The Sheik (real name: Edward Farhat) was the most feared bad guy in Detroit wrestling during the 1960s and 1970s. He threw fire. He cut his opponent. He bit them, often winning with his “camel clutch.” His business model was simple: to behave in such a vile manner that people would pay money to watch him battle at air-conditioned Cobo Arena. We look at The Sheik’s impact on the world of wrestling, and how some of his innovations are being copied two decades after his death. And we have a bonus track: a poem by Mark James Andrews about The Sheik’s “good guy” nemesis, Bobo Brazil.

Season 6, Episode 1- The Sheik and Big Time Wrestling

The Detroit History Podcast returns for Season Six with a menu of programs as diverse as wrestling, bebop jazz, and a failed automobile. We'll look at the life of The Sheik, who threw fire and terrorized fellow grapplers during his wrestling career, which peaked in the 1960s and beyond. We saw something different on the road while we prepped for Season Six: an Edsel, which was the biggest flop in automotive history when it was introduced in 1957. We wanted to know: how could the smart people at Ford Motor Company fail in such a big way? We'll hear about the Bluebird Inn, a west side jazz club where Miles Davis played in 1953 and 1954. And we'll explain how the Detroit Institute of Arts grew in the 1920s, acquiring priceless Van Gogh paintings at a time when nobody knew who he was. New episodes drop every Sunday night at 8.

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The Blue Bird Inn was a cathedral of musical wonder in 1950s-era Detroit. This now-defunct west side club featured bebop jazz, featuring musicians such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Barry Harris, Thad Jones, and a longer list of jazz masters. The place was pretty much abandoned a few decades ago, but a local preservation group is taking up its cause, with some help from City Hall. We tell the story of a jazz club, including from the point of view of an archeologist who conducted a dig, yielding curious results. Songs: Wardell Gray- Blue Gray Charles McPherson- Nostalgia Charlie Parker- Blue Bird Miles Davis- Rocker Wardell Gray- A Sinner Kissed an Angel Wardell Gray- Twisted    

Season 6, Episode 3- Bird, Barry and Miles: The Blue Bird Inn during the 1950s

A group of soldiers from metro Detroit and Michigan boarded a trip ship bound for war-torn Europe during the closing months of World War I. Instead, they were diverted to Russia, just south of the Arctic Circle. They battled the Bolsheviks, who had just deposed Russia’s Czar. They fought in temperatures as low as 40-below zero, and continued fighting even after World War I came to an end in November 1918. Mike Grobbel, grandson of one of the members of the “Polar Bear Expedition,” tells their story. And George Baier recreates their mutiny. 

Season 6, Episode 2- The Polar Bears of World War 1

It's been 5 years since the Detroit History Podcast originally released their podcast on the 1957 NFL champion Detroit Lions. Much has changed with Lions brass in the past few years, and it has finally led to post-season success in the Motor City. The Detroit History Podcast revisits the improbable run the 1957 team made to the championship, a run that was led by a first year coach and a backup quarterback. Was grit always in the Lions DNA?  Managing editor Eric Kiska shares an updated essay on what has led to the Lions recent post-season success. 

The 1957 NFL Champion Detroit Lions Revisited

Ketamine has found wide uses since the 1960s: As a painkiller, an anesthetic, a street drug consumed at raves, and -- now -- considered by many to be an exciting new treatment for depression. We explore how ketamine was developed here in Detroit, at the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company, with help from a Wayne State University chemistry professor, and later tested at the now-closed Lafayette Clinic facility in Detroit. Credit to: The BBC and The Tim Ferriss Show.

Season 6, Episode 1- The Sheik and Big Time Wrestling

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