The Detroit History Podcast

Welcome to the Detroit History Podcast. We’ll mine this city’s history, telling the story through this town’s cultural, social, political, musical and automotive heritage. Our chosen tool is the podcast.

During the second season we’ll be dealing with topics as varied as Henry Ford’s anti-Semitism; Detroit’s 1943 riot, which killed 34 people; the National Football League Champion Detroit Lions of 1957; and a history of one of this country’s last great newspaper saloons, the Anchor Bar.

For Android users, listen on Spotify or our website: detroithistorypodcast.com

Season 4 Finale- Jeff Montgomery, Detroit's Fierce LGBTQ+ Rights Activist

Dec 20, 2021

Jeff Montgomery was a born activist who played an important role in saving Orchestra Hall. When a hate crime brought tragedy to his personal life, he channeled his talent and drive to working on behalf of the LBGTQ+ community. His stellar career and sad decline are documented in America You Kill Me, which lost its major...

Season 4, Episode 9- When The Cold War Seemed Hot: Nike Missiles Around Metro Detroit, And A Nuclear Warhead On Belle Isle

Dec 6, 2021

Between 1955 and 1974, a nuclear war with the Soviet Union seemed like a possibility. We armed ourselves by placing Nike Missiles around many major cities across the U.S. -- including 16 in and around metro Detroit. Six of them -- including one on Belle Isle -- were outfitted with nuclear warheads. A nuke on Belle...

Season 4, Episode 8- Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, How a Jewish Kid from the Bronx became a Detroit Tiger Great

Nov 22, 2021

Hank Greenberg, who entered the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest hitters in the game's history, was the first Jewish star in team sports. He interrupted his baseball career to serve longer in World War II than any other major league player, and led the Tigers to World Series championships before and after the war....

Season 4, Episode 7- The 1960s and General Motors: Consumerism Hits The Big Three

Nov 15, 2021

GM spied on a gadfly and got caught. It was the '60s, and it changed the auto industry forever.

When consumer advocate Ralph Nader began hounding Detroit to produce safer cars, the world's largest corporation took affront and went snooping. Its chairman, James Roche, had to apologize in the U.S. Senate chambers. Ralph...

Season 4, Episode 6- No-No Boy and the Japanese-American Migration to Detroit

Nov 8, 2021

Barely two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order #9066. Some 120,000 Japanese Americans in this country's western states were ordered into internment camps. We report on the order, and the post-war period. When the camps were finally emptied out after the war,...