ML Soul of Detroit

Detroit City FC is getting ready to kick off its season, so ML, Marc and Shawn welcome CEO Sean Mann for our annual “State of the Team” conversation, while Joe warms up on the sideline. STRAIGHT DOPE: After the show starts with an intro that is both a tribute to the late Tom Sizemore -- and our most explicit intro ever -- it occurs too late to ML that starting an “explicit content” warning would h...

Another DTE epic fail forced Shawn to buy a generator, sparking an electric discussion with Marc and ML while Joe attempts to harness the power of their wind. STRAIGHT DOPE: The power is out – again. So Shawn bought a generator. The notoriously frugal ML explains why he has not bought backup power – and it has nothing to do with dollars and cents. ML and Shawn discuss how they dealt with power out...

Rappers who disappeared on the East Side turn up dead in Highland Park. Free Press reporter Andrea Sahouri tells Shawn and ML how it went down, while Marc is missing and Joe puts out a BOLO.STRAIGHT DOPEMarley Whoop, B12 and Juggs disappeared on Jan. 21, shortly after their gig at a social club near Gratiot and Seven Mile got cancelled. They turned up dead two weeks later in the basement of an aba...

Shawn’s son and his roommate recount what it was like to be on lockdown in East Lansing, where ML’s daughters also spent a harrowing night. STRAIGHT DOPE: Another gunman, another massacre at a place where we thought our kids were safe. ML, Shawn and Marc talk about what they went through as parents, before connecting with some kids who were locked down in East Lansing. Shawn’s son Sam and his room...

Kwame Kilpatrick says he’s changed, so ML and Marc ask an expert before discussing ML’s return to Fox 2, while Shawn deflects and Joe reflects. STRAIGHT DOPE: Kwame Kilpatrick told a judge he is a new man, so we seek the opinion of Mark Chutkow, the lead prosecutor in the racketeering case that sent Hizzoner away for 28 years. Mark read all of Kilpatrick’s text messages. Hear what he learned – and...

Billionaires want more millions to build downtown, so ML, Marc and Shawn ask an expert where the money is coming from — and what we’re being promised. Meanwhile, Joe plots his own course for world domination. STRAIGHT DOPE: JC Reindl of the Detroit Free Press zooms in to explain how much the Ilitches and Steven Ross want in tax subsidies to build a $1.5 billion downtown development. Here’s a link...

An Eastsider fighting human trafficking in the shadow of Mt. Everest joins ML and Marc to explain how he got involved in rescuing young women from a Nepalese coyotes while Joe sends a St. Bernard in search of Shawn. STRAIGHT DOPE: Paul Fayad and Pem Sherpa take a break from rescuing young girls from human trafficking in Nepal to talk about their work for the Tsering Fund, which made a documentary...

The QLine is a billionaire’s boondoggle now funded with $85 million in tax dollars, so ML, Marc and Shawn dig into the history of the downtown streetcar with Bill Shea, who chronicled its rise from the asphalt, while Joe calls a cab. STRAIGHT DOPE: Michigan legislators and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer agreed to give the privately-built and funded QLine $85 million in tax dollars to help keep it rolling f...

A Nazi rally, Cuba and a Mafia hotel are just a few of the places Gregg Sutter went while working for Elmore Leonard. Sutter tells ML, Marc and Shawn what it was like to work as a legman for the literary giant, while Joe experiences what it’s like to work for mental midgets. STRAIGHT DOPE- With a special guest dialing in from Los Angeles to discuss bestselling author Elmore Leonard, Shawn instead...

ML, Marc and Shawn go from Big Game to big shame as their New Year’s resolutions fall apart even before they are made, while Joe resolves to look for a better gig. STRAIGHT DOPE: Shawn Windsor is a murderer. Honest. Listen and learn the whole story, with a reference to Terry O’Quinn thrown in. ML has a new Christmas hat that only he is man enough to wear. Or so he claims. See for yourself at  http...

You have questions, we have answers. Or at least questionable advice. ML, Marc and Shawn pool their wisdom, while Joe considers referring them to the Employee Assistance Program. STRAIGHT DOPE: Joe Jackson once crooned: “Though it's oh so nice to get advice,It's oh so hard to do.” Well, maybe for some stuck-up English piano player. ML, Marc and Shawn have no problem teaching life lessons to people...

A Santa School graduate and instructor threatens to put Marc on the Naughty List, while ML, Shawn and Joe play nice. STRAIGHT DOPE: Santa Michael shares lessons learned at the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School, the longest-running Santa School in the world, which is based in Midland . There are all kinds of Santas – fat, skinny, bearded and clean-shaven. As a “professional Santa for Hire,” Mich...

Eyewitnesses contradict the official account of the Oxford High School shooting, as Free Press reporter Tresa Baldas tells ML and Marc, while Shawn is missing and Joe is action. STRAIGHT DOPE: ML updates listeners on Shawn’s whereabouts – and why it would REALLY help him and Shawn if you subscribed to the Free Press for 6 months for a measly buck. Use this link: https://subscribe.freep.com/offers...

SOUL OF DETROIT The UFO Show 12/6/2022 Episode #183 A UFO expert reveals the hottest spots in Michigan for close encounters, while ML and Shawn wonder whether Marc has been abducted and Joe is grateful there are no anal probes in sight. STRAIGHT DOPE Marc is missing, leaving Joe to run the show. Find out how he does, and what happened to our fearless co-leader — who may or may not be exploring the...

Oxford families deserve the truth, a former school board member tells ML, Marc and Shawn on the anniversary of Ethan Crumbley’s shooting rampage that killed four and left countless lives changed forever. Joe runs the show until Matt Riley makes the scene. STRAIGHT DOPE Former Oxford Community School District Treasurer Korey Bailey explains why he and Tom Donnelly resigned from the board. They clai...

A junkie hooker and a professor meet in the Cass Corridor, what could go wrong? Best-selling author Lowell Cauffiel joins ML, Marc and Shawn to explain, while WSU grad Joe is glad Cass Corridor has come a long way since the 1980s. STRAIGHT DOPE: Shawn starts the show with a non sequitur. We’d tell you what it was, but there were so many we forget, so you’ll just have to listen. Lowell Cauffiel was...

From a frozen embryo to rowdy neighbors to free spending in-laws, ML, Marc and Shawn tackle the tough questions, while Joe ponders out yonder. STRAIGHT DOPE: The election is over, but the questions remain. The crew chews on what happened, and where we go from here. Marc’s dad and ML had brushes with fame, even though they didn’t know it at the time. Find out which famous entertainers are bragging...

We dish up the origin story of Detroit pizza and look back on a TRIPLE beheading as Professor Tim Kiska of the Detroit History Podcast schools ML, Marc and Shawn, while Joe turns in a note from his mother allowing him to stay home. STRAIGHT DOPE- ML battles elective dysfunction on election day by inviting Tim Kiska on to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his Detroit History Podcast. Buddy’s, Clov...

Eli Zaret discusses his Channel 4 documentary and the Big Shame that followed the Big Game in Ann Arbor, an altercation that spurred a verbal battle between ML, Shawn and Marc while Joey dials 9-1-1. STRAIGHT DOPE: Eli Zaret discusses his epic two-part documentary on the rise and fall and rise of Channel 4. Find out whether ML makes a cameo. One of the most fascinating characters Eli ever covered...

Frank Pumpkin zooms in while ML, Marc and Shawn put their gourds together to figure out who is going to win the Big Game, while Joe waits with Linus. STRAIGHT DOPE: Frank Morse grew the biggest pumpkin in Michigan history. He zooms in to explain how he birthed the behemoth, which weighs more than 2,300 pounds. How much would you paid for a magical seed? Frank provides us with some market insights...

ML’s student who went to war in Ukraine is home and reporting back to ML, Shawn and Marc, while Joe huddles in his bunker. STRAIGHT DOPE:Evelyn Aschenbrenner was teaching English in Poland when Russia invaded Ukraine. Unlike most of us, she dropped everything and joined the International Legion to help repel the invaders. Evelyn describes life in a war zone, as well as how she and a host of other...

Lies sell better than ever, according to Andy Kroll, who debunks one of the most virulent conspiracies of recent times while ML, Marc and Shawn wonder why they never see Joe – and whether he’s just a voice in their heads. STRAIGHT DOPE: Andy Kroll of ProPublica zooms in to discuss his book “A Death on W Street: The Murder of Seth Rich and the Age of Conspiracy” – but first ML asks him about the co...

Forty-five people died at Memorial Hospital, a tragedy Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Sheri Fink documents in a best-selling book and new Apple TV+ series. She discusses her investigation with ML, Marc and Shawn, while Joey checks the date on the peanut butter in his bunker. STRAIGHT DOPE: Sheri is a bonafide journalism rock star, so ML naturally starts off with a story about how her dad sued his...

ML shares a long but well-told story about a no-show judge while Marc and Shawn wonder where he was for the latest Spartan de-pantsing and Joe thanks his lucky stars he only needs a normal-size commode. STRAIGHT DOPE: ML starts with a plug for NEXT WEEK’s show, when Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winning author Sheri Fink joins the crew to discuss “Five Days at Memorial,” an outstanding limited ser...

The ESPN/ABC producer who made a monkey out of ML zooms in before ML, Shawn and Marc quiz Free Press sports columnist Carlos Monarrez and Joe draws a circle around them. STRAIGHT DOPE: ML recounts his trip to Seattle to watch a football game and how he almost became a meme when network cameras caught him looking like a heartbroken puffer fish. ESPN/ABC game producer Kim Belton zooms in to discuss...