The Metro

The federal government is producing viral content out of immigration raids while subpoenaing ordinary people who criticize ICE online. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa — host of Latino USA and founder of Futuro Media — joins Robyn Vincent to break down the information war, what it took to get inside an ICE detention facility to interview activist Jeanette Vizguerra, and what it means when silence becomes the rational choice. 

The Detroit Historical Society is honoring Sinclair’s extraordinary legacy with a year-long exhibition, “Leni: Looking Through the Lens”.

The celebration kicks off March 12 at the Detroit Historical Museum. The evening will be moderated by WDET’s Ann Delisi with an ensemble performance led by Kasan Belgrave, son of legendary trumpeter Marcus Belgrave.

Leni Sinclair joined The Metro’s Tia Graham to chat briefly about her career and upcoming event.

The war in Iran — and the regional fallout — is continuing. Without Congressional authorization, President Donald Trump and Israel launched strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader and other military leaders of the current regime. And now over a thousand people have died in this war. 

There is no clear path to peace. Neither Israel nor America have signaled that either have much interest in creating stability or democracy in Iran.

Yesterday, we spoke with a Middle East scholar about what’s happening in Iran, and some of the different perspectives of the 92 million people living there. But there are a lot more voices to consider. What do folks from the diaspora who live in our region make of the situation?

Layla Saatchi is an assistant Professor of Teaching at Wayne State University. She spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

Romance books have been growing in popularity over the last few years. Now bookstores are following suit.

Carolyn Haering opened Mon Coeur, a romance bookstore, in Canton, Michigan just last year. The name means “my heart” in French. Haering says she started the store because she believes the genre allows her to escape into a fun and typically happy story.

Haering joined The Metro to talk about her store and recommend books about love.

Since late last year, “Heated Rivalry”—a series about two male hockey players who fall in love— has taken the country by storm. Now the novel turned HBO series represents the cultural moment we are in now: Romance books exploded in popularity after the pandemic and LGBTQ+ romance stories are becoming more prevalent.

To encapsulate the moment, we want to spotlight the queer love stories that came before it. Erin Bell, the director of the Writing Center at the University of Detroit Mercy who studies women’s writing and literature joined to help us pull back the layers of non-traditional love stories. 

Tens of thousands of Detroiters live in substandard housing. The stock often has leaky roofs, electrical problems — things that, if they’re not functioning, make a home unlivable. The city has spent tens of millions of dollars on home repairs. But that number is not nearly enough to meet the need, which totals over $1 billion.

What is the scale and scope of the home repair needs? And, how did we get here? Briana Rice is a civic life reporter at Outlier Media. She’s among the reporters who worked on Outlier’s “Beyond Repair” series. It explores Detroit’s home repair crisis.

Change is happening in many spaces, including those related to public health. In Michigan, and across the country, fewer people are getting vaccinated, more people are sick, and fewer individuals have health insurance. Life is also different for people who lead local public institutions. 

Kate Guzman is the Oakland County Health Officer. She spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent about the current measles outbreaks, the rise in flu cases, and what she's doing to try to keep people healthy during President Trump’s second term in office. 

This month, the Michigan Department of Corrections hit a milestone. Since 2020, they've distributed 30,000 government-issued IDs to incarcerated people. That matters because without an ID, you can't get a job, sign a lease, open a bank account — you can't even prove you’re you.

One in five people who leave Michigan prisons end up going back. The state says that's the lowest it's ever been. But what does a second chance actually look like when you walk out the door with so little?

Rick Speck knows this firsthand. He came home in 2014 after 15 years in prison. He didn't have an ID. Now, he's deputy director of Nation Outside — a Michigan reentry nonprofit run by formerly incarcerated people. He spoke with Robyn Vincent about his experiences, and what our state and culture would look like if we believed more deeply in second chances.

When someone is in distress, who should respond to the call for help? Police officers or social workers? The question of who should take the lead on distress calls has become all the more pressing. It was thrust into public discourse again last month when Ypsilanti residents witnessed a SWAT team have a 30-hour standoff with someone who they say was experiencing a mental health crisis.

Hillary Nusbaum is a co-responder supervisor for the Oakland Community Health Network. Producer Sam Corey spoke with her about what a co-responder does and when they should be called to take action on a 911 call.

A major new study from the University of Michigan, Harvard, and Duke draws a direct line between the engineering of ultra-processed foods and the engineering of cigarettes — both designed to hijack the brain's reward system, maximize craving and make it nearly impossible to stop. The study comes as San Francisco sues 10 of the nation's biggest food manufacturers, RFK Jr. calls these products "poison," and researchers warn that ultra-processed foods now account for over half of the American diet.

The issue feels especially dire In Detroit, where 69% of households face food insecurity and unhealthy options outnumber healthy ones. Ashley Gearhardt, a clinical psychologist and addiction scientist at the University of Michigan and creator of the Yale Food Addiction Scale, is the lead author of the study. She joins Robyn Vincent on The Metro.

Michigan just banned smartphones in the classroom — a law that takes effect this fall. The lawmaker who wrote the bill, Republican State Representative Mark Tisdel of Rochester Hills, joins host Robyn Vincent to discuss what it takes to protect kids from platforms built to hook them.

The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Report tracks the publication of books by writers of color across genres. According to findings, only 11% of the books published within the romance genre were from writers of color. 

So, what does it mean to call Black love "niche"? And who decides which love stories are universal?

Sylvia Hubbard is an author of over 70 romance novels. She joined The Metro's Tia Graham to talk more about diversity within the romance genre.

We reflect on the 2026 winter Olympics while we look toward Woman’s History Month and highlight the hard work and dedication the women of Team USA displayed in Italy. Ketra Armstrong, a professor of sport management at the University of Michigan, joined the show to reflect on their accomplishments.

In 2022, food prices increased by almost 10% — the largest increase since 1979. And while they haven’t increased as much since then, fruits and vegetables are still becoming pricier. Lettuce, for example, is up over 7% since last year. Why? And how much have prices changed because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and immigration policies?

Bill Loupée is the COO of Ben B. Schwartz & Sons wholesaler, which operates out of Detroit. He spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

Natosha Tallman of the Northend Christian Community Development Corporation says the answer isn't more charity. It is infrastructure: commercial kitchens, cold storage, distribution, and ownership. She joined host Robyn Vincent to discuss the system her team is building, where Detroiters grow food, process it, sell it, and keep the money.

"As I Die and Wheeze" is showing at Planet Ant theater in Hamtramck through the end of the month. It is written by Katie McGraw and Maggie O’Reilly and directed by Bryan Lark. 

Maggie and Bryan joined us on The Metro to talk more about the play and the importance of theater and laughter right now. 

Suzanne Coffey is CEO of the Great Lakes Water Authority or GLWA. She spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

It was a remarkable week for Michigan utilities. A federal judge fined DTE Energy $100 million for Clean Air Act violations at its Zug Island facility — then state regulators approved another $242.4 million rate hike for DTE, which posted over $1.5 billion in operating earnings.

So today we ask: who's in charge of utility costs and safety in Michigan — and when things go wrong, who's accountable? To get some answers, Nick Schroeck, Dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a former special assistant prosecutor during the Flint Water Crisis, joins Robyn Vincent on The Metro.

Ahead of the Board of Police Commissioners' vote on the officers' misconduct, Robyn Vincent spoke with Noah Kincade from Outlier Media's Documenters program, which trains community members to attend public meetings and hold city leaders accountable. Their documentation helped reveal the problem goes beyond two officers.

Cornetta Lane-Smith is a Detroit-based filmmaker, writer and producer. She is the founder of Studio 8278. She wrote and executive produced the docu-series "Recipes of Resistance." The series explores how food and conversation help unpack human complexity. 

They both joined The Metro’s Tia Graham to talk more about the film and docu-series. 

The Detroit police chief is not allowing his officers to work with ICE. Last week, Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor spoke with The Metro about his criticisms of the institution. Now, in Southfield, federal and state lawmakers are trying to stop ICE from opening an administrative office.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who is running to be Michigan’s Attorney General, has expressed concerns about ICE enforcement, and the presence of ICE agents in her jurisdiction. She spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent about that and more.

The Metro reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They did not get back to us with a comment in time for this conversation.