What’s it like to actually be ON the Supreme Court? Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack was elected to the court in 2012 and became the Chief Justice last year. In addition to having a key role in deciding the constitutionality of laws, she also has the job of overseeing all of Michigan’s other state courts. Find out what go…

There’s no question that some people blame third parties – especially the Libertarians and the Green Party – for Donald Trump’s surprising election four years ago. Six million people voted for either the Green or Libertarian candidates for President, and the difference was more than Trump’s winning margins in most states, including Michigan. But th…

Dana Nessel was elected Michigan’s Attorney General in November 2018. She is the first woman to hold that office in state history, the first openly gay person to hold that office, and the first Democrat to hold it in nearly twenty years. Since taking office, she has been a whirling dervish of activity and hasn’t been afraid of controversy or of sta…

Geoffrey Fieger is one of Michigan’s most fascinating personalities and Michigan’s most successful medical malpractice lawyer. He became nationally famous in the 1990s for his defense of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in five trials and before the world’s media. He defied the odds and the party establishment to win the Democratic nomination for governor in 199…

Women who shouldn’t be in prison -- and the effort of a few dedicated people to free them. The vast majority of Michigan’s state prisoners are men. Women inmates are all housed in a single prison, the Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ann Arbor, which has been plagued with problems from overcrowding to sanitation issues.Some of these women we…

We have a President, Donald Trump, who often doesn’t appear to understand the nature of the presidency or its traditions. Nor does he seem to understand the central role of our Constitution. Mr. Trump also doesn’t seem to recognize that in our system, the President is not just a political leader, he is the head of state, the symbol of our nation an…

We all know that Detroit has made a big comeback in recent years – at least we have been told it has. And it’s true that anyone walking around downtown or the midtown area will see streets that look better than they have in decades. But how deep does the comeback go? And what needs to happen next?Joining me to talk about all of this: Karen Dumas is…

Metro Detroit is the place that put the world on wheels. Eleven years ago, there was a very real possibility that the domestic auto industry might not survive. Now, after billions to bail out the industry, a confusing landscape of what does “American Made” really mean, the growth of electric and driverless cars, and the far-reaching scandal in the …

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn has now been a federal judge for more than forty years, has served during the administrations of seven presidents and witnessed a lot of history – and is still on the bench and going strong at 95. But what does he think about the judicial system he has served so long? Does the system still work? Does the public unders…

Charles Eisendrath covered some of the major stories of the 1970s as a foreign correspondent for Time Magazine, before returning to Michigan to reinvent and revitalize one of the world’s most prestigious journalist fellowship programs. He knew everyone from Mike Wallace to top fashion mavens and brought them to Ann Arbor to speak. But he had anothe…

There’s so much more to black history than that black people were once slaves, that Martin Luther King made a famous speech called “I Have A Dream,” that there were riots in the 1960s, that segregation has ended, and the fact that Barack Obama got elected President. Black history and black history in Detroit and Michigan is richly textured, endless…

Did you know violent crime dropped in Detroit last year? Even so, the city still ranked as the nation's most violent, according to FBI crime data. Whatever your background, income or status – you are concerned about crime. It affects everyone. What’s going on and what can be done to make Metro Detroit safer?Some top cops in Metro Detroit join me to…

For nearly twenty years, a battle has raged over building a new bridge across the Detroit River. The Ambassador Bridge is nearly ninety years old, in questionable shape, wasn’t built for today’s huge trucks and is in a location that, given today’s traffic patterns, doesn’t make much sense.But it is also privately owned. And its owner, 92-year-old b…

The House of Representatives has begun an “impeachment inquiry” into President Donald Trump’s behavior, specifically in regard to the Ukraine. It’s alleged he tried to get that nation’s President to get dirt on former Vice-President Joe Biden’s son in return for aid. A majority of Americans now think that’s justified, but there’s still a long way t…

There is a crisis in mental health care in Michigan. A single mother had to wait for months to have her son hospitalized, even though he had repeatedly tried to kill her. A 19-year-old autistic, severely mentally ill man kicked an elderly man to death in an adult foster care facility. He needs help – but authorities could not find or agree on where…

Louise O’Connell is a senior banking executive, accountant and fraud investigator. Her husband Jim was semi-retired and spent time helping out at the church they belonged to and a preschool it ran. One day in 2013, a seven-year-old former pre-school student said “Mr. Jim” had abused her more than a year before. There was no evidence, no witnesses, …

The U.S. Census is next April -- and it’s more important than ever for Michigan. For the first time, redistricting has been taken away from the politicians and given to the people. Kurt Metzger is probably Michigan’s best-known and most experienced demographer and population expert. After working for the U.S. Census bureau for years, he ran a progr…

Almost everybody knows that it takes indecent amounts of money to run political campaigns nowadays. But what you might not know is that politicians often try to hide just how much is being spent – and more importantly, where it is coming from. But a too-little known nonprofit outfit called the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN.org) is out the…

Economically, China and the United States are the two most important superpowers in the world – and now they are involved in an escalating trade war. Does this make sense? Who is most likely to be hurt? The answer may surprise you. Listen to my guests, Tom Watkins, and Bernard Swiecki and let me know what YOU think. Tom Watkins has held a wide vari…

Here’s what happens when two guys from Detroit take different and unique paths to step up and make a real community and economic impact. A.J. O’Neil is a regular guy. He was a roofer until he fell off a roof and almost died. No longer able to stay in that career, he remade himself and is now the founder and CBO, (Chief Bean Officer), of Detroit Bol…

There's no way millennial Mike Rott could have made an award-winning documentary film about a Tuskegee airman. He'd never had a day of film school. But since he didn't know he couldn't do it .... he did. Luft Gangster has won awards and been shown nationwide and overseas. And now, he's getting funding and working hard on a potentially even more imp…

Civil rights and women’s rights have come a long way. America has even begun to recognize that gay and lesbian people have legitimate rights to live their lives the way they want to. However, society has lagged much further behind about respecting the rights of transgender Americans, as well as understanding anything about them. That’s why Julisa A…

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill designed to significantly reduce car insurance rates. But when you read this bill it contains loopholes for the insurance companies and turns out that it may not be all it’s said to be. Find out the truth the law and how it could affect you and your family.

Michigan historian Jack Dempsey talks about his new biography of Citizen-General, Alpheus S. Williams, one of the most important Civil War general you never heard of.

Markie Miller is the driving force behind the Bill of Rights ballot initiative for Lake Erie to reduce the toxic pollution to this Great Lake. Opposed by both major political parties and outspent in advertising forty to one, Markie successfully led the fight and helped this Great Lake win by a landslide. A modern-day David and Goliath story of pass…

Everybody knows Geoffrey Fieger is the toughest and most flamboyant attorney around. But do you know that he thinks Donald Trump is a “criminal and scam artist?” Did you know that he thinks that the intelligence in our country has gone down dramatically? Learn a lot more about the man you thought you knew.…