New and Old Frontiers: Above Detroit with Aerial Photographer Alex MacLean

Alex MacLean has seen Detroit from the sky at various stages since 1980.  The large green-spaces below, for example, were once crowded neighborhoods and business districts in a city’s footprint that is large enough to fit Houston, Boston and Manhattan.  These grassy fields by Google Maps might be mistaken for parks. Similar green spaces a few miles north […]

Death of a Whistleblower–Detroit’s Jerry Buckley

*Originally posted on Kevin’s blog, MyMediaDiary.com in August 2013.  Updated on 3/24/14 with video of hotel implosion courtesy of Laurie Rutzel Lessard. 50,000 people is a considerable crowd at a ballpark, but a graveside service is pretty remarkable–particularly in a thunderstorm. Two recent news events have merged for me to remember the 1930 Detroit gangland […]

New Podcast: Dodge, Detroit & Women in Industry

Digging Detroit’s Tom Reed and Pete Kalinski discuss the early days of Detroit’s automotive history with experts Bailey Sisoy Isgro and Madelyn Rzadkowolski. Topics include: Advertising’s current portrayal of the Dodge Brothers Dodge’s famous dependability—and fix-it-yourself car kits General Patton and the Dodge military contract Women and Detroit’s cigar industry as a vehicle for entry into the […]

New Podcast: Interview with Alex MacLean–Aerial Photographer of Detroit in New York Times

Following the December 7, 2014 publication of his New York Times Sunday Review, “Detroit By Air” which examines the city’s dramatic haves and have-nots, photographer Alex MacLean is interviewed by Kevin Walsh and Thomas J. Reed, Jr. of Digging Detroit. Topics include… Alex’s background, including his fear of flying leading to his pilot’s license Detroit’s […]

1890 Detroit – Growing, Brewing and Showing Off to the World

Detroit was not only the largest producer of heating and cooking stoves, it was also on the forefront of ship building, rail car manufacturing, cigar production and development of cutting edge pharmaceuticals. Detroit was also on the verge of launching a bustling automotive industry but at this point factories were being constructed to design and […]