The Metro

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that beauty is more than skin deep. Your presentation, build, attire and demeanor shapes how others perceive who you are and what you care about. 

The people we surround ourselves with influence our taste which forms our opinion on what we deem as cool or beautiful. The media we consume is powerful too; the mind is a really powerful thing. It encourages us to change the way we look to fit the latest fashion and beauty trends. 

Two guests joined The Metro on Thursday to help us better understand the pressure of America’s beauty standards and their effect on women.

Rokeshia Ashley is a professor of health communication at Florida International University and a researcher focusing on body image, body modification and maternal health. Dr. Alexandra Sowa is an obesity and internal medicine physician and the author of the book, “The Ozempic Revolution."

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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

This Record Store Day, WDET is doing its part to showcase the incredible independent vinyl shops in and around the Motor City by offering an exclusive RSD member drawing!

Anyone who makes a gift to WDET via wdet.org/give on April 11 or April 12 will be automatically entered into the drawing to receive a swag bag filled with gift certificates from participating record stores, Third Man Records vinyl and more.

Ryan Patrick Hooper, host of WDET's In The Groove, joined The Metro to talk about Record Store Day and the magic of discovering music at your local record store.

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

Economists are describing what’s happening in the markets as volatile. 

President Donald Trump placed double-digit tariffs on many countries around the world last week, including those in Europe, China and Japan, among others. After these actions, the markets tanked. Over two days the stock market lost over $6 trillion. Things changed yesterday, when Trump paused his tariffs for 90 days, with the exception of China which saw its tariffs increase to 125%. 

Conventional economists argue against tariffs, saying trade is generally good. It makes both countries richer in the deal. Economists often don’t like tariffs because they increase prices and make it harder to get the materials countries need to build and sell stuff.  

But a minority of economic thinkers are pushing back. They’re saying we have to give these tariffs time. Some are saying that the market and American companies need a while to restructure themselves to this new economic order. 

Chen Zhao, head of economics research for the real estate firm Redfin, joined the show to help us understand this market shock. Local financial advisor Bobby Barrett also joined the show to discuss how tariffs and the resulting turmoil in the stock market is raising concerns for retirees, or soon-to-be retirees, about their 401(k)s.

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

We often talk about downtown and Midtown Detroit, and all of the events happening there. But there’s also so much happening in places across the city, including our parks. 

Detroit parks have been a place for gatherings and memories made by generations of people in the city. The parks offer both a chance to connect on the playgrounds for kids and an opportunity to escape, and connect with nature. 

Earth Day is coming up on April 22, and Detroit Parks has a host of events planned from clean-ups at Chandler Park, Belle Isle and so much more. At the end of the month, Friends of Rouge Park will also gather for a hands-on tree planting event.

The Detroit Parks Coalition is a collaboration of community members and park leaders, with the goal to support a health parks system. Communications manager for the Detroit Parks Coalition Ian Solomon returned to The Metro on Thursday to talk about DPC and some upcoming events to keep on your radar.

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

All staff for the Institute for Library and Museum Services were put on administrative leave as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal spending and eliminate some government agencies on March 31. 

The Institute for Library and Museum Services is a federal agency that funds exhibits and staff for libraries and museums. It also funds accessibility tools for people with visual impairments and technologies for archival processing.

Grants to libraries and museums, totaling $266 million, seem unlikely to be administered. At least half of the 75 people on leave are expected to lose their jobs completely.

Today on The Metro, we’re bringing you some conversations with people who have been working at museums and libraries for years. 

Senior producer David Leins spoke with Devon Akmon, director of the Michigan State University Museum and a board member of the American Alliance of Museums.

Host Tia Graham also spoke with Russ Bellant, a longtime Detroiter and grassroots organizer. Bellant was formerly on the board of commissioners for Detroit Public Library.

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

The Greektown Neighborhood Partnership is working on a “Monroe Streetscape Transformation Project.” 

The project would allow the partnership to occasionally close down certain streets to cars and make them more people-friendly. Some of these changes include expanding pedestrian zones, large landscaping projects, increasing lighting for visibility and new signature signage. 

Greektown Neighborhood Partnership Chair and President Athina Papas joins The Metro to discuss the changes coming to downtown. 

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

Health experts say measles deaths could become more common, marking a shift backwards. Measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. 25 years ago, thanks to what state officials describe as “a highly effective vaccination program in the U.S.” along with better measles control across North, Central and South America.

But the landscape for infectious diseases is changing. Vaccine skepticism and hesitancy are on the rise. So far this year, over 600 confirmed measles cases have been reported across multiple states. For comparison, there were 285 measles cases reported for all of 2024.

Outbreaks are on the rise as well. The vast majority of measles cases are outbreak-associated, which is defined as three or more related cases. 

The nation’s hub for addressing infectious diseases — the Department of Health and Human Services — has faced major cuts under the Trump administration. Experts say those cuts could affect the response to infectious diseases at the local, state and national level.

Dr. Teena Chopra joins The Metro to help us understand the situation. She’s the Assistant Dean at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and specializes in infectious diseases.

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

Many free speech advocates are alarmed as the Trump administration revokes visas for hundreds of international students. Those students could face deportation for committing traffic violations or participating in political activism. 

In both circumstances, this kind of federal action is rare. Students are always at risk of losing their status for criminal convictions, but rarely for political demonstrations. 

People working in the Trump administration, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, say student activists do not have a right to be here. He claims students have been “vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus,” and that international students who “start a riot” will have their visas revoked. 

It is unclear whether any students who have lost their visas have been charged with starting a riot. And so, this has many people worried about crackdowns on free speech and the broader implications for all Americans, including Amir Makled. 

Makled is a civil rights attorney representing a University of Michigan protester pro bono. That protester faces criminal charges filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel for allegedly defying law enforcement. 

On Sunday, Makled was detained for two hours by federal agents at Detroit Metro Airport after returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic with his wife and two daughters. 

Makled said immigration officials told him they knew he was an attorney and that he takes on “high profile” cases. They wanted access to his cell phone.

Just last month, Makled appeared on The Metro to explain why he is representing a pro-Palestine protester pro bono. This week, he returned to the show to discuss his experience being detained by federal officials. 

The Metro also contacted the regional U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, which participated in the detainment of Makled. The agency has not yet replied to that request.

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

About 30% of the food supply in the U.S. goes to waste, according to the USDA. Most of the time, food scraps end up in the sink or the garbage. But there’s something else you can do with your food scraps. 

Depending on where you live, it might be a program in your city, something that’s similar to recycling or trash collection. We’re talking about composting — the process of turning old food and yard waste into nutrient-rich compost.

Bill Whitley is the president of Spurt Industries. His company manages a multi-city composting program that includes operating a large compost yard in Rochester Hills. Spurt was hired by a municipal corporation called the Southeastern Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority (SOCRRA) that manages waste and recycling for 12 communities in Oakland County. The arrangement started March 31. 

Michael Edwards is the CEO and co-founder of Midtown Composting. They’ve been operating a compost service in the Midtown neighborhood since 2015.

Whitley and Edwards both joined The Metro on Tuesday to discuss the different options available to metro Detroit residents looking to compost at home.

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

The city of Detroit has long been a hotbed for jazz. In fact, many musicians would say Motown would not be what it is if not for the musical genre. 

Jazz legends like Marcus Belgrave, Kenny Burrell and Marion Hayden are just a few of the city's prominent jazz musicians that helped shape the city's music scene. But while jazz is still relevant in today's music industry, it's not a genre that most people associate with younger generations.

Robin Wilson, owner of Vesey Lane Goods in Detroit, is hoping to change that with her new children's book, “Jazz-A-Bet: An Original Jazz Alphabet.” 

She joined The Metro on Tuesday to share more about her book — a bilingual flip book with one side printed in English and the other printed in Portuguese — and to discuss the importance of exposing kids to music at an early age.

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