CuriosiD: Recent Episodes
WDET 101.9 FM
Meet CuriosiD - a series for the inquisitive. Our news team works with listeners like you to find answers to great questions about Detroit and the region.
Are you curious about the Detroit region or the people who live here?
Thomas Mollicone immigrated to Detroit from Italy with his family as a young child, and was later drafted into the military to serve in World War II at the age of 23. Mollicone was killed in the line of duty, and the Indian Village community where he resided moved to dedicate a local park in his honor years later. On the latest episode of "CuriosiD," we answer a question from Mollicone's family about what led to the park's dedication in his name. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious.
On the north side of Belle Isle, better known as the "Detroit side," sits a historic landmark that has been the home of Detroit's only rowing club for more than 100 years. In its heyday, the boathouse was a bustling venue, featuring a grand ballroom, dining rooms and a bar frequented by Detroit's elite. But the future of the boathouse remains uncertain. In this episode of "CuriosiD," WDET's Amanda LeClaire digs into the history of the iconic structure, and what needs to be done to save it.
In this episode of “CuriosiD,” Rob Reinhart answers a question about the short-lived, but well-loved jazz venue located just around the corner from WDET’s studios.
The Detroit Lions updated their uniforms for the upcoming NFL season, adding black to the Honolulu blue and silver they’ve worn for 90 years. But what is Honolulu blue, anyway? And how did it get its name? In this episode of "CuriosiD," WDET's Pat Batcheller gets to the bottom of the Lion's colorful history.
Vernors Ginger Ale is one of America's oldest soft drinks and a favorite hometown beverage in Michigan — born right here in Detroit. Over the years, the soda has gained a local reputation as a cure-all for stomach aches, colds and more. But is the medicinal magic of Vernors a myth or reality? In this episode of "CuriosiD," WDET's Amanda LeClaire answers the bubbling question by consulting with two Detroit area doctors.
Get ready to uncover the heights of Detroit like never before! In the latest episode of "CuriosiD," join Outlier Media's Koby Levin as he delves into the city's unique pursuit of peaks.
Outer Drive is an epic street in Detroit and the suburbs that winds for more than 40 miles. But the roadway isn't continuous, it's broken up into pieces. One listener wants to know why. WDET's Pat Batcheller has the answer. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious.
Before Michigan was known for making cars, it was known for manufacturing stoves. As part of that legacy, the city of Detroit became host to “The World’s Largest Stove.” In this episode of CuriosiD, WDET's Laura Herberg tells the story of the birth and death of that stove. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious.
All around metro Detroit there are tiny, white tile, old-fashioned buildings that sell hamburgers, or more specifically, sliders. There's Brayz, Hunter House, Telway and more. But if these places are owned by different companies, why do they all look so similar? WDET's Russ McNamara answers this popular question, and tours as many slider joints as he and a listener can handle, in this episode of CuriosiD.
A group of bikers formed the Outcast Motorcycle club in Detroit in 1969. Some say that this was the first all-Black club that eventually spread nationwide. These days, if you cruise around Detroit you'll see dozens of clubhouses with members dressed in leather, wearing patches representing names like the Hell Raisers, Soul Stars or the Black Syndicate. In this episode of CuriosiD, WDET's Quinn Klinefelter dives into the history behind Black motorcycle clubs in Detroit. Plus, a white rider reflects on his journey from being a hardcore biker criminal to becoming a motorcycle missionary.
Just outside Detroit, along the side of a I-94, sits a very big tire. In this episode of CuriosiD, a listener asks how the Uniroyal Giant Tire ended up there, and what it's like inside. Plus, did the it ever roll across the freeway? WDET's Jack Filbrandt goes the extra mile to get some answers. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious. It might be the subject of a future episode.
Where do the mile roads in metro Detroit begin? And why do we have mile roads in the first place? WDET's Pat Batcheller answers those questions and explains what you need to know about mile roads in Southeast Michigan. Then, we connect the dots on why intersections on roads like Michigan Ave and Fort Street have such weird angles. Finally, we find out who John R really was. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at wdet.org/curious.
In Michigan -- and a few other select states -- you can buy a red, yellow and blue ice cream often called Superman. One WDET listener wants to know the flavors behind this iconic treat and how it came to be. WDET’s Eli Newman digs in to bring you the scoop. Plus, WDET's Laura Herberg interviews Chicago Tribune's Nara Schoenberg on the origin of Blue Moon ice cream. || Read Nara Schoenberg’s reporting on Blue Moon in the Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-08-31-0708300659-story.html || See Daniel Huffman’s Blue Moon ice cream maps: https://somethingaboutmaps.wordpress.com/2020/11/02/the-quest-for-the-blue-moon/ | | Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious
Listener Jack Nagle knows that it's possible to catch your limit in fish down on the Detroit River, but he hasn't had any luck. For this episode of CuriosiD, WDET's Laura Herberg tries to find out how to fish the Detroit River. She also interviews a toxicologist to find out if the fish are safe to eat.
On Detroit's westside there's an area known as the Bagley neighborhood. There's also Bagley Elementary and Bagley Street. But who was Bagley? In this epsisode of CuriosiD, WDET's Sascha Raiyn delves into the history behind the Bagley neighborhood and its namesake. | Have a question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious | Live or work in the Bagley neighborhood, the University District, Martin Park or Fitzgerald? WDET would like to hear from you for a special project we're working on. Please fill out this survey before June 1, 2023: https://wdet.org/live6
For nearly 100 years there was an amusement park on an island in the Detroit River that you could only get to by boat. Two large steamships, the Columbia and the Ste. Claire, ferried people to Boblo Island. The amusement park closed down in 1993 and now one WDET listener wants to know what's on Boblo Island today... and what happened to the boats? To answer these questions, WDET's Laura Herberg travels to Boblo Island and she also tours one of the steamships with the listener. | Link to Boblo Boats documentary: https://www.bobloboatsfilm.com/ Link to Laura's interview with Boblo Boats director Aaron Schillinger: https://wdet.org/2022/10/11/documentary-follows-the-restoration-of-historic-boblo-boat/ | Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious | Support programming like CuriosiD by giving a tax-deductible donation to WDET at http://wdet.org/give
Today, Coney Island restaurants are all over Detroit. These establishments sell Detroit's own specialty hot dog, the Coney Dog. A listener wanted to know why there are so many Coney Islands spread across the city. WDET's Quinn Klinefelter sniffs out the answer. As part of his reporting, he talks to Joe Grimm and Katherine Yung, authors of the book "Coney Detroit." Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious Support programming like CuriosiD by giving a tax-deductible donation to WDET at http://wdet.org/give
Streams are buried underneath Detroit. A few other cities that had covered streams have dug them up and restored them to a more natural state. One listener asks CuriosiD if 'daylighting,' as it's called, has happened anywhere in Detroit. WDET's Pat Batcheller uncovers the answer. Plus, we talk to Gary Belan of the national nonprofit American Rivers about some successful daylighting projects. | Here's a link to a story from the Detroit Free Press Flashback series that question asker Bill McGraw edits: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/01/08/frank-zuzek-voice-of-detroit-river-westcott-company/69775287007/ | Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious | Support programming like CuriosiD by giving a tax-deductible donation to WDET at http://wdet.org/give
Pheasants are often spotted darting around the city of Detroit. In this episode of CuriosiD, a listener asks "why?" Reporter Shelby Jouppi takes her out to find one of these large, colorful birds in the urban wild. Then, WDET's Laura Herberg heads into the woods with Nyeema C. Harris, an associate professor in the School of the Environment at Yale University. The pair search for one of the cameras Harris' team has hidden in Detroit parks to capture urban wildlife. || Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious || Support programming like CuriosiD by giving a tax-deductible donation to WDET at http://wdet.org/give
We want to hear from you! For a future episode we're working on, tell us your favorite memory from a Coney Island in Detroit, the name of the Coney and where it was or is located. Share your memory by leaving a voicemail on the CuriosiD Question Line at (313) 403-5747. | Have a question for a future episode of CuriosiD? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious | Support programming like CuriosiD by giving a tax-deductible donation to WDET at http://wdet.org/give
Detroit-style pizza has become a bit of a national phenomenon over the last decade. The distinctive square pies have appeared on menus from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. Even Pizza Hut has its own version of the pan pizza. But the style hasn’t always been so popular. In this episode of CuriosiD, WDET’s Claudia Brancart looks into what Detroit-style pizza is and where it came from. | We want to hear from you! For a future episode we're working on, tell us your memories of Boblo Island. Leave a voicemail on the CuriosiD Question Line: (313) 403-5747. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious | This is the link to the Detroit pizza map from DETROITography that Laura mentions in the episode: https://detroitography.com/2020/05/22/map-detroits-pizza-place-geography-2020/
Back in November 2020, after the polls closed, chaos ensued at a convention center in Detroit where poll workers were counting absentee ballots. Republican challengers stormed the center, banging on the windows, demanding that workers "stop the count." In this episode of CuriosiD, WDET's Russ McNamara recounts what happened and answers listeners questions about what's being done to ensure something like that doesn't happen during the upcoming election. We want to hear from you for a future episode we're working on! Tell us who makes the best Detroit-style pizza and why it's so good there. Tweet us at @CuriosiDWDET or leave a voicemail on the CuriosiD Question Line: (313) 403-5747. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious
Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious
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Promised links:
Communities of Hope series that WDET reporter Nargis Rahman does: https://wdet.org/series/communities-hope/
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In the late 1960s, the City of Detroit got its first swimmobile. This pool on wheels was carted around to the neighborhoods for kids to swim in on hot summer days. WDET listener Angela Hart is one of many Detroiters who remembers swimmobiles from her childhood. She asked WDET to find out what happened to them. WDET's Laura Herberg looks into it for this episode of CuriosiD. Have your own question about Detroit? Submit it at http://wdet.org/curious. Now though August 31, 2022 we are specifically seeking questions about Michigan's 2022 General Election. Submit you election questions here: https://wdet.org/2022/08/09/do-you-have-questions-about-michigans-elections/ Stay in the loop! Twitter: @CuriosiDWDET @WDET @HerbergRadio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wdetdetroit/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WDETFM/ Website: http://wdet.org/curious
A listener wonders if the tall trees found in Detroit's Palmer Park are part of a virgin forest, untouched by man. Planet Detroit's Nina Ignaczak looks into it and finds that the answer is actually pretty complicated. Then WDET's Laura Herberg ventures into an old growth forest in East Lansing with Michigan State University Forestry Department Chair Richard Kobe. Wondering something about Detroit? Submit your question at http://wdet.org/curious. Have a reaction to this CuriosiD story? Leave us a voicemail by calling (313) 403-5747 or record a voice memo on your smart phone and email it to curiosiD@wdet.org. We may include your thoughts in a future episode!
In this episode we answer the question, "What's up with those CORN REAL GOOD signs around Detroit?" Maybe you've seen them? The red, yellow and blue hand-painted signs. Reporter Eli Newman tracks down the man behind them, Orrin Fields. It turns out Fields is selling elote-style corn dusted with Flaming Hot Cheetos from what would otherwise be a vacant lot in Detroit. Wondering something about Detroit? Submit your question at http://wdet.org/curious. Have a reaction to this CuriosiD story? Leave us a voicemail by calling (313) 403-5747 or record a voice memo on your smart phone and email it to curiosiD@wdet.org. We may include your thoughts in a future episode!
One WDET listener asks if the Dust Bowl ever made its way to Detroit. Spoiler alert: It did!
In this week’s episode of CuriosiD, where WDET answers your questions about Detroit and the region, Dan Golodner from Huntington Woods asks:
“I moved from Washington, D.C. to Detroit in the mid-’90. And I’ve always loved the root beer float and people said, ‘You have to try the Boston Cooler.’ So, I tried it and was like, ‘What’s the deal here? Why’s it called a Boston Cooler and not a ginger ale cooler or something like that? I’m just curious.”
Dan Golodner, Huntington Woods
The Short Answer: The term “Boston Cooler” has a complicated history dating back at least as early as 1889. The way the drink was made and what it consisted of went through a few different iterations before it settled on the Vernors and vanilla ice-cream combination that we know today. At some point in the 1920s, Boston Cooler could refer to any sort of soda-pop and ice cream combination. For instance, Hires, a root beer company, promoted their own version of the Boston Cooler.
Over the years, listeners have been curious about Metro Detroit’s mile roads. Some have asked if they’re really one mile apart. Others wonder why some are not called “mile” roads. Angela Hoffman lives on Three Mile Drive and wants to know how her street got its name.
A cemetery and final resting place for some of the most significant remains in Jewish history is the subject of the latest episode of WDET’s series CuriosiD.
At Detroit Metro Airport – on the way to the McNamara [Mack-Nuh-MARE-uh] Terminal there’s a tunnel with large fans. Many travelers have wondered why the fans were there. Two WDET listeners contacted us to find out more. As part of the station’s CuriosiD series… WDET’s Laura Herberg looked into it with them.
I’m looking to transition to Detroit to start a new business and it’s difficult to determine the quality and density of the neighborhoods on Google Maps Street View because they haven’t been updated since 2013 and sometimes even longer. I’d like to know why that is. Why haven’t the maps been updated?
WDET listener Dan Lombardo asks, why there are brick pavers at Michigan and Trumbull and if they are original or if they are something they redo every now and then.
As part of WDET's series CuriosID, a listener wonders if driving an electric car could actually create more pollution, since it would force power plants to generate more electricity to charge it, thereby generating more smog.
A British plane had a catastrophic electrical failure over Canada while flying to a training mission in Nebraska on Oct.. 24, 1958.
Detroit's French connection is more than 300 years old, but is the comparison a modern invention?
“There used to be a Times Square in Detroit. I know there’s still a People Mover stop, and I know there’s a street, but there used to be an actual square. And I think it was named after the old newspaper, the Detroit Times, but where was the newspaper headquartered? And also, how big of a paper was the Times?”
WDET listener Priya Ganji has a diverse group of friends of Arab heritage, and she’s noticed their family, religious and cultural traditions are sometimes different from her own and other Americans’. So the 14-year-old asked “How did the Arab community grow to be what it is today in Detroit?”
Listener Bailey Townsend asks “Why is the Detroit River called ‘Detroit River’ when it’s actually a Strait?”
“I show American Saddlebred Horses and we used to have a couple big shows up here at the state fairgrounds which are no longer available. And it was very sad to see that the Michigan legislature decided not to pay for the maintenance of the coliseum and the grounds.
A listener asks, "Are the many different Cass locations in Michigan named after Lewis Cass? Do people know how horrible he was?"
Listener Cheryl Pernell was intereted in examples of busing in Detroit Public Schools around 1963. Pernell was bused to Dossin Elementary for the 1st through 7th grades, instead of going to Ruthruff in her neighborhood.
“Why is it just ‘John R?’ Most people use the last name of a person, not the first name, and an initial, so, I always thought that was kind of strange. And also, who was John R., and why was the street named after him?”
“Who were the Native Americans* that lived in the Detroit region, and how did they interact with the Europeans who settled it?”
What’s up with the Detroit incinerator? Where is it, what’s going on there, and why does it smell so much on certain days and not others?
"Why are there five separate cities that are seemingly small size with the same basic name in the Grosse Pointes? I was trying to figure out if there was there some type of dispute over land or if they were controlled by families or something of that nature?”
What happens to the stuff I recycle with the City of Detroit (curbside recycling)? Where and how is it sorted? Is it sold, and what happens to the money?
A listener asked why there is no subway or elevated transportation in Detroit, and whether it was determined before or after the rise of the auto industry.
Who are the deciding parties when it comes to choosing Renaissance Zones (in Detroit), and what criteria do they use to choose them? What is the history of Renaissance Zones?
“I moved from Washington, D.C. to Detroit in the mid-’90. And I’ve always loved the root beer float and people said, ‘You have to try the Boston Cooler.’ So, I tried it and was like, ‘What’s the deal here? Why’s it called a Boston Cooler and not a ginger ale cooler or something like that? I’m just curious.”
How did the International Ambassador Bridge become privately held? It just seems that, like, two sovereign countries should be in charge of an international crossing, a really large international crossing?
How have pheasants survived and thrived in the urban setting of Detroit, and have they always been here?
“I pass a tall old business building that appears to be empty now but it has a very decorative lintel over the entrance that has the capital letters N-B-C and I was wondering what that was and if it was the National Broadcasting Corporation or something else.” Terry Segal
"I used to be from Lincoln Park and our hometown had a water tower. Why did we have it? Why did some cities have these huge water towers, and what did they use them for? " Carl Prunkard
“Why is it that sometimes police officers use lethal force and other times they don’t? How do they determine when?” asked listener David Ewick of Southfield.
What franchisees look at when deciding on a fast food location. And what it means when they pick your part of town.
“Why are sidewalks in Indian Village stamped with Swastikas? The stamps are uniform and official, like a company laying the concrete made them. Do they predate the Nazi party in Germany? Are they associated with a company affiliated with the Nazi party? The sidewalks are clearly old, but I’m not sure they are date stamped to provide a clue.”
Your favorite place in Detroit just may have bones buried under it from the early days.
An entire Detroit neighborhood vanished to make way for the future. Here’s Black Bottom’s story.
CuriosiD explores the history of the pesky, head-scratchingly prevalent traffic design known as a Michigan Left
This week’s CuriosiD tackles the question any Detroiter is asking - why is my auto insurance so expensive?
Listener Steven Gold remembers seeing a Nike missile base in Detroit as a kid. “Am I crazy?”
This week’s installment of CuriosiD looks at 1930s Detroit poverty and the events surrounding the “Ford Massacre"
WDET investigates the confusion behind just how we should be saying and spelling Lahser Road.
Listener Josh Wilt’s asks, “What was the history of Norton Company located in Woodbridge?”
Anna Sysling answers listener Barbara’s question about the Detroit water park’s history.
Lydia Whitehead asked WDET’s CuriosiD why Hamtramck and Highland Park exist inside the borders of Detroit.