One of the most common pieces of listener feedback we get is why are we often positive about Detroit? Why don't we generally cover mayhem? And how can we think Detroit and Metro Detroit is a place to live?

Often times, the criticism is strongest from the people who are here.

Devon, Norris and Jer talk ask instead, why wouldn't you want to be optimistic about where things are headed? If you're looking for reasons to feel good about the region, or just want to hear us hash out why we do what we do, this conversation about perspective, progress, and pushing past the cynicism is for you.

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day. Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942 Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/

How do organizations with deep roots and old traditions handle the challenges of today's communities? Especially in a city like Detroit, which has such a unique and sometimes difficult story.

The Solanus Casey Center on Detroit's East Side is a solid example. It honors the memory of a respected figure, Father Solanus Casey, but it's also very involved in the neighborhood today, offering real help like food and counseling.

So, how does a place like this keep going? How does it balance its spiritual goals with practical help for people? And what can its long history, and how it has changed, teach us about building strong communities?

My guest on Episode 1,656 of the show is Brother Steven Kropp, the Director of the Solanus Casey Center. He talks about connecting the Center's past to the real needs people have now, the quiet power of simply being present, and how faith can lead to direct action in surprising ways. This conversation explores what it really means to support a community 

With the passing of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, head of the Catholic Church, I figured this was a good time to talk about the work happening on the ground.

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

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Fletcher and Jer talk Detroit stuff:

02:06 - Fletcher and Jer discuss Mayor Mike Duggan's recent comment about courting Tesla at the auto show. More: https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/columnists/carol-cain/2025/04/19/mike-duggan-auto-show-wishes-breakfast-club-takeaways/83131734007/

07:14 - DDOT bus service to see expansion after city increases budget by $20 million. More: https://www.dailydetroit.com/detroit-announces-city-bus-service-expansions/

09:12 - Councilwoman Santiago Romero has an issue with fees that might mean she's not on the ballot (she's confident she'll be on). More: https://www.detroitonemillion.com/p/southwest-detroit-council-member

12:08 - Should the Detroit Lions trade Jameson Williams? More: https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/five-teams-that-could-trade-for-lions-jameson-williams-2025

Feedback as always - dailydetroit - at - gmail - dot com and 313-789-3211, leave us a voicemail for the podcast Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day. 

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

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In the third in our series of conversations with candidates for Mayor of the City of Detroit, I sit down with current Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield on a number of issues from entrepreneurship to transit to much more. 

So you know, my plan and hope is to talk with every candidate at least once ahead of the primary about the important things facing the city in the next few years, to help you make the best choice. 

A lightly edited transcript is to come on our website.

As always, if you have questions, feedback or ideas, dailydetroit - at - gmail - dot - com or leave a voicemail at 313-789-3211.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

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Devon, Norris, and Jer respond to your listener feedback on recent stories - specifically around Michigan Central seeming to be very quiet, and the prospects for improved transit in the city and area - and get hyped about the Tigers and Pistons. 

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

 Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/

Pull up a chair, and listen to two old friends talk about Metro Detroit. 

I recently was a guest on the IT in the D podcast a bit back with Bob Waltenspiel. As always, we don’t agree on everything - but we’ve known each other through the podcasting world for many years. 

Bob, through IT in the D events, they’ve gotten countless people jobs; thrown a bunch of networking events, and more.

He went to Wayne State in Detroit,  is often in the city and works in the city.. but lives in the suburbs. 

His podcast, IT in the D, has been on the virtual air pretty much weekly for more than a decade talking local tech, local geek culture, and have fun along the way.

You can find IT in the D at ITintheD.com, and wherever podcasts are found.

Me and Bob are a few years apart in age, come at things from different perspectives, and saw different phases of the city and region. From days as a DJ, to dive bars, to changes we’ve seen over the last couple decades. Obviously, there are so many more perspectives than ours. Think of this as more of a fun trip down memory lane.

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day. Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

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Shianne, Randy and Jer sit down at the studio at TechTown and rank Michigan-made Hudsonville Ice Cream flavors against eachother to decide which flavor reigns supreme in our very unofficial taste test.

The entrants: Traverse City Cherry Fudge, Brownie Batter Cookie Dough, Mint Deer Traxx, Tropical Twist, Coffee Chip, and Peach Cobbler.

Feedback as always - dailydetroit - at - gmail - dot com and 313-789-3211, leave us a voicemail for the podcast

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day. Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

 Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/

There's a story we often tell ourselves about the American economy, particularly when we talk about trade, manufacturing, and small business.

It is often simplified in political debates – one focused on bringing jobs back, on buying American, on protecting local industries through measures like tariffs.

But the reality, as lived by the people actually making things, sourcing ingredients, and meeting payroll, is often far more complex, tangled in global supply chains and buffeted by forces far beyond their control.

Homes, families, and livelihoods are at stake while people up top seem to be posting through it.

What does it really mean when tariffs are threatened, implemented, and changed creating uncertainty? How does a third-generation bakery navigate sourcing ingredients like chocolate, which simply isn't grown commercially in the US, or finding replacement parts for specialized European machinery?

What happens to prices, to cash flow, to the viability of a beloved local business when costs for everything from healthcare to shipping surge, and it feels like the people in elected office only care about the biggest, billionaire businesses?

My guest today, Joe Hakim, is the General Manager of Ackroyd's Scottish Bakery, a long-standing institution in the Detroit area.

And he's been doing something relatively unusual: using social media to be remarkably transparent about the granular, often frustrating, day-to-day realities of running his business while dealing with these pressures.

This isn't abstract economic theory for Joe. This is real life.

Feedback as always - dailydetroit - at - gmail - dot com and 313-789-3211, leave us a voicemail for the podcast.

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day. Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

 Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/

A superstitious sign tied to the Tigers re-appears in Corktown, a major downtown Detroit development plan scales way back, and a new bagel spot is coming to Core City.

More show notes to come.

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day.

Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/

Creative communities, on one hand, offer spaces for connection, self-expression, and profound meaning-making – all awesome things.

But on the other, particularly in scenes built around music and nightlife, they can become entwined with cultures of substance use, creating environments that are difficult, even dangerous, for those navigating addiction or seeking recovery.

So how do you build support within those communities? How can the very tools of culture – the music, the art, the shared experience – become instruments of healing and connection for those who need it most? And can you create spaces that are genuinely welcoming, that meet people where they are, without demanding they leave behind what shapes their identities?

On your Daily Detroit for Wednesday, April 9th, 2025…. My guests today are wrestling with these questions, not in theory, but through practice, on the ground in Hamtramck, Michigan – a dense, diverse city within Metro Detroit known for decades as a center of music and culture. 

Joining me are Christopher Tait, the founder and director of Passenger Recovery and a longtime musician, and Joshua Lange, the station manager for their community radio station, WHCK, have built something unique. Passenger Recovery started by supporting musicians trying to stay sober but has grown into a broader community recovery organization that uses music and the arts as pathways to support.

Their radio station is, in many ways, an audible extension of that mission – creating community, reducing stigma, and offering resources over the digital airwaves.

Feedback as always - dailydetroit - at - gmail - dot com and 313-789-3211, leave us a voicemail for the podcast.

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day. Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/

On today's show, we talk about what makes a great comedy night on Detroit's west side, to the Pistons making the playoffs — to Daily Detroit over the weekend being the top local daily news podcast in America on Apple. 

Feedback as always - dailydetroit - at - gmail - dot com and 313-789-3211, leave us a voicemail for the podcast.

Daily Detroit shares what to know and where to go in Detroit every day. Find us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942

Or sign up for our newsletter: https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/