The Detroit History Podcast

Season 6 Finale- Michigan Central Station, The Ellis Island of Detroit Jun 17, 2024

The Michigan Central Station reopening has given Detroit a great story to tell, specifically: how we took a wreck of a building and turned it into something glorious. The Detroit History Podcast takes a dive into how the place slid into such disrepair. Spoiler alert: maybe the station is a symbol of something bigger. Times changed. Automobiles and planes obliterated the railroad industry’s vaunted position of getting people and things from here to there. A story with many moving parts, and that includes an explanation as to why only Ford Motor Company could have taken on such a vast project. Looking for more Michigan history to dive into? Managing Editor Eric Kiska is releasing a new YouTube series called "Tales of the Great Lakes." This docuseries will cover Great Lakes history such as "The Great Lakes Stonehenge," the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the creation of Thousand Island Dressing, and the haunting of the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. The first episode is out now at: https://www.youtube.com/@FirelakeMedia

Season 6, Episode 7- Chung's and Detroit's Chinatown Jun 10, 2024

As a child growing up in metro Detroit during the 1970s and 1980s, Curtis Chin watched the world go by from an unusual vantage point. His family owned Chung’s, a popular Chinese restaurant in the Cass Corridor, which enjoyed a 60-year run before closing in 2000. Chin, now a nationally recognized author, has written about that experience in his memoir, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant.” He explains the pep talk he got from the late Coleman A. Young about the importance of anger. As Chin recalls the conversation: “Coleman Young, challenged me and said, ‘there's nothing wrong with being angry.' It’s a motivator. It gets you to do things, and it forces you to ask questions.”

Season 6, Episode 6- The Edsel: The Road to Lemonville Jun 02, 2024

The Ford Motor Company had momentum going into the mid-1950s: a young Henry Ford II, who inherited the CEO job from his grandfather roughly a decade earlier, was reversing the company’s fortunes. But then, the company laid the biggest egg in automotive history. It introduced the Edsel in 1957. Despite working with the best brains in the country, the project flopped and was scotched in 1960 costing nearly $2.6 billion in present-day dollars. Worse yet, it became a symbol for a badly-designed product. So what happened? Our analysts say the unusual front grille was the least of the problems facing the company.

Season 6, Episode 5- The Last Hanging in Detroit May 19, 2024

On a fall day in 1830, convicted wife killer Stephen Simmons was hung in downtown Detroit. His execution was as public as anything could be. Bleachers were set up on three sides of the scaffold, as people came from miles around to witness the execution. Maybe they didn’t like what they saw, because Michigan soon became the first English-speaking government to outlaw the death penalty.

We speak with legal scholar David Chardavoyne, author of A Hanging In Detroit: Stephen Gifford Simmons and the Last Execution Under Michigan Law. Lawyer Eugene Wanger tells us how the ban on capital punishment went through when the state’s constitution was rewritten in the early 1960s. And historian Matthew Daley, of Grand Valley State University, explains why it never took hold in the state’s early days.

Explicit content warning: audio of an execution.

Season 6, Episode 4- How the DIA Turned From a Private Art Collection Into a World-Renowned Museum May 12, 2024

Here’s where Detroit was, art-wise, in 1917: a middling art museum on the east edge of downtown Detroit, with little to attract notice. We tell the story of the next 10 years, when the entire world began to pay attention. The magnificent Detroit Institute of Arts building on Woodward went up, with paintings by the yet-to-be-discovered Vincent Van Gogh. How did this happen? We tell that story by looking at Ralph Booth, the publishing scion who had a passion for art; and William Valentiner, the esteemed German art historian who oversaw the acquisitions. Marsha Battle Philpot, an arts aficionado and D.I.A. board member, tells us about Detroit’s vibrant 20s.

Interviews:

Jeffrey Abt, author of A Museum on the Verge: A Socioeconomic History of the Detroit Institute of Arts."

William Peck, author of "The Detroit Institute of Arts, A Brief History."

Season 6, Episode 3- Bird, Barry and Miles: The Blue Bird Inn during the 1950s May 05, 2024

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 2- The Polar Bears of World War 1 Apr 28, 2024

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 1- The Sheik and Big Time Wrestling Apr 21, 2024

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.

The 1957 NFL Champion Detroit Lions Revisited Jan 25, 2024

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.

Season 5 Finale- The Development of PCP and Ketamine Dec 12, 2022

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 5, Episode 9- Fran Harris, The First Female Newscaster in Michigan Dec 05, 2022

Broadcaster Fran Harris's life was a lifetime of firsts. She was the first woman newscaster in Detroit radio during World War II, persuading her bosses at WWJ to abandon its "guys only" tradition. And when television came along in Detroit on Channel 4 in 1946, she was on the air for that, too. When she retired from the station in 1974, some 200 women showed up at her goodbye party, grateful to Harris for the barriers she broke. We have a tape of a 1989 Harris interview, and talk with Michigan State University professor emerita Sue Carter. Former Channel 4 newswoman Betty Carrier Newman describes life in the newsroom when she arrived in 1969.

Season 5, Episode 8- A Century of Mexicantown Nov 28, 2022

A longstanding community called Mexicantown on Detroit's southwest side has persevered for around a century. The area of restaurants, shops, and bakeries anchors a key ethnic community in Detroit. For many, the journey here was prompted by a search for jobs. We explore the rise of the community, and the decline when Depression-era policies due to racism sent many Mexican-Americans packing for Mexico. We talk with Maria Elena Rodriguez and Elena Herrada and explore how this neighborhood came to be.

Season 5, Episode 7- The Biography of a Rumor: The "Paul McCartney is Dead" Hoax Nov 14, 2022

Thousands of phonograph records were destroyed, as were thousands of needles used on the old-style record players. Teenage sleuths were conducting their own investigations in the great conspiracy theory of the fall of 1969: Beatle Paul McCartney had died, but that his death was covered up. However, as the theory went, clues could be found in the obscure nooks and crannies of Beatle records. Weird? The rumor took root at WKNR-FM in Dearborn, and The Michigan Daily, the University of Michigan's student newspaper. Both carried "Paul Is Dead" stories. From there, the theory went out in waves, We wanted to know: how could anybody take this as seriously as they did? We talk with Fred LaBour, the young Michigan Daily staffer who wrote the story that helped ignite the hysteria. He's now a member of the award-winning band Riders In the Sky. Interviews: Fred LaBour, M.L. Liebler Photo: Russ Gibb, courtesy of the Detroit Free Press, Ira Rosenberg Music: The Beatles: Revolution 9, The Tempations: I Can't Get Next To You, The Stooges: 1969, The Beatles: Strawberry Fields Forever, Riders in the Sky: Clarinet Polka.

Season 5, Episode 6- The Origins of Detroit Style Pizza Nov 07, 2022

Sometime in the mid-1940s, an Italian immigrant bar owner by the name of Gus Guerra started making pizzas in his joint to bring in a few extra dollars. Decades later, Gus’s creation is big business, and world-renowned. Detroit Style Pizza is being served up in uber hip places in Brooklyn. The big chains are in on it. And we’re giving Chicago a run. We trace the history of the various players as Guerra’s creation morphed with the times. Interviews with Wes Pikula, Steve Dolinsky, Marie Guerra, and Karen Dybis. Audio from the https://www.detroitstylepizza.co/ youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/DSPCtv).

Season 5, Episode 5- The Michigan Democratic Social Club Triple Beheading Oct 31, 2022

It was horrific, even by the low standards of the urban drug trade. Three dead bodies found in a van on Detroit's east side one night in 1979. All three had been decapitated. We explore the street politics that led to the massacre. And we tell the story of Frank "Nitti" Usher, a crime lord of the era. Former Detroit Free Press reporter Joe Swickard says people were forced to pay attention to details of the crime, as "this was just too much, and I think a triple beheading and bodies found because of blood leaking out of a van was just you know, it was totally in-your-face. And you got to do something about it." Caution: explicit language and extreme violence.

Interviews: Joe Swickard, former Detroit Free Press Reporter; Ric Bohy, former Detroit News reporter; Scott Burnstein, author and co-founder of https://gangsterreport.com/.

Season 5, Episode 4- The Native American Origins of Detroit Oct 24, 2022

The beginnings of Detroit are inaccurately pinned to the arrival of Cadillac on these shores in 1701, but there were various Native American tribes in the area for centuries before that. Thousands of years ago, people came over on a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska. The earliest indigenous people around Detroit were suspected to have come here for sturgeon in the Detroit river. They even left something that is still around to this day: a burial mound at Fort Wayne, on Detroit's southwest side.

Season 5, Episode 3- The 1863 Civil War Riot Oct 17, 2022

Smack in the middle of the Civil War, Detroit experienced a riot that was characterized as "the most brutal and bloody riot that ever disgraced any community." A local bar owner, Thomas Faulkner, who was thought to be African-American (he wasn't) went to trial in March, 1863 on sexual assault charges. The accuser was a 10-year-old white girl who later recanted her story. A riot broke out as Faulkner was being escorted to the jail house following his conviction. Two people died. It also set local African-Americans fleeing into the wood and across the Detroit River to Canada. We tell the story with the help of historians Martin Hershock and Ken Coleman.

Season 5, Episode 2- The Ford Hunger March Oct 10, 2022

On a cold winter day in 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, some 3,000 or more people met at a park on Detroit's southwest side. They hoped to march to Ford Motor Company's Rouge Plant to present a list of demands to Henry Ford. By modern day standards, those demands weren't all that extravagant. A few demands they asked for: the right to organize, an eight hour day, and a couple of 15 minute breaks on the assembly line. Dearborn police and Ford security met the group at the Dearborn/Detroit border. A riot broke out, with the Dearborn Fire Department opening its hoses on the marchers. Harry Bennett, Ford's security chief, drove into the crowd and began firing. Four people died in the melee, another shortly thereafter. 90 years later, the event has not been forgotten. The Detroit History Podcast microphones were at a 90th anniversary commemoration this past spring. We explain what happened. And George Baier, formerly of the J.J. and the Morning Crew, reads from Harry Bennett's autobiography.

Season 5, Episode 1- Joe Louis, The Punch of Detroit Oct 03, 2022

Joe Louis may have been the most famous person to come out of Detroit. He arrived here in the mid-1920s as part of the Great Migration, that influx of African-Americans who came north to escape the Jim Crow South. When he took up boxing as a teenager, there was no stopping him. He became heavyweight boxing champion of the world for 12 years, from 1937 until 1949. His bout against Max Schmeling, not long before World War II, had Louis carrying the entire weight of the free world on his shoulders. We tell his story with Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum, a former boxing commissioner and friend of the Louis family; Joe Louis Jr., the boxer's son; and Marcy Sacks, an Albion College professor who explores the topic of race as it relates to Louis's career.

Season 4 Finale- Jeff Montgomery, Detroit's Fierce LGBTQ+ Rights Activist Dec 20, 2021

Jeff Montgomery was a born activist who played an important role in saving Orchestra Hall. When a hate crime brought tragedy to his personal life, he channeled his talent and drive to working on behalf of the LBGTQ+ community. His stellar career and sad decline are documented in America You Kill Me, which lost its major debut to COVID, but is set to premiere next spring. We tell Montgomery's story through the words of the film's director, Daniel Land; musical artist Audra Kubat, who is supplying the film's soundtrack; Stirling, a longtime friend of Montgomery; and historian Michael Hodges.

Season 4, Episode 9- When The Cold War Seemed Hot: Nike Missiles Around Metro Detroit, And A Nuclear Warhead On Belle Isle Dec 06, 2021

Between 1955 and 1974, a nuclear war with the Soviet Union seemed like a possibility. We armed ourselves by placing Nike Missiles around many major cities across the U.S. -- including 16 in and around metro Detroit. Six of them -- including one on Belle Isle -- were outfitted with nuclear warheads. A nuke on Belle Isle? We hear from historians Mel Small, Christopher Bright, William Worden, Jerry Perry; political scientist Ron Stockton; and a cast of historic characters including Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy.

Season 4, Episode 8- Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, How a Jewish Kid from the Bronx became a Detroit Tiger Great Nov 22, 2021

Hank Greenberg, who entered the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest hitters in the game's history, was the first Jewish star in team sports. He interrupted his baseball career to serve longer in World War II than any other major league player, and led the Tigers to World Series championships before and after the war. So why did the Tigers sell him to the Pirates? Good question. We hear from an eclectic cast about his career, including poet John Sinclair, who reads verses from the late Edgar Guest; sportscaster Eli Zaret, historian Bill Dow, and -- we're not making this up -- Groucho Marx and Bing Crosby.

Season 4, Episode 7- The 1960s and General Motors: Consumerism Hits The Big Three Nov 15, 2021

GM spied on a gadfly and got caught. It was the '60s, and it changed the auto industry forever.

When consumer advocate Ralph Nader began hounding Detroit to produce safer cars, the world's largest corporation took affront and went snooping. Its chairman, James Roche, had to apologize in the U.S. Senate chambers. Ralph Nader's rise from obscure author to agent of change may have been solidified in that moment. And the manufacture of automobiles transitioned from a nearly unregulated industry to an intense object of safety and environmental standards. We follow this trail with veteran auto writer Dave Smith and Kenneth Whyte, author of the book. "The Sack of Detroit: General Motors and the End of American Enterprise."

Season 4, Episode 6- No-No Boy and the Japanese-American Migration to Detroit Nov 08, 2021

Barely two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order #9066. Some 120,000 Japanese Americans in this country's western states were ordered into internment camps. We report on the order, and the post-war period. When the camps were finally emptied out after the war, some 1,000 came to Detroit. We talk with the curators of the Detroit Historical Museum's Exiled To Motown Exhibit. And scholar Frank Abe tells the story of John Okada, who came here to work at the Detroit Public Library while writing No-No Boy, considered by many to be the great American novel about the event.

Season 4, Episode 5- Vernors, The Nectar of the Gods Oct 31, 2021

James Vernor invented his ginger ale in downtown Detroit just after the Civil War. More than 15 decades later, we're still fans. The Detroit History Podcast tells the story of this enduringly popular soft drink. You thought Vernor Highway in southwest Detroit was named after the drink? Actually (spoiler alert), it was his work in City Hall. We explain, with help from Keith Wunderlich and Amy Elliott Bragg.

Season 4, Episode 4- Black Bottom: The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise of a Detroit Neighborhood Oct 24, 2021

For decades, segregation forced African-Americans migrating from the South to Detroit into one neighborhood: "Black "Bottom," an area just east of downtown, which is now Lafayette Park. Urban renewal plowed the neighborhood under in the 1950s, destroying what had been a thriving place that gave the world Joe Louis and Coleman Young. But the memory of the place never died. A historical marker marking the location, dedicated late this summer, now stands in one of the small parks. The Detroit History Podcast crew attended both dedication ceremonies. And we hear from people who lived there, with audio from a short documentary by filmmaker J. Michael Collins.

Season 4, Episode 3- The Haunting of The Whitney Oct 18, 2021

Waiter, is there a ghost in my soup? The Whitney, one of Detroit's great restaurants, began life as a grand 19th Century mansion. David Whitney, one of Michigan's richest lumber barons, would be startled to learn not only that the public is dining on Faroe Island salmon and shrimp and scallop sauté in his Woodward Avenue manor, but tales of paranormal activity have long been a popular menu item. We explore the subtext of "spirits" served at the Whitney.

Season 4, Episode 2- The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, The Sub-Aquatic Ambassador Oct 10, 2021

An underwater tale of two cities

With the auto industry booming and with Detroit’s population surging in the 1920s, we needed a way to get people and car parts back and forth between Detroit and Windsor. The solution: dig a massive trench beneath the Detroit River current, drop massive concrete tubes into the trench, and drain 'them. What could possibly go wrong? The Detroit History Podcast story of that civil engineering achievement includes an audio bonus: on a quiet night, you can hear freighters passing overhead.

Season 4, Episode 1- The Scene, the Hippest Detroit TV show of the 70s and 80s Oct 03, 2021

The low-budget, upstart and, to some, shocking dance show on a pioneering African-American-owned TV station put a screenful of Detroit teenagers on the air every day. If you were of an age in the 1970s and 1980s, you watched. Today's Detroit History Podcast gives the back story of a most unlikely -- and important -- piece of the city's cultural history. We talk with show host Nat Morris, former Detroit News TV writer Jim McFarlin, and television producer Tony Mottley.

Special Edition- The Polio Outbreak May 14, 2021

With a terrible virus sweeping the nation, the word "vaccine" dominated headlines for months. Not COVID-19, but polio. Not now, but the 1950s. Elder generations remember it well. But almost all have forgotten, if they ever knew, that Detroit suffered a polio epidemic three years after Dr. Jonas Salk's "miracle drug" quelled America's fear of a crippling disease. We talk with Dr. Peter Salk, Jonah Salk's son, about the creation of the vaccine. We also talk with Dr. Terri Laws about the 1958 polio outbreak in Detroit and the racial disparities that worsened it.

Season 3 Finale- The Deindustrialization of Detroit Aug 03, 2020

Some look at Detroit today and wonder how the abandoned buildings got here. What happened between The Arsenal of Democracy and now? How did a city of nearly 2 million people dwindle down to around 650,000? There are people that blame the 1967 rebellion for the urban decay the city has seen, others blame longtime mayor Coleman Young. In our Season 3 Finale, we explain and debunk these notions. We talk with Thomas Sugrue, author of “The Origins of the Urban Crisis,” and Wayne State University Senior Lecturer of Urban Studies and Planning Jeff Horner. The urban crisis Detroit has faced for decades was set in place long before the ‘67 Rebellion happened. When manufacturing and automobile jobs left the city in droves, it created a hole in Detroit that left many in poverty. We examine some of the first factories to leave Detroit and look at the proceeding domino effect.

Season 3, Episode 9- Lottie The Body, The Burlesque Queen of Detroit Jul 27, 2020

Burlesque legend Lottie Graves-Claiborne wowed 'em on several continents, sharing the stage with numerous worldwide stars. But throughout her celebrated 90 years, Lottie insisted on highlighting the art of the tease. This week's Detroit History Podcast focuses on a long life well-lived, and how Lottie the Body's discretion painted a fine line between exotic dancing and mere titillating display.

Season 3, Episode 8- Birds of a Feather- Bowling, Belgians, Beer, Pigeons, and the Cadieux Cafe Jul 20, 2020

A historic cafe has morphed its way through generations of change, and still ... still ... there is the feather bowling. Feather bowling? Yes, feather bowling. One man, born in Detroit, found an important piece of his identity playing this unusual game of his forebears on the court at the Cadieux Cafe and he is an important reason the game appears secure in its Detroit home.

Season 3, Episode 7- The Politics of Fear Jul 13, 2020

In 1952, famed historian David Maraniss's father, Elliott Maraniss, was fired by the Detroit Times, the city's Hearst daily newspaper. This happened on the very day congressional witch hunters showed up in the newsroom with a subpoena demanding he testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The family's ensuing odyssey in search of a normal life is the remarkable story told in David Maraniss's book, "A Good American Family." The younger Maraniss discusses the paranoia of the McCarthy era in this week's edition of the Detroit History Podcast. And we get help from former Channel 4 anchorman Mort Crim, who reads from a letter the elder Maraniss left behind about what it is to be an American.

Season 3, Episode 6- The Evangelista Occult Murders Jul 06, 2020

Benny Evangelista found Detroit's near East Side fertile territory for dispensing pay-as-you-go insights into the lives of his working-class clientele. He was known in the neighborhood as a "divine prophet," which is how the banner headline of the Detroit Free Press described him after his decapitated body and the hacked remains of his wife and four children were discovered on a holiday morning on the eve of The Great Depression. Their massacre might be Detroit’s greatest unsolved murder mystery.

Season 3, Episode 5- Far from New Orleans, Long Before Motown, Jazz Became Detroit's Pulse Jun 22, 2020

The magnet of good-paying factory jobs and the nurturing influence of an excellent public school music program helped make Detroit a hotbed of jazz and the hometown of many internationally famous musicians. This edition of Detroit History Podcast takes a look at when and how and why Detroit's music began to swing, and how generations of jazz stylists became an important cultural export. From the Graystone Ballroom to Miles Davis's rhythm section, and onward, Detroit has had a greater impact on America's native art form, jazz, than you might expect.

Season 3, Episode 4- They Sat Down and Rocked The Boat: Walter Reuther's Blue-Collar Revolution Jun 15, 2020

He came to Detroit as a high-school dropout raised in hardscrabble West Virginia. The career arc that followed -- from diemaker at Henry Ford's Ford Rouge Plant to confidant of American presidents -- marks Walter Reuther as a singular figure in in the U.S. labor movement. His vision of power-sharing and social progressivism drew the template for a blue-collar middle class. Even as technology has shrunk the workforce, and corruption allegations have stained a later generation of leaders, Reuther's place in American history is assured. This week's Detroit History Podcast traces the Reuther saga from his first days at the Rouge to a fateful plane crash near the northern Michigan recreational haven and training facility he envisioned for UAW members.

Season 3, Episode 3- From Midnight to Windsor, Detroit's Underground Railroad Jun 08, 2020

From Dr. King’s march on Woodward to Cobo Hall where he delivered an early version of his “I Have a Dream” speech, to Coleman Young’s election in 1973, to Malcolm X’s days of activism in the city, to the protests of police brutality this past week, Detroit has always been a hotbed for civil rights. In the 1800s, it was no different. Thousands of freedom seekers fled north on the Underground Railroad to escape slavery, and one of the main places they ended up at was Detroit. Canada banned slavery in 1834, so for many freedom seekers, it was the final destination for escaping bounty hunters trying to bring them back into bondage. As Windsor was just on the other side of the river, Detroit marked one of the last stops on the Underground Railroad. It was nicknamed “Midnight.” We study stories from those days, including the story of Caroline Quarlls, a “fancy girl” who travelled hundreds of miles to Detroit and deceived several slave catchers on her way to freedom. We also look at the religious institutions that helped them, including Second Baptist Church of Detroit and Sandwich First Baptist Church.

Season 3, Episode 2- How WABX Radio and Plum Street Put the Counter in Counter-Culture Jun 01, 2020

In the late 60s, a thunderously enduring upheaval occurred in the musical and cultural landscape. Young Americans, knowingly or not, were overdue for something other than Top 40 music and crewcuts. The Detroit radio station WABX, ignoring old norms of pop music content and airing songs that lasted seven minutes or more, was the crucible for what became known as "progressive rock" programming. Down the street, launched on an even smaller budget, a three-block stretch of Plum Street became Detroit's short-lived version of Haight-Ashbury. As the nation entered the 1970s, Detroit was already there. The Detroit History Podcast takes a look at the people who made it happen.

Season 3, Episode 1- How The Spotlight Found Coleman Young May 26, 2020

If anybody was taking bets in the early 1960s, Coleman A. Young would have been a true longshot for getting himself elected to just about anything. He held any number of jobs from the late 1940s to the early 1960s, and ran unsuccessfully for public office on three occasions. But his fortunes changed. His dogged determination, refusal to bow to a House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt, and a remarkable primary victory in 1973 made Detroit mayoral history. We explore his ride to the mayor’s office, with former Channel 2 reporter Al Allen, Detroit mayoral candidate John Mogk, and others.

Special Edition- Detroit's Response to the 1918 Spanish Flu Apr 24, 2020

When COVID-19 began to ravage the world, many health experts compared it to the 1918 Spanish Flu. What are the similarities? Nearly 100 years ago, the United States was nearing the end of the First World War. A strange illness appeared overseas that took out soldiers. Not long after, it came to America and created a pandemic the likes of which hadn’t been seen for centuries. It was The Spanish Flu, a deadly contagious virus that no one was prepared for. How did our country respond? How did Detroit respond?

Season 2, Episode 10- How The Klan Almost Elected A Mayor Apr 23, 2019

Detroit was becoming an eclectic mix of cultures during the 1920s -- African-Americans from the south, immigrants from southern Europe, and a growing Catholic population. The Ku Klux Klan exploited the fear of outsiders and almost elected a Detroit lawyer named Charles Bowles during that decade. He ran again and won the Detroit mayoral seat in 1929, but as gang violence climaxed with the assassination of a popular radio commentator, his promise of law and order was not delivered. He would be recalled from office. We'll explain, with help from Michael Placco, of Macomb Community College, and Kenneth Shepherd, of Henry Ford College.

Season 2, Episode 9- The Legend Of The Nain Rouge Apr 16, 2019

There must be some reason behind Detroit's bad luck in the last three-plus centuries. We have the explanation: Du Nain Rouge in French, or the Red Dwarf in English. Legend has it the creature has been spotted whenever something really awful happens. And now, some fun-loving creative types in this city have turned it into a Mardi Gras-like celebration. We talk with Francis Grunow, co-founder of Marche Du Nain Rouge; and Janet Langlois, a retired folklore expert with Wayne State University's English Department.

Season 2, Episode 8- General Motors in the 1920s: How A Struggling Company Became the Chrome Colossus Apr 09, 2019

In 1920, General Motors was a company in trouble. Its founder was fired- for a second time. Henry Ford was eating G.M.'s lunch with his Model T. But a decade later, G.M. had revamped itself into the model of a big business, and would remain so for decades, largely following the same playbook written by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. in the 1920s. We'll follow its resurgence with help from Paul Lienert, a veteran auto writer and Detroit correspondent for Reuters.

Season 2, Episode 7- Milliken v. Bradley, The Case Of Cross-District Busing Mar 31, 2019

The topic of busing proved to be one of the most volatile issues in metro Detroit during the early 1970s. This came to a head in the case of Milliken v. Bradley. Two federal court orders mandated the forced busing of children to remedy segregation in metro Detroit. The reaction: The KKK dynamited buses in Pontiac. Thousands took to the streets. The question eventually landed in the U.S. Supreme Court, where a 5-4 decision put a stop to the planned move.

We talk with historian Kevin Boyle, a Northwestern University professor and author of the book, "Arc of Justice." He's an expert on the history of race relations in Detroit; Joyce Baugh, a Central Michigan University professor emerita, who has written a book on the topic. And we hear Justice Thurgood Marshall's dissent in the case, in which he predicted the high court's decision would prove to be a disaster for racial justice in this country.

Season 2, Episode 6- The 1957 NFL Champion Detroit Lions Mar 24, 2019

It's been more than 60 years since the Detroit Lions won an NFL Championship. In the 50s, the Lions were one of the most dominant dynasties in the league, winning three championships in six years. It was a season of comebacks with their coach quitting weeks before the season and star QB Bobby Layne going down with a broken ankle. Their backup QB Tobin Rote would have to put the offense on his back, and he did: as they would go on to complete one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history against the 49ers before they trounced the Cleveland Browns in the championship game. We interview hall of fame linebacker Joe Schmidt, as well as Steve Junker, the rookie tight end who scored two touchdown's in the championship game. We also talk with Lions beat writer Dave Birkett from the Detroit Free Press, and MSU professor Joanne Gerstner. Football analyst Jim Brandstatter takes us through the pages of Sports Illustrated and the Detroit newspapers from that year.

Season 2 Episode 5- John Lee Hooker And The Blues On Hastings Street Mar 10, 2019

Bluesman John Lee Hooker's recording career spanned more than 40 years -- from his hit record, Boogie Chillen', which was recorded in a Detroit basement in 1948, to his Grammy Award-winning LP The Healer. Hooker is a total product of Detroit's Black Bottom, the city's African-American neighborhood. We track his career, with help from John Lee Hooker's son, John Lee Hooker Jr.; to Marsha Music, whose father, Joe von Battle, owned Joe's Record Shop, one of Hooker's hangouts. Detroit musician R.J. Spangler places Hooker in this country's blues galaxy. Stick around after the credits for a preview of John Lee Hooker Jr.'s new song: Testify.

Season 2, Episode 4- 1943, Detroit's Forgotten Riot Mar 04, 2019

For two days in 1943, Detroit erupted into a flat-out race war. Thirty-four people died as whites and African-Americans battled each other in the streets. People were ripped from street cars and beaten senseless. Of the 25 deceased African-Americans, 17 were killed by police. It ended only as the U.S. Army came in with rifles and bayonets. Two historians, Thomas Klug and Jamon Jordan, discuss the historic event. A young NAACP lawyer by the name of Thurgood Marshall arrived here within days to investigate the catastrophe. He filed a report. Former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer reads Marshall’s own words. And we hear from the late Bill Bonds, who tells us (in an interview recorded eight years ago) what he witnessed firsthand.

Season 2, Episode 3- The Last Days Of Harry Houdini Feb 25, 2019

Before radio, TV, and the internet magician Harry Houdini was described as the world's first rock star. So when he died in Detroit after a performance here in 1926, people around the world took note. We unspool Houdini's death, and his various Detroit connections. That includes his 1906 leap off the Belle Isle Bridge. Veteran newsman Joe Donovan, a serious student of history, recreates that jump in classic CKLW 20/20 new style. We also talk with magicians Ming Louie, Michael Belitsos, and Ron Carnell, pop culture expert Tim Caldwell, and reporter Steve Neavling.

Season 2, Episode 2- Remembering The Anchor, Detroit's Most Famous Newspaper Bar Feb 17, 2019

The Anchor Bar, situated on the western end of downtown Detroit, was once one of the country's best-known newspaper bars. As one of the city's most notorious watering holes, it was also the site of a federal raid because the feds thought one of its patrons was running a $15 million-a-year bookie operation (uh, it did have four telephones). After 60 years, the place has just changed ownership. We look at the bar's history. We talk with Vaughn Derderian, son of Leo Derderian, who created the place's mystique; former Detroit News columnist Pete Waldmeir; Berl Falbaum, who wrote a book about the place; and Julie Altesleben, a Detroit News copy editor/page designer, who brings us into the 21st century.

Warning: Explicit Language, F Bombs Galore.

Season 2, Episode 1- Henry Ford's Anti-Semitism Feb 11, 2019

Henry Ford's Dearborn Independent published a series of anti-Semitic articles in the 1920s. They gained wide traction, were translated into several languages and gathered in a four-volume series, The International Jew. Nearly 100 years later, The Dearborn Historian, an obscure quarterly publication, released a story examining this anti-Semitic propaganda. Dearborn's mayor mothballed the issue, and Historian's editor Bill McGraw was informed that his services were no longer needed. In this episode of The Detroit History Podcast, we talk with McGraw, University of Michigan-Dearborn Professor Ron Stockton, and Mike Smith, principal archivist at the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library and an archivist with Detroit's Jewish News, about Henry Ford's anti-Semitism and the controversy surrounding The Dearborn Historian's issue.

Episode 10- The 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers Apr 30, 2018

In the season finale of The Detroit History Podcast, we partnered with The Detroit Historical Museum to talk about the 1968 World Series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Detroit Tigers had Denny McLain, with his 31 victories that season, an accomplishment that will probably never be equaled. The Cardinals had Bob Gibson, who finished the season with a 1.12 ERA. Set against the backdrop of a horrific year, you'll hear Mickey Lolich and Willie Horton talk about the storybook finish.

Episode 9- The Birth And Growth Of Detroit Techno Apr 09, 2018

If Detroit was a sound, what would that sound be? Although some would say Motown, others say that sound would be Techno music. In this episode of The Detroit History Podcast we explain the birth of Techno in the 1980s, why its popular around the world -- particularly Berlin... and why it's as relevant now as it was when it came to the world's attention three decades ago. We also talk about how three guys from Belleville started this musical revolution. Music by Cybotron, Inner City, Global Logic, and Underground Resistance.

Episode 8- The History Of Arab Immigration In Dearborn Mar 26, 2018

Metro Detroit boasts the largest local concentration of Arabs in North America, many of which settled in Dearborn. We trace that migration back more than a century. We follow how Ford's $5 day brought many immigrants here, to how chaos in the Middle East drove many families out of their country and to southeast Michigan. Special thanks to the Arab American National Museum for its contributions.

Episode 7- The Election And Downfall Of Jerome Cavanagh Mar 12, 2018

In this episode of The Detroit History Podcast, we unravel the election and downfall of Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh and how he was one of the first mayors to engage Detroit's African-American community. We also discuss how the 1967 Detroit civil disturbance and an ill-advised run for the U.S. Senate put a damper on his previously-rising political career.

Episode 6- They Bleed The Same As I Do, The Detroit Red Wings In The 1950s Mar 06, 2018

The Detroit Red Wings in the 1950s were authentic fire on ice, racking up four Stanley Cups in six years. The team gave birth to "The Production Line" and the first woman team president of a major sports franchise, Marguerite Norris. An historic moment in sports history. We interview Ted Lindsay to uncover what drove the team.

Episode 5- Detroit Crashes, The Motor City During The Great Depression Feb 19, 2018

It was one of the city's darkest moments and the panic would shortly spread across the country. Michigan Governor William Comstock closed Detroit's banks on Valentine's Day, 1933. Henry Ford was asked to bail out the banks, Ford said he thought the crash would have to come: "the general effect would be that everyone would have to get to work a little sooner; that it might be a very good thing."

Episode 4- Scratch Glass and Turn Blue: The Making of The Ghoul Jan 22, 2018

This job no longer exists: the television horror movie host. They were local celebrities, and pillars of local pop culture. Here in Detroit, we had Sir Graves Ghastly and Morgus, among others. In our upcoming episode, The Detroit History Podcast interviews Ron Sweed (The Ghoul), who explains how The Ghoul came to be. And, why the firecrackers? He used to blow up everything from toys to pierogies.

Episode 3- It's Just The Kind Of Thing Detroit Could Do Jan 08, 2018

This edition of the Detroit History Podcast tells the story of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's amazing leap in the 1920s, from B-list band to Carnegie Hall in 10 years. Conductor Ossip Gabrilowitsch directed the effort..The players in this drama include Mark Twain, Horace Dodge, Pope Pius XII. And, oh, Orchestra Hall went up in less than five months.

Episode 2- You Have Me Mixed Up With a Stool Pigeon, Sir Dec 18, 2017

In this episode of The Detroit History Podcast, we hear a rare recording of a confrontation between Coleman A. Young and a congressional committee in 1952. Many people pleaded their Fifth Amendment rights when the House of Un-American Activities Committee came to town looking for Reds. But a young labor organizer, Coleman Young, gave better than he got, telling his inquisitors: "you have me mixed up with a stool pigeon sir." The exchange was recorded and turned in to an underground hit, but Young couldn't work for a decade. He eventually became the city's longest-serving mayor.

Episode 1- When The Beatles Came to Detroit Dec 11, 2017

The Beatles came to Detroit twice, once in 1964 and again in 1966, both times at Olympia Stadium. We'll hear the screams when the Fab Four took the stage at Olympia. We'll also hear two eastsiders talk about Beatlemania. And what about those jellybeans?

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