The Metro

After President Trump was elected for a second time, Democrats had been described as “lost in the wilderness.” Today, on Election Day, polling suggests they may have found their way.

We won't know anything until all the ballots are counted. But Democrats are likely to take back power in the House. They could also do something that was unlikely just months ago: They could win a majority of Senate seats.

E.J. Dionne is a contributing columnist at the New York Times, a professor at Georgetown, and a senior fellow at Brookings. He spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

Getting gun violence under control is a priority for Chef Greg Beard after being shot outside of his restaurant in April.

He’s challenging neighbors in the Bagley community where he’s owned and operated Soul-N-the Wall for 21 years. Beard recently hosted a rally, asking residents of the community "what does it mean to be a good neighbor?"

Chef Beard joined Tia Graham in-studio to talk more about connecting with neighbors to foster safer communities.

With Halloween on a Saturday this year, there's plenty of partying to be had—and Modern Music's Halloween Special is ready to set the tone for a night of frightening fun. Plus, the Windsor International Film Festival begins, Dia de los Muertos events welcome families, the start of Detroit Restaurant Week and more.

Zombies and skeletons have taken over people’s front yards with Halloween just days away. While scary movies are no doubt getting a lot of play this week, there are also horror books to get you in the mood.

From classics like Dracula, anything by Stephen King, and of course, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. What makes reading or seeing our fears so appealing?

Andrew Lark is a Michigan author and actor. He teamed up with another Michigan author, Don Levy to write “The Devil’s Quill: A Quartet of Halloween Stories.”

Lark joins The Metro to talk with Alex McLenon about writing in horror genre, popular horror pieces and why people like to be scared.

The midterms are less than a week away. And this election cycle, one group of voters has gotten outsized attention. Jewish residents, who’ve long backed Democratic candidates by wide margins, are in the spotlight. That’s because in Michigan’s heated U.S. Senate race, the Jewish Democratic vote isn’t guaranteed for the Democratic candidate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. There’s division among Jewish voters in Michigan largely due to El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel. That has left political actors from both parties attempting to draw Jewish voters to their side of the ticket. In this episode, we hear from a range of voters, including those who are deciding to leave part of their ballot blank.

This election, voters in Oakland and Wayne County are deciding on the “Southeast Michigan Public Historical Museum Authority Millage Proposal.”

It’s a 10-year, $0.2 million property tax proposal that would guarantee funding through 2035 for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Historical Museum and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. Beyond that, there’s also a 15% allotment for other historical museums throughout Wayne and Oakland County.

Missing from that proposal is Macomb County. That ties into a running narrative of Macomb not receiving the same level of funding for culture and the arts that its neighbors in Oakland and Wayne do.

While budget numbers do vary from-year-to-year, a study by a Macomb nonprofit found that the county received about $36 in grant funding per-resident, while Oakland and Wayne Counties receive over $200 dollars.

That means art and historical institutions in Macomb County face different fiscal realities compared to its neighbors.

Matt Matthews is the executive director of the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens. He stopped by The Metro to talk with Alex McLenon about arts and culture funding in Macomb County.

The U.S. Justice Department sued to block the possible election of a Democrat to Senate in Alaska. Earlier in the year, the president threatened to nationalize the elections. All of these developments have some Michiganders, who live in a purple state, concerned.

Sue Hartman is not one of those people. She’s the clerk of Courtland Township in Kent County, which is home to Grand Rapids. The Republican says our elections are secure. Nonetheless, she’s retiring from her job after the midterms. That’s in large part because of the barrage of election denialism she faces daily. The Metro’s Sam Corey spoke with Hartman right before the Justice Department filed the Alaska lawsuit.

Despite multiple boil-water advisories and tests that revealed contamination, Flint didn't switch its water back to the Detroit water system until October 2015.

Since then, a total of more than $650 million has been awarded in settlements to the people of Flint. The event has also sparked a statewide effort to replace all lead service lines. State legislation requires that work be done by 2041.

‘The Poisoner’ is an off-Broadway stage play that has been making rounds across the country since 2024.

This week it will be performed three times at Marygrove College, with showings Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Playwright Maura Haney joins The Metro to speak with Tia Graham about the production.

Sylvia Orduno is the managing director of the People’s Water Board Coalition, and Melissa Mays is project manager at Flint Rising. They join the program to provide an update on the Flint Water Crisis.

Orduno and Mays will be present for a conversation with the audience after the play.

Farmers growing corn and soybeans are getting more for their crop than they did a year ago, but farm bankruptcies are up nearly 19% anyway. These workers are spending more on essentials like fertilizer and fuel. And, the Agriculture Department expects farm income to drop 5.5% once inflation is accounted for, and that’s with $47 billion in government payments holding it up.

What does this look like on the ground, in the field, for a Michigan farmer? Mark Zacharda is the manager of Zacharda Farms II in Owosso, which sits between Lansing and Flint. Zacharda spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

On the last Tuesday of every month, pizzeriaGrandma Bob’s invites local culinary visionaries to create unique Detroit-style pizzas for charity in a collaboration called Spread Dough.

Spread Dough has been running for the last 3 years. Proceeds made from the pizzas go to the charity of the chefs choosing.

Tomorrow at Grandma Bob’s Corktown location, Detroit-style pizza gets a Korean American twist. From 3-9 p.m., customers can try a one of a kind pie.

Lisa Kim is co-founder of Detroit Asian Collective, aMoveDetroit ambassador and featured cook for this month’s Spread Dough at Grandma Bobs. John Kwiatkowski is co-founder and co-owner of Grandma Bob’s alongside his brother David.

Kim and Kwiatkowski joined The Metro to talk more about Spread Dough, Grandma Bob's and Asian American culinary experiences.

Flock Safety cameras read license plates. They photograph every car that passes — the plate, the make, the model, even the bumper stickers — and they put it all in a database police can search. Many people are against this national network of cameras. But police and some local leaders say the surveillance technology reduces crime and helps solve investigations. This week, Sterling Heights voted to renew its Flock contract. Inkster is moving forward with an expanded partnership with the security system. But other communities are pushing back. Places like Clawson, St. Clair Shores, and Madison Heights have recently canceled their Flock contracts or covered their cameras. Ferndale was one of the first cities in Metro Detroit to cancel its Flock contract. Prasad Venugopal was part of that effort. He’s a member of the Ferndale Inclusion Network, the Block Flock national coalition, and he’s working with Hazel Park residents to remove Flock from that suburb. Venugopal spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

An overview of what's happening this weekend and beyond in metro Detroit. Alex McLenon and Tia Graham highlight the Universoul Circus with Fresh the Clownsss, the Detroit Fall Beer Fest, an exploration of Gospel music at MOCAD and more.

Grocery prices have almost stopped rising, and almost nobody believes it. Michigan State food economist David Ortega joins host Robyn Vincent to explain what that actually means: prices didn’t come down, they stopped climbing from a much higher place.

Grocery costs in metro Detroit are rising nearly twice as fast as the national rate. And the average that says food barely got more expensive doesn’t describe anybody’s cart.

Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org

The Concert of Colors Neighborhood Series is bringing a slate of Italian music performances to the Macomb Center for Performing Arts with a show this Saturday, Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. It comes during Italian American Heritage Month.

Once upon a time, there was an Italian community in the city of Detroit. And there are still residents across Michigan with Italian heritage.

Lisa Bica Grodsky from the NOI Foundation, which supports Italian Language Education in Michigan schools. Michele Ramo string virtuoso who will be among those performing in this weekend’s show. They joined The Metro to speak with Tia Graham.

In August, progressive challengers won Democratic primaries across southeast Michigan. One of the races that drew big national money was the fight for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, where state Representative Donavan McKinney defeated incumbent Congressman Shri Thanedar 52-48.

McKinney, a Democratic Socialist, ran on Medicare for all, universal childcare, and getting money out of politics. He faces Republican T.P. Nykoriak on November 3rd. So the question is: What can McKinney actually deliver if he's elected in November? The Metro's Robyn Vincent spoke with the candidate.

The Bap-Tizum Black Gospel Archive built by Detroit artist, composer and essayist, Ben Hall, is one of the largest collections of Black and African American sermons, hymns and songs.

In 2019, a fire burned Hall’s home, destroying items, yet as if a miracle, a few gospel records survived.

Choir: The Theology of Preservation through sermons and songs from the Bap-Tizum Black Gospel Archive is an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

Each Wednesday through Dec. 16 from noon to 2 p.m., Hall plays records from the collection. The sessions take place inside the Mike Kelley Homestead at MOCAD.

Hall is a2014 Kresge Artist Fellow, co-director of Catalytic Sound Collective, an experimental music streaming platform. And he’s currently working on the book called "A Black Liberation Music Guide."

He joined The Metro to talk more about the exhibition and music as a portal to the past.

Only about a quarter of Michigan high school juniors test as college ready on the SAT. Younger students are struggling too — third graders just posted their lowest reading scores in the 12-year history of the state’s M-STEP exam.

Detroit is the exception, gaining in both reading and math while the state average fell, in a district where nearly four in five students qualify for subsidized meals.

Cyekeia Lee, executive director of the Detroit College Access Network, joins host Robyn Vincent to discuss what “college ready” actually measures, what it means to build meaningful access to college, and what she tells young people who come into her office saying they want to be influencers.

The month of October brings awareness to the dangers of domestic violence, but what is classified as domestic violence? What about human trafficking?

The definitions go beyond the story of the battered woman or someone taken in a parking lot by a stranger.

According to Michigan State Police there were 67,958 reported incidents of domestic violence in 2025. 74,000 people involved with the incidents were listed as victims, with 78 lives lost.

For the last 50 years,HAVEN, an Oakland County non-profit has supported survivors of domestic and partner violence.

Ivette Brown is the court advocacy and prevention education director for HAVEN. Brown was also a former Auburn Hills officer and detective.

She joined The Metro to talk more about HAVEN, Domestic Violence Awareness Month and why speaking up and leaving isn't a one step process.

A clown group that formed in Detroit more than a decade ago is making waves. Back in 2013, Ira Smith, better known as Fresh the Clown, started the group 'Fresh the Clownsss.' What began as a simple clowning act eventually took on an identity of its own.

The troupe combines hip-hop dance styles with swagged-out looks that challenge the conventional identity of a clown.

Performing with UniverSoul Circus, Fresh the Clownsss have found their way into big tops around the country. The UniverSoul Circus is currently in Detroit, with shows scheduled through Oct. 25.

Fresh the Clown and SoSo the Clown stopped by The Metro to about clowning with Tia Graham.

Events from Oct. 25-22 include an anti-gun violence rally hosted by community member and chef Greg Beard, a Dr. Seuss fine art exhibit in West Bloomfield, fall fests, social arts and crafts events and more.