Episode 4: Two Historic Detroit Theatres–The Redford and the DFT

Click the YouTube link below for a look at two Detroit  theatres nearing the century mark that are each employing some new techniques to increase attendance. February is the DIA’s Detroit Film Theatre biggest month as sell-out crowds have now made a tradition of attending the Oscar Shorts screenings–the only place in the state you can see […]

New Episode of Digging Detroit! Inside Detroit’s Music Vault at the DPL

In Episode 3, Digging Detroit’s Thomas J. Reed, Jr. joins curator Romie Minor as they explore the fabulous treasures inside the Detroit Public Library’s E. Azalia Hackley Collection (link). The collection and its corresponding concert started in 1943 by Detroit musicians and artists to honor the legacy of Ms. Hackley, a former Detroit Public School teacher who went on to […]

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 […]

Digging Detroit – Episode 2: Rediscovering Detroit…One Bar at a Time

In Digging Detroit’s second episode, Pete and Tom climb aboard the Detroit Bus Company’s Prohibition Tour as they examine how bars with links deep in Detroit’s history are helping metro-Detroiters rediscover their city. Special guest, historian Mickey Lyons, shares her insight and research with the guys from inside The 2 Way inn, built by Civil […]