward a sound rooted in resistance and innovation?

LaFiamma joined The Metro to talk about her journey, her city, and the community she’s helping to shape.

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Detroit made techno. It was born in Black brilliance, forged in sweat, steel, and speaker stacks. The early days were gritty, raw, and unapologetically underground.

Raves in asbestos-riddled warehouses. DJ booths balanced on plywood. Sweaty bodies packed into buildings with no heat, no permits, just purpose. The Packard Plant, Mack and Bellevue, and the Eastown Theatre were places the city gave up on. But the music briefly revived them. Bass shook the dust loose. Rhythm fought its way through the speakers. It was joy, communion and resistance, but on a subterranean level.

Then came a turning point: the first Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000, led by Carl Craig, which is known today as Movement. For once, an underground scene had risen to the surface. Slowly, the world took note. Detroit — the birthplace of techno — was getting its due.

But not completely. Even now, it is hard to make a living in Detroit as an electronic music artist and many leave for cities like Los Angeles and Berlin. So what will it take to change that?

DJ and producer John Collins of Underground Resistance — a group built from the city’s renegade spirit and refusal to be erased — joined The Metro to discuss Detroit’s techno legacy and the artists preserving and growing it.

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

Many arts organizations are in a vulnerable position right now. That’s in part because the Trump administration has started canceling National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants and has called for the elimination of the agency. That means something to tons of organizations here in Michigan. 

In 2024, the NEA granted more than $3 million to arts organizations in the state. As of last week, the majority of the funds earmarked for 2025 have been snatched back, leaving hundreds of nonprofits in the red financially, according to reporting from the Detroit Free Press. 

The Carr Center is a nonprofit hub for the visual and performing arts in Detroit focused on promoting and sharing the work of Black artists. The organization's CEO, Oliver Ragsdale, joined The Metro on Thursday to discuss how they're navigating the recent cuts to the arts.

"We got an NEA grant, we finished our grant, submitted our report and got our dollars within a couple of days, so we didn't get terminated and we've been fortunate like that," Ragsdale said.

Still, he said the NEA cuts will likely impact state funding and cause various other challenges, creating "a new normal" for arts organizations like the Carr Center.

"We are staying focused on Black artistic excellence and everything about it. And you know, we've been through cycles before, we'll go through cycles again — I've been doing this for a few minutes — and eventually we're going to be alright."

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