A look inside the "Arsenal of Democracy" as Professor Gregory Sumner of University of Detroit Mercy joins Digging Detroit's Thomas J. Reed Jr. and Detroit History Tours' Bailey Sisoy Isgro at Detroit's historic Abick's Bar.   Sumner previews his upcoming book-signing, Detroit in WWII, at Abick's on November 10, 2015.

Thanks to our Abick's host, Eric and Kit, we visit with Prof. Sumner in the cigar room--formerly a barber shop.  Amazing eats was provided once again by Andy Surowiec of Smokin' Pole BBQ!

Topics include:

• Advantages of being an Hoosier looking in at Detroit
• Coming out of isolationism with the $1 men and patriotism of Joe Louis and  Edsel Ford
• Warren Tanks and Willow Run--designed by the son of a German rabbi
• Soldier Hank Greenberg's home run--"hitting one against Hitler"
• The third shift--and loosening of conventions for women and children
• Female pay disparity greater now than in WWII
• Racial tensions and the Detroit wartime riot
• Detroit expressways created for WWII but ironically accelerating white flight--and who stayed.

(Order yours on Amazon.)

Playwright Frank Anthony Polito shares his journey from blue collar Hazel Park Michigan to New York's theater scene, then back again, nearly 20 years later with a drama about his teenage years with his best friend--both discovering they are gay in the late 1980s.  

For two more weekends--through October 4th, audiences can share this remarkable show in Hazel Park at the the Slipstream Theatre Initiative's production of "B.F.s!" (link to website).

Topics include:

• Frank's journey home
• Writing a play (from an original novel)
• Basing characters on real people--and merging them
• Teenagers, friendships and drama
• Becoming a drama coach at your alma mater

Some of Michigan's top historical archivists join us for a roundtable discussion on their unusual world--sometimes spent in dusty shelves and digging through dark basements and mysterious attics--but often waiting for you at the reference desk.

They'll share some familiar requests, general misconceptions, surprise treasures and offer some great advice for everyone on preserving documents, photographs and memories for posterity.

Recorded August 4, 2015 at Abick's Bar & Grill with our hostess, Kit Lindamood

Catering Courtesy of Andy Surowiec of Smokin' Pole BBQ

Host

Pete Kalinski:  Digging Detroit Host/Producer

Guests:

Rebecca Bizonet:  Oral History Project Archivists at The Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University

Andrea Gietzen:  Archivists at the Archives of Michigan, Michigan Historical Center

Thomas J. Reed, Jr.  Digging Detroit Host/Producer

Robbie Terman:  Director of the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, The Jewish Federation of Detroit

Brian Wilson:  Digital Access and Preservation Archivist at The Henry Ford

Woodwords, "Your Detroit Avenue to Alternative Pop Culture and Talk" is a new blog and podcast created by MMD contributing writer and podcaster Kale Davidoff.

Kale joins Kevin to discuss:

• The first two months of a blog
• Writers and stage-fright
• The big thing before the big thing (aka "Off the Wall" pre "Thriller")
• Cold-calling special guests for podcasts
• Just diving in and keep on swimming forward
• Surprises and the fun of evesdropping at the table next to you at the bar
• Marketing blog-posts with Facebook and Twitter trends
• Maintaining a blog
• Power of a deadline
• Consistency of Vanna White

Ken Pickering, GM's retired Executive Director, Engineering and Design Services, joins Digging Detroit's Kevin Walsh and Pete Kalinski to discuss his career in the exciting years of design in the 1950s and beyond.

• Moving from western Pennsylvania to WWII to GM
• Hard work combined with some great breaks
• Harley Earl & Bill Mitchell
• How long a car takes from design to production
• Women in design via Harley Earl
• The Corvette SR2 created in 5 weeks for Earl’s son
• Henry Ford, Willow Run and the Arsenal of Democracy
• Motorama—Harley Earl’s Manhattan Runway
• Man’s love-affair with cars
• David Temple's new book Motorama:  GM's Legendary Show & Concept Cars

Ladd Biro has loved music and been a performer his entire life--but never wanted to be a starving artist either.  For 40 years he has worked in the entirely non-9-to-5 world of the track--and been in bands and created albums.

He contacted Kevin Walsh about creating a music video for "In Days Gone By," a song that a friend of his wrote for his niece's wedding--dedicated to the special relationship between a father and daughter.

Ladd joins Kevin as they discuss:

• The world of horse-racing
• Loving music--and keeping it as part of your life
• The creation of "In Days Gone By"
• Raiding photo albums of family and friends
• The universal appeal of daddy/daughter dances
• What makes a band work
• Mars and Venus--and editing a video for both
• Ladd's album, Transition, from Roscoe Records

Check out the video of "In Days Gone By" on YouTube.

Following a contest on MyMediaDiary.com, the top three winners guessing the 24 categories from the 2015 Academy Awards, Collin Ward, Melissa Balan and Steve Palizzi, were invited by hosts Kevin Walsh and Kale Davidoff to discuss the following:

• Best and Worst of the Show
• Bad Clips Shown for Good Actors
• Underwhelming Films
• New Categories such as:Neil Patrick Harris and the Hosting Curse--Too Naughty/Too Nice
  • Best Picture--5 Years from Now
  • Best Trailer
  • Best Stuntwork
  • Best Voice-Over Work
• Recommended Changes
• The Academy Voters Country Club/US Senate
• Snubs
• Joan Rivers
• Popularity of Hanging Lightbulbs
• Birdman and Hollywood's Love Affair with Itself

The 1967 vision of a new teacher transformed Royal Oak Dondero High School's choir into a ground-breaking force with its annual Pop Concert for the next 35 years.

Author and alumnus of Mr. Rick Hartsoe's program at Dondero, Pete Wurdock previews the March 7th release of his book, Love Will Steer the Stars:  A History of the Dondero Pop Concert and is joined by Rick along with Dan Palmer, another alum from the programs early days--who would go on to be the concert's chief arranger until Rick's retirement.

Topics include:

• Details on the book's launch at the original auditorium on March 7th at Royal Oak Middle School, 709 N. Washington Royal Oak
• Rick's early days developing the concert--and its initial reaction from staff and students
• Talent seeking talent, collaborating with instrumentalists--and shop teachers!
• Life-lessons, including teamwork and rigor and the enduring power of music

You can read more about Pete Wurdock and his books at: www.blueboundarybooks.com.

On the two-year anniversary of MyMediaDiary.com, featured writers Kale Davidoff (a MSU Spartan) and Steve Mitzel (a UofM Wolverine) cover the following sports topics with host Kevin Walsh:

• Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes national title
• The new NCAA playoff system
• Jim Harbaugh's arrival in Ann Arbor--and likelihood to stay?
• The Big Ten's return to power
• Is the SEC hurt by the new system?
• Different venues, different fans
• Being a stranger in a hostile stadium
• The Tigers and Justin Verlander (and will they ever win the Series)

Read Kale's posts on MMD

Read Steve's posts on MMD

MyMediaDiary welcomes back Tom Reed with his fellow co-producer of Digging Detroit, Pete Kalinski, as they discuss the early days of Detroit's automotive history with historians Bailey Sisoy Isgro and Madelyn Rzadkowolski, curator of Meadowbrook.

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 workforce (and why Detroit was a cigar center)
• Using campaigns of conscience to get women into the workforce during WWI
• Detroit’s African American 600% population boom between 1910-1920
• Detroit as the “Paris of the Midwest”
• More campaigns of conscience to force women out of the workplace after WWII
• Dodge’s role in the arsenal of democracy
• Fear of women earning too much--and gaining political clout)
• Promoting the myth of the non-communist “nuclear family” in the nuclear age

Produced by Kevin Walsh of MMD Productions (www.mmdphotovideo.com).

Recorded January 10, 2015 in Royal Oak, Michigan.

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 the new website,  DiggingDetroit.com.  

Topics include...

·      Alex’s background, including his fear of flying leading to his pilot’s license

·      Detroit’s past, present and future

·      Regrowing urban communities

·      Alex’s transition from aerial surveyor to gallery artist

·      His favorite audiences

·      Switching to digital, but still loving prints—and those amazing drones!

More information on Alex can be found at his website:  http://alexmaclean.com