ML Soul of Detroit

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ) and Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) welcome Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) back to Red Shovel HQ before he dashes off to Chicago for Big 10 football media days. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: ML wonders how much thought a defendant puts into his lunch choice before returning to court to await a jury verdict — and possible trip directly to the other Big House . Shawn reflects on the solem...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ) and Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) make podcast magic in Drew’s basement while Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) dials in from his probation officer’s favorite bar. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: ML makes a lame secret agent number joke and shamelessly encourages listeners to check out the all-James Bond and all-beer episodes they may have forsaken while takin’ their vacations. A lethargic...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Windsor, Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) come together In Drew Majesty’s Public Service to discuss all things James Bond, aka 007. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: Did you know the first James Bond was American? Did you know the first Bond girl married the son of a Detroit icon?  Listen and learn, my friends, listen and learn! O.G.s ML and Shawn lead a d...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) are joined by Detroit Free Press beer writer, none other than Spirits of Detroit columnist Bob Allen ( @RAllenMI ) – hey, wait, I just got the joke! – who brought some brew, causing ML SOD quality control to go straight to hell!!! THE STRAIGHT DOPE: While the beers flow, Shawn wonders whether the Rocket Mortg...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) convene in the Red Shovel Network fallout shelter to tick away the moments that make up a dull day, frittering and wasting the hour in an offhand way, kicking around on a piece of ground in Drew’s home town, waiting for someone or something to show them the way. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: In a move sure to disappoint...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) enjoy an extraordinary and unprecedented event, when Michael Bullotta, one of the federal prosecutors who helped send Kwame Kilpatrick to prison for 28 years, drops in at Red Shovel HQ.  THE STRAIGHT DOPE: The University of Michigan Wolverines men’s baseball team is SO impressive, they’ve turned ML soft . Why...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) welcome Detroit soccer impresario Sean Mann into the bowels of the Red Shovel Network (eew, that doesn’t sound very fun!). THE STRAIGHT DOPE: The boys muse over the post-stroke condition of Dan Gilbert, the man who owns more land in downtown Detroit than anyone else .  It’s said Gilbert is the man who has ev...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Drew Lane ( @DrewMikePodcast ) welcome Fox 2’s Rob Wolchek ( @RobWolchek ) to Red Shovel Network HQ. Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) gets the week off because he’s on deadline … and because Wolchek won’t shut his yapper! THE STRAIGHT DOPE: Drew gets some love in The Detroit News,  ‘I'm back in the climb': Drew Lane builds podcast mini-empir...

M.L. Elrick (@elrick) and Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) are in Zed’s basement (trying not to wake up the gimp), while Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) dials in from an undisclosed location on a surprisingly clear line. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: If the start of this week’s show sounds like the middle of last week’s show, it’s only because M.L. renews his criticism of his once-favorite college basketball coach ....

M.L. Elrick (@elrick), Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) and Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) are chillin’ like villains in the Red Shovel Network basement studios until Fox 2’s Rob Wolchek (@robwolchek) drops by and dominates the conversation — just like back at the station! THE STRAIGHT DOPE: Shawn basks in praise for his Mother’s Day column in the Detroit Free Press, a superlative and sensitive essay . M...

M.L. Elrick (@elrick), Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) and Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) are spinnin’ platters in the Red Shovel Network basement studios like some kind of three-headed DJ putting on a vanilla version of “The Scene.” THE STRAIGHT DOPE: M.L. cuts the grass on the median of East Outer Drive, conjuring memories of the days he used to cut the grass of his unruly neighbor, Crackadocious. And...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) muster in the Red Shovel Network’s underground bunker. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: Shawn loves to razz M.L. for living so close to Grosse Pointe that Uncle Rico could throw a football into Lake St. Clair from M.L.’s East Side manor . Now, in addition to his insurance and property tax bills, M.L. has incontrovertible p...

M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ), Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) and Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) are chillin’ in the Red Shovel Network basement studios like some kind of much cooler reboot of “That 70s Show.” Drew Lane ( @DrewMikePodcast ), aka Drew Wave, crashes the party in Room 7609 to discuss one of the better James Bond theme songs that didn’t end up making the cut. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: For once, M.L...

Free Press Investigations Editor Jim Schaefer ( @DetroitReporter ) reunites with his former parter M.L. Elrick ( @elrick ) to tell some stories you’ve never heard about the work that went into their 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting. Marc Fellhauer ( @MarcFell ) peppers the pair with questions before Shawn Windsor ( @ShawnWindsor ) dials in for The Great Debate. Reaction to a sexy selfie earns...

Mayor Mike Duggan’s Chief of Staff Alexis Wiley ventures into the basement with M.L. Elrick (@elrick) and Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) as the second guest in Soul of Detroit history. Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) joins us via telegraph wire for The Great Debate. M.L. gets in your face with Geek of the Week. And a listener inspires this week’s selection for Room 7609. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: A defensive M...

Daniel Ferguson III, who is Kwame Kilpatrick’s brother-in-law, joins M.L. Elrick (@elrick) and Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) in the basement as our first-ever guest. Also with us, rolling video for Daniel, is Tobias Smith. Tobias is the creative force behind “kMk,” the Kwame Kilpatrick documentary you can find at  www.kwamemovie.com . Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) joins us via fiber optic wire from M...

M.L. Elrick (@elrick) and Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) are in the basement, Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) joins in from The Swamp for The Great Debate and Geek of the Week, and Drew Lane (@DrewMikePodcast) wanders downstairs to man the velvet rope keeping the squares out of Room 7609 THE STRAIGHT DOPE: Marc rallies from a near-death experience brought on by virulent virus to steer the ship safely to...

M.L. Elrick (@elrick) and Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) are in the basement, Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) joins in on the burner phone, and Drew Lane (@DrewMikePodcast) spends a little time with us in Room 7609 THE STRAIGHT DOPE: It’s Marc’s turn to feel lousy after spending days in the hospital with his infant daughter, but it’s M.L. who is in a foul mood reflecting on the sins of social media in t...

M.L. Elrick (@elrick) and Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) are in the RSN basement, Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) joins in from an undisclosed location for The Great Debate, and Drew Lane (@DrewMikePodcast) saunters down the stairs to liven up Geek of the Week and Room 7609. THE STRAIGHT DOPE: M.L. rushes over from Fox 2 and immediately starts whining about feeling rundown after a weekend spent serving...

ML Elrick (@elrick), Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) and Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) are in the basement.  THE STRAIGHT DOPE: Our friendly rivals start with something most decent human beings would never consider: Thanking a Pitino. And why not? Rotten Rick Jr.’s Minnesota Golden Gophers knocked off the Purdue Boilermakers to turn what was looking like a mere season-ending rivalry game in East Lansin...

ML Elrick (@elrick), Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) and in the bunker, Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) is on the burner phone STRAIGHT DOPE: Our weekly insights on the news and look behind the scenes starts with a look back in anger for some (Wolverines) and joy for others (Spartans) at Basketball Big Game I in Ann Arbor last Sunday. Then we stop cursing the darkness and shed some light on M.L.'s long-r...

ML Elrick (@elrick), Marc Fellhauer (@MarcFell) and Shawn Windsor (@ShawnWindsor) are in the basement INSIDE PAGE: Our weekly insights on the news and look behind the scene gets the inaugural "Soul of Detroit" podcast off on a bossy note, as M.L. rolls out some Rules of the Road. We're not sure when that became "a thing," but we're putting a stop to that "thing" — and more! Marc asks M.L. if he ev...