NEWS & VIEWS
Feedback
We received comments in response to last week’s cover story about land speculators in Detroit by Aaron Mondry of Outlier Media
Thanks Outlier Media for sharing the Truth. So many people don’t understand what’s really happening in Detroit, and the constant Blight that’s been blamed on the Wrong people. It’s Not always the Residents of Detroit that has created this mess.
—DJ Michael E, Facebook
Wait I was told Detroit is beautiful and in great shape by democrats like 10 days ago Michael Lee, Facebook
Michael Lee your smooth brain can’t seem to
understand how large the city is.
—Brian Matthew Tamm, Facebook
.....too bad this isn’t considered blight but leave the garbage can out and see how the fines fly... Duggan can get people’s cars off the streets but you can’t get shiesty developers to actualy “do” something with the properties other that sitting on them forever... hmmmm...like the Ilitches and maybe Winans comes to mind....
—Andreos Cooper, Facebook
Thanks for republishing @metrotimes! Pick up a copy if you haven’t read our series on speculation. This issue has the first three articles in it.
—Aaron Mondry (@AaronMondry), X
Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com
Young Detroiter transforms westside building into a community bookstore
Jerjuan Howard’s love for his community shines bright.
The 26-year-old Detroit westsider is transforming a long-abandoned building on Puritan Avenue into the Howard Family Bookstore — a space he envisions as a hub for books, coffee, and connection, grounded in literacy, local history, and empowerment.
Just blocks from his middle school and childhood home, which his grandparents purchased in 1939, the bookstore is Howard’s latest commitment to revitalizing his neighborhood — but far from his first.
“This area always meant something to me,” Howard says. “I wanted to do something for the community.”
Howard has already made his mark in the area, having founded the nonprofit Umoja Debate League to help local youth build public speaking skills and leading the creation of Umoja Village, a garden and outdoor community space around the corner from the bookstore.
Now, his commitment to uplifting his neighborhood is taking new shape — and he hopes it will inspire others to see that with hard work and dedication, they can make a difference in their own communities too.
“I want it to be a space where people can come, meet, and talk amongst each other, to discuss plans for their area,” Howard says. “I want it to build community, increase literacy, and become a neighborhood hub.”
With five schools within a mile and a half of the bookstore, making reading accessible for local youth is a central mission of the project. Howard wants his bookstore to fill that void for book lovers, field trips, and anyone interested in the area’s history.
“Literacy rates in Detroit are low, not just among students, but adults too,” he says. “Their parents need programs that are going to help them, and this neighborhood just needs to spark.”
Since purchasing the building in June, Howard has hit the ground running with renovations. He envisions the Howard Family Bookstore with a gallery-like atmosphere, brightened by books and local art, and featuring unique details like bookshelves and counters made from a repurposed tree outside.
The space will offer more than books, hosting community events like adult spelling bees, poetry nights, and comic book workshops. The store will
also sell coffee, tea, healthy juices, and roses from a forthcoming Umoja flower garden, with rooftop seating for visitors to drink, read, and connect while overlooking the neighborhood.
Perhaps the most unique feature will be a virtual reality room that transports visitors to 1950s Puritan Avenue, when the area was bustling with life. A nearby funeral home was once a Honda dealership, a neighboring church used to be a bar, and an arcade once stood across the street.
“People don’t know these things, but with the virtual reality headset, you get to literally walk the streets of this area,” Howard says. “It kind of inspires folks that the area can be back where it once was, if not better.”
While Howard was initially uncertain about naming the bookstore after his family, he saw it as a special tribute to their deep roots and legacy in Detroit.
“I thought it was important to honor everybody that came before me,” he says. “They deserve to have their name stamped on something that’s gonna be here for a while, forever.”
His family, along with local community members, are super excited about the project.
“I talked to Mr. Thomas over there,
who’s owned that barber shop since 1970, he’s jumping for joy that somebody’s doing something with this property, somebody young too,” Howard says. “The neighbors, they come and help out… It’s all love. Everybody’s looking forward to the bookstore.”
Howard plans to open the Howard Family Bookstore in early spring 2025.
“I think in Detroit, people have a lot more power than they realize,” he says. “Sometimes it just seems so far-fetched to make change in our own areas, where we’ve been living all our lives. But for them to see someone who’s still young, who grew up in this area — who dresses, walks, talks like a Black 26-year-old Detroit man — it hopefully inspires others to do the same in their area. That’s the real end goal.”
He adds, “People think that they have to just accept the conditions of an area, abandoned buildings, blight, or whatever they might have an issue with, but they don’t have to accept that. We can change our conditions if we put our heads together.”
Updates and more information can be found @howardfamilybookstore on Instagram.
—Layla McMurtrie
Jerjuan Howard plans to open the Howard Family Bookstore in a recently purchased building on Detroit’s westside.
DEANGELO MOORE
Sexism and disillusionment drove Trump’s win in Michigan
Donald Trump, a fear-mongering, convicted felon accused of sexually assaulting numerous women and inciting a violent insurrection in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in Michigan, a key battleground state where he had lost by more than 154,000 votes four years ago.
Trump went on to win the overall election, defeating Harris in states that President Joe Biden won in 2020.
Now Democrats and Kamala Harris voters are asking: What the hell went wrong?
Exit polls indicate that Trump’s Michigan victory was powered by robust support from men, alongside significant gains among Latino and Arab American voters.
Trump’s win marks a notable shift in Michigan’s political landscape and reflects a broader trend seen nationwide, where Trump made gains across nearly every demographic, especially in traditionally Democratic areas. His Michigan victory was a part of a broader national success that defied expectations, leading to a strong showing in all seven battleground states and even securing the national popular vote — a first for a Republican in 20 years.
Trump was declared the winner of Michigan just before 1 p.m. last Wednesday. He received 49.8% of the vote, while Harris garnered 48.3%.
Trump’s appeal cut across various demographics in Michigan, many of whom had soured on the Democratic Party. But no demographic had more sway than men, who came out strongly for Trump. About 55% of men in Michigan voted for Trump, compared to 43% for Harris, according to an exit poll conducted by Edison Research. Trump garnered even more support among white men, winning 59% of their votes, compared to 39% for Harris.
On the flipside, 53% of women voted for Harris, compared to 45% for Trump. For women in politics, Trump’s victory was a bitter truth to confront.
Angela Rogensues, president of the Warren City Council and a delegate for the Democratic National Convention, says Trump’s victory was sexism in action.
“This is just a massive reminder of the sexism that exists systemically and how we are never good enough, no matter how much we achieve, no matter how perfect our suit is, or our pedigree or our education,” Rogensues tells Metro Times “What do you say to little girls right now? We would rather have a 78-year-old convicted felon who has a history of sexually assaulting women?”
But Rogensues is not giving up on a better future for women. The election,
she says, will galvanize women in ways the U.S. hasn’t seen in a long time.
“Like so many things, women will save the day, and you will see a movement that you haven’t seen in this country since women’s suffrage,” Rogensues says. “As women, we have to continue running for office and creating space and mechanisms for women to run. That will be my charge over the next two years. I will dig in even further to make sure that more women have seats at the table.”
Another factor in Trump’s success in Michigan was his rising and previously unthinkable popularity among Arab Americans and Hispanics. Only 39% of Hispanics voted for Harris in Michigan, compared to 58% for Trump, who has called for rounding up undocumented immigrants.
The Trump campaign heavily courted Arab American voters in Dearborn and Hamtramck, two cities with the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the U.S.
In Dearborn, where about 55% of residents are of Middle Eastern descent, Trump won with 42.5% of the vote over Harris, who received 36.3%. Green Party candidate Jill Stein collected 18.4% of the vote.
By contrast, Biden easily won Dearborn in November 2020, receiving 68.8% of the votes.
Trump also secured a victory in Dearborn Heights, where 39% of residents are of Middle Eastern descent, defeating Harris with 44% of the vote to her 38.3%, while Stein received 15.1%.
Trump also made significant gains in Hamtramck. While he lost in the city 42.7% to 46.2%, he performed better than he did in 2020, when he only received 13.4% of the vote. Biden won Hamtramck with 85.4% of the vote.
Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib, who is Muslim, endorsed Trump in Septem-
nificant and unfortunate shift in politics –a movement that chose fear over equality.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies are increasingly worried about how this could impact the progress of inclusive policies and the fight against anti-LGBTQ+ bills.
“For decades, LGBTQ+ people have been relentlessly targeted, with recent attacks growing more dehumanizing and fueling increased violence and cruel stereotypes,” Erin Knott, executive director of Equality Michigan, said. “With this shift in our state and local governments, it is even more critical that we unite to protect LGBTQ+ Michiganders, fight against policies that harm them, and ensure the progress we’ve fought so hard to achieve is not undone.”
ber.
Many Arab Americans and Muslims had pledged to vote against Harris because of the Biden administration’s refusal to pressure Israel to stop attacking Palestinians.
In a statement Wednesday morning, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, said the election should serve as a warning to Democrats who refused to protect innocent Palestinians.
“It is important for Democratic and other elected officials to recognize that Vice President Harris’ steep drop in support in key states compared to President Biden’s 2020 victory resulted, in part, from the deep frustration and disillusionment that many young, Muslim, Arab, Black, and other voters feel with the Biden-Harris administration due to its steadfast financial and military support for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said. “The vice president’s failure to lay out any plan to end that genocide, such as suspending weapons to Israel, combined with her refusal to let any Palestinian-American speak at the DNC and her embrace of the war criminal enthusiast Liz Cheney, made matters worse.”
But even if Harris performed as well as Biden did in Hamtramck and Dearborn in 2020, those cities had nowhere near enough voters — a little more than 50,000 went to the polls — to change the outcome of the election.
In Detroit, the state’s largest Democratic stronghold, Trump performed much better than he did in 2020. He received 19,667 votes on Tuesday, compared to just 12,889 in 2020. Still, Harris defeated Trump in Detroit 90% to 8%, but she received 19,307 fewer votes than Biden did in 2020.
For progressives, Tuesday marked a sig-
Democrats also lost the state House in Michigan, and that’s concerning for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2023, more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were proposed in state legislatures, including bathroom, sports and book bans.
“I know our community will be resilient, and not complacent in the face of this challenging climate,” Emme Zanotti, director of advocacy and civic engagement for Equality Michigan, said. “This might feel new after a couple of good years, but it’s actually far from it. We’ve climbed higher mountains as a movement. Now more than ever, we must double down on our efforts and investment in this fight. We only lose if we give up, and those who oppose equality better brace themselves because we aren’t giving up.”
House Speaker Joe Tate, a Democrat, said Tuesday was a wakeup call.
“Make no mistake. The results of the election represent an opportunity to regroup and rebuild over the coming term,” Tate said. “House Democrats will put in the work to regain our majority and deliver a brighter future for the millions of residents who make Michigan their home.”
Despite the big losses, there were bright spots for Michigan Democrats.
Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Thomas have secured victories for two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court, strengthening the Democratic majority on the state’s highest judicial body. The victories give Democrats a 5-2 majority on the court.
With more than 95% of the votes counted, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, held a razor-thin lead over Mike Rogers, a Republican and former critic of Trump who later embraced him.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a progressive Democrat from Detroit, trounced her Republican opponent James Hooper with nearly 70% of the vote.
—Steve Neavling
No demographic had more sway over the election than men. STEVE NEAVLING
Neo-Nazis gather outside Anne Frank play in Howell, waving Swastika flags
Masked white supremacists waving Nazi flags gathered outside an American Legion Post that was hosting a performance of The Diary of Anne Frank in Howell on Saturday night.
The Fowlerville Community Theater put on the play, which depicts a young Jewish girl’s life in hiding during the Nazi occupation.
“It’s historical and something people can learn from, and this is the kind of crap you have to put up with,” Bobby Brite, an Army veteran and a leader of the American Legion Post 141, said in a video on the group’s Facebook page. “These individuals are certainly seeking attention. … If you see them out there, just drive on by, ignore them, and we are going to continue business as we normally do here.”
The small group of racists also showed up later in the night in downtown Fowlerville, where they waved flags emblazoned with a Swastika.
Their faces were covered with masks emblazoned with the number 1488, a white supremacist symbol.
Howell is no stranger to white supremacists. The town of about 10,000 residents has been called the “KKK Capital of Michigan.”
On July 20, white supremacists chanted “Heil Hitler” during a march in Howell.
A month after the rally, Trump announced he was planning to hold a rally in Howell at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.
The Michigan Bureau of Elections is investigating that rally following several complaints that alleged the sheriff’s office violated the law by hosting the nationally televised campaign event. State law makes it a crime punishable by up to 93 days in jail to use any public resources to support a political candidate.
Metro Times is awaiting a response from the city of Howell.
—Steve Neavling
Duggan’s upcoming political announcement could reshape Detroit’s future
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is set to reveal his plans for his political future this week, an announcement that is expected to trigger a wave of political activity.
The third-term mayor has not yet hinted about his next move, but many political observers are speculating that the Democrat plans to run for governor in 2026. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is also a Democrat, is term-limited and can’t run for reelection.
If Duggan decides not to run for a fourth term, the field of mayoral candidates is expected to be big. Among those who have already announced their intentions to run for mayor are City Council President Mary Sheffield, City Councilman Fred Durhall III, former Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins, and ex-businessman Joel Haashiim. Without Duggan as a contender, the 2025 election would mark the beginning of a new chapter in Detroit politics. Duggan, a former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, former Wayne County prosecutor and a longtime lieutenant of late County Executive Ed
McNamara, has held the position since January 2014 and helped guide the city out of municipal bankruptcy.
The first white mayor since Roman Gribbs left office in 1973, Duggan has been steadily popular among many Detroiters and is credited with streamlining and improving government services. He has been an outspoken booster of downtown and was key to bringing the Detroit Pistons from the suburbs to the city.
But he has not been without his critics, who have accused Duggan of prioritizing commercial development downtown over struggling residents in floundering neighborhoods. Under his watch, more than $1 billion intended for Detroit’s schools, libraries, and city services has been diverted to pay for real estate projects that benefit wealthy investors, Metro Times previously reported.
Duggan’s massive demolition program was the subject of a years-long federal investigation, and many civil rights leaders have criticized him for supporting ubiquitous police surveillance, such as facial recognition
technology, that has disproportionately impacted Black residents.
Despite his critics, Duggan handily won all three elections and built a formidable and unprecedented campaign war chest for a Detroit mayoral candidate.
If Duggan decides to run for governor, his popularity and campaign prowess will make it difficult for other Democratic candidates and could inspire a smaller field.
Or Duggan could opt to take a break from political life and spend more time with his second wife, Sonia Hassan, whom he married in 2021.
Whatever happens, Duggan’s announcement next week will not only signal his personal ambitions but also could set the stage for a new political era in Detroit or even Michigan as a whole. Whether he chooses to seek higher office or step away from public service, his decision is poised to reshape the political playing field, influencing candidates, policies, and the direction of leadership for years to come.
—Steve Neavling
Will Detroit’s mayor run for a fourth term — or for governor?
CITY OF DETROIT
NEWS & VIEWS
Lapointe
The Trump Train pulls into Crazytown
By Joe Lapointe
Every now and then, even Donald Trump tells the truth, sometimes accidentally in a rhetorical question.
This occurred last Wednesday morning when the felonious former Republican president crowed to a crowd in Florida after beating Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election for the White House.
“Look what happened,” the 78-yearold demagogue said as he extended his arms wide to his cheering cult. “Is this crazy?”
Well, yes, Mr. President-elect — Sir! – your second election is, indeed, crazy – Sir! — at least as defined, in part — Sir! — by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, as “ . . . Not mentally sound . . . Marked by thought or action that lacks reason . . . Insane . . . Impractical
. Erratic . . . Unusual.”
In the past, the United States has suffered demagogues like Senator Joseph McCarthy, Father Charles Coughlin, Governor George Wallace, and Pat Buchanan. But none reached the Oval Office even once. Trump, who literally dodged a bullet during the campaign, now has us all in his figurative sights.
How?
In the “blue wall” state of Michigan, he defeated a Democrat for the second time in three tries, this time with 49.8% of the vote. Despite Trump’s proud and defiant misogyny (or, perhaps, because of it), both vanquished foes were female, with Hillary Clinton the first, in 2016.
Trump’s appeal to a certain type of white, male, suburban, working-class, blue-collar, Middle American voter was personified in Brian Pannebecker, who served on campaign stops as Trump’s Michigan mascot. He’s from Macomb County and darn proud of it.
A retired plant employee who led the “Auto Workers for Trump,” Pannebecker — at a rally in Warren — attacked the “electric vehicle mandate” designed to reduce air pollution and lessen climate change. But what about their mileage range?
“We don’t want to drive those things,” Pannebecker said. “How do you pull a
trailer with four snowmobiles on it up to Traverse City when it’s five degrees below zero in an EV? You can’t do it.”
Ignore, for the moment, how much environmental mess four snowmobiles might make on a winter weekend Up North. And don’t even think about how much gasoline must be burned to tow four snowmobiles 200 miles or more on a trailer hitched to a car or a big pickup truck.
Instead, think only of yourself. Imagine how much you might suffer if someone asks you to reduce your personal pursuit of happiness. Because everything is all about you. One good thing for Trumpists is that issues like “the economy” and “EV mandates” served as smokescreens for more sinister fires.
Those came in the TV commercials about immigrants, especially men, destroying your community with crime, especially rape and murder, especially by men of color against, especially, white, female victims. Of course, this was blamed on the administration of President Joe Biden.
In heavy rotation, they combined with another fear-mongering message involving “men in women’s sports,“ right-wing code for opposition to the LGBT+ movement. Hey, ad men on Madison Avenue know the audience appeal of sex and violence, even in the negative.
In heavy rotation on TV, these themes blended to stoke resentment about “illegals” (even those in prison!) getting sex-change operations with your hard-earned taxpayer dollars — money better spent, no doubt, on snowmobiles.
Look for more of this backlash in the
second Trump regime, thanks in part to the votes of religious fundamentalists — the so-called “evangelicals” — who see as their savior a sybarite like Trump, a proud adulterer who bears false witness, steals, and covets pretty much everything.
His right-wing media has convinced his cult that Trump the bully is really Trump the victim and that God saved Trump from assassination for a sacred purpose. And beware of Trump’s apostles who vow to inflict his vengeance against “vermin” and “the enemy from within.”
Foremost among them will be JD Vance, the vice-president-elect who, just 40 years old, is about half Trump’s age. A cynical and calculating chameleon, Vance will bide his time in the on-deck circle, right behind the back of Trump, who has recently shown increasing signs of cognitive decline.
We know the 25th Amendment says the vice president’s opinion is crucial in determining whether the president is unfit to continue. Also be wary of Tucker Carlson, the exiled Fox propagandist and current podcaster who has appeared often in public with Trump and has grown close to Vance.
Carlson recently revealed he was scratched in his sleep by a demon. He’s also expressed admiration for Trump’s totalitarian pals, the strongmen Vladimir Putin of Russia and Viktor Orban of Hungary. Another one lurking in the Trump background is Stephen Miller, a singular demonic presence.
Miller was a “senior advisor” to Trump with a special kind of cruelty. He formulated Trump’s family separation plan at the border that locked Hispanic kids in cages away from their
parents. And Trump has vowed mass deportations of refugees.
“America is for Americans,” Miller says, “and Americans only.”
Harsh and vindictive, Miller writes some of Trump’s most venomous speeches. He looks like a cobra or, perhaps, like Roy Cohn, a lawyer who served as an attack snake for Senator McCarthy in the Red Scare of the 1950s and later served as a mentor to — wouldn’t ya know it? — Donald J. Trump.
And what are we to make of Elon Musk, a flamboyant, immigrant oligarch who is supposedly the world’s wealthiest person? Last week, Musk joined a phone call between the president-elect and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a head of state Trump once squeezed for dirt on the Bidens.
Will Musk be deputy president? Also, look out for Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican who might remain Speaker of the House. He says his world view is Bible-based. He’ll help build a crusade of white, Christian nationalism now that short-sighted voters have given Trump a second chance.
With his blend of greed, lust and coarseness and his appeal to our worst instincts, Trump may be the perfect reflection of the American empire in its current stage of decline, a volatile mix of reality TV and pro wrestling. Now, he is our reality, all of us, like it or not.
Eight years ago, after Trump’s first victory, I wrote that it was as if we had tossed our car keys to the biggest, loudest, meanest drunk in the bar and said “Here, Butch, you get us home.” It feels the same now. The only change is that all the traffic signals are broken as snow and sleet have iced up the roads.
Short-sighted Michigan voters share the blame.
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There’s an inherent tension at being impatient with the state of the world that is found at the core of the creative arts and, especially, satire. It is also found in a Pleasant Ridge filmmaker’s willingness to jump in with both feet to tell the tale of the culture-changing humor magazine, Mad. While working a day job in broadcast television production covering Detroit’s professional sports teams, Alan Bernstein felt drawn to telling this story because of the impact the subject had on his life. “[ Mad ] grabbed me early on and it refused to loosen its grip,” Bernstein says about the genesis of his new feature documentary When We Went Mad: The Unauthorized History of Mad Magazine, which is set for a local premiere in Detroit.
Starting the effort out of his own pocket with little crew or equipment, Bernstein would find nights, weekends, and years of his life dedicated to this personal passion of a production which he launched in 2008 for one simple reason — no one else had done it yet.
“I kept waiting for someone better than me to come along and make a documentary on Mad, which I always thought was very worthy of being told since it is such an American icon,” he says. “I kept reading about Mad artists and writers who were passing away throughout the years, and it finally just got to the point where if it’s going to happen, I’m going to do it. And that was it. I’ll figure it out later.”
How America went Mad
Once upon a time, not too long ago, poking fun at politicians, priests, or other pillars of society was definitely no laughing matter. It was a time when Congress was holding hearings to determine who was “un-American” as a way to root out “communists” and other subversives. It was a time sold to Americans that the best way to structure their lives would be for the husband to go to work, the wife to stay home, and the kids were to be ever obedient growing up in suburbs with perfectly manicured lawns protected behind white picket fences. It was a time so mythologized it has become spank bank fodder for many of the
current crop of conservative politicians.
Welcome to the early 1950s. While the image was one of a clean, neat, and orderly society, there was a problem — juvenile delinquency. Given the timeline, the armchair historian might quickly jump to rock ’n’ roll music as the cause. But that revolutionary new noise wouldn’t shake world culture until Elvis landed his co-opted version of the Black musical art form on the charts in 1956. No, in 1954, the plague wreaking havoc on America’s youth was comic books. At least that’s what a respected psychologist said.
Dr. Fredric Wertham was far from being some mid-century conservative cultural scold. After arriving in
the United States from Germany in the 1920s, Wertham started to work with young people, especially those facing the effects of what we now call “structural racism.” His work with Black students in the 1930s was cited in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education because it showed the damage segregation caused in education and American society. That 1954 Supreme Court decision was aimed at dismantling the doctrine of so-called “separate but equal” in public schools and, later, other taxpayer-funded institutions. But it was another thing that happened in 1954 that Wertham would, without knowing it, help to change the landscape of humor in the United States forever.
In April 1954 Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent was published. Subtitled “the influence of comic books on today’s youth,” Wertham outlined what he saw as dangerous themes of violence and sexual deviance in the cheap pulp magazines often popular with young people. Coinciding with the publication of Wertham’s book, the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on the scourge of comic books. The respected psychologist of Jewish background testified that according to his research, Batman and Wonder Woman were leading America’s youth astray. Wertham even compared the comic book industry’s impact on children to the horrors unleashed by Adolf Hitler.
Panic in Detroit
As Wertham received national attention by claiming comics were rotting the souls of children, the Motor City was ahead of the curve when it came to cracking down on funny books. Between 1948 and 1950, Detroit Police Commissioner Harry S. Toy raided newsstands around town. A fervent anti-communist, Toy felt comic books were not only leading Detroit’s kids into juvenile delinquency but corrupting their morals. (For more on this see The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare And How It Changed America by David Hajdu.)
At the 1954 Congressional hearing, one publisher took a rather controversial stance. He not only defended his right to publish but claimed kids had a similar
Constitutional right to choose what they wanted to read. His name was William Gaines. Gaines, who took over his family’s Educational Comics business in the late 1940s, quickly shifted the focus to something different than what the major publishers were doing at the time. His company was an independent publisher so he knew he couldn’t go up against National (later known as DC Comics) and Atlas Comics (which later became Marvel) with similar fare. Gaines and his team had to be creative. The most popular of all of the comics Gaines published were horror and suspense stories with titles like The Haunt of Fear, The Vault of Horror, and Tales from the Crypt. Kids loved the scary, creepy, and sometimes gory stories. Congress was not impressed with
Gaines’s reasoning nor his comics. Fearing a serious backlash, the major publishers got together and decided to create guidelines on what would be considered acceptable topics for comics. In September 1954, the Comics Code Authority was created. Similar to Hollywood’s production code during the same era, the Comics Code effectively drove a stake through the heart of many of the popular comics Gaines was publishing because even the use of the word “horror” was off-limits. For those interested in the social engineering the backers of the Comics Code sought to achieve, one provision made it clear: “Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.” (While
Metro Detroit filmmaker Alan Bernstein has been working on a documentary film about Mad magazine since 2008.
COURTESY PHOTO
aspects of the Comics Code loosened over time, it remained in effect essentially until 2011, when the last of the publishers, Archie Comics, abandoned it.)
While Gaines knew horror comics were dead thanks to the new restrictions, he thought one publication his team started the year before might be the new way forward — a humor comic called Mad. Also, the Comics Code had a loophole that only subjected self-censorship to comic books, not magazines. Coincidentally, Gaines started printing Mad as a full-size magazine and opened the door to more humorously creative ideas, and it soon took off — creating a cultural influence still seen today across print, film, television, and, even social media.
Between the covers
What made Mad special for its era and its style still influential today was its editors’, writers’, and artists’ different way of looking at American culture, politics, and consumerism than how the parents, pastors, and principals of their young readers wanted them to see the country. But it wasn’t biting social commentary that brought in many young Mad readers — it was the funny drawings.
Bernstein remembers getting hooked
on Mad when he was 6 years old. He still has that issue in his collection — Super Special Number 18.
“I saw it in a drugstore,” he says. “I had in my hand a Star Trek coloring book, and as I was walking away from the newsstand I saw the big red logo of Mad. I had no idea what it was.” But thumbing through the pages, the young Bernstein was taken in by “the simple features — Don Martin with his four-panel crazy cartoons, Spy vs. Spy with its wordless play, and then the ‘fold-in’” — a recurring feature where the reader folds the page to reveal the gag — “which suddenly you’re not just reading the issue, you’re participating in the magazine.”
He adds, “So, it grew for me. It started as this shiny object which was wordless or fewer words that immediately grabbed you and then you expanded to reading it.”
One piece of social satire from the first issue Bernstein took home in 1975 that was likely over his head was the back cover — a cartoon image of “The Four Horsemen of the Metropolis” featuring the embodiments of Drugs, Graft, Pollution, and Slums riding rough over the cityscape of New York.
It was that balance between comic book sensibility and social commentary that made Mad a unique publishing enterprise.
Mad’s art department turned its jaundiced eye towards creating fun house mirror-like versions of iconic ad campaigns of the era, often using similar layout and imagery and skewering products from beans to bras to BB guns and items from all the other store aisles in-between. But often the Mad creative team’s most pointed ad parodies targeted adult products — booze, beer, and, especially, tobacco for causing suffering and death. Some anti-smoking examples include a 1967 print parody of a popular TV ad for Kent where Mad used the cigarette brand name to create an acronym meaning “Knowledge Ends Needless Tumors.” Meanwhile, a 1969 fake ad called Cemetery cigarettes, a parody of the Century brand, features an actor dressed as pitchman Hitler bragging about how many millions of people he knocked off, but that’s nothing compared to the death toll of smoking. And a 1990 parody of Camel’s cartoon mascot Joe Camel has a doctor telling him smoking has caused him “cancer of the hump.” Once again, Mad magazine was a pioneer, with smoking bans becoming widespread in the 2000s. (While fewer people smoke today than when those parodies first went to print, sadly, cigarettes still kill over eight million people a year, according to a 2023 World Health Organization study.)
In a way, the need of its creators to speak truth to power made Mad magazine similar to Consumer Reports. In the history of publishing, those two titles were on a truly short list of magazines that turned away paid advertising for somewhat similar philosophical reasons. While Consumer Reports refused ads to be able to accurately review consumer goods without being charged with bias toward whomever was paying the bills, Mad refused ads so it could satirize American corporations and consumer culture without pulling any punches.
In a delicious irony connected to its parodies, Mad magazine’s offices at one point were along Madison Avenue — the same street where New York’s famed advertising industry was flourishing in mid-century America, the era captured in the Mad Men television series (2007-2015).
As Bernstein became a fanatical reader and collector of Mad, he says he can now see how it has informed his worldview throughout his life.
“It certainly gave me my basis of knowing to hold people accountable for what they say, especially corporations and, later on, politicians,” he says. “It informed how you can not only be silly with words, but you could also be witty. [Mad taught me] everyone was fair game because we are all imperfect. It helped me to see how we could make fun of each other and ourselves.”
Alan Bernstein says he decided to make a documentary about Mad simply because no one else had done it yet. COURTESY PHOTO
Bryan Cranston is one of the many celebrity fans of Mad COURTESY PHOTO
When We Went Mad! Bernstein conducted the first interviews for what would become this new documentary in 2008, starting with an opportunity to interview one of the early editors and architects of the Mad sensibility, Al Feldstein. Feldstein, who spent almost 30 years at Mad, was also responsible for the creative flash to repurpose an antiIrish immigrant stereotype image used in old ads to become the magazine’s mascot: a goofy, gap-toothed boy Feldstein dubbed Alfred E. Neuman, borrowed from a pen name he used. After talking to Feldstein, Bernstein spent the better part of the next decade seeking more of the Mad minds to talk on camera.
“My goal was to interview as many living Mad artists, writers, editors,” he says. “I even reached out to family members of deceased artists and writers. When I first started out, everyone I reached out to was basically a cold call. I just explained to them what my goal was and my background as a Mad fan and how I wanted to tell the story completely, and I wanted to hear their specific story. I wanted them to talk about themselves and how they got to Mad and what it meant to them.”
Over time, Bernstein also knew that there had to be other people like him, fans who grew up reading Mad when they were young and credited it to helping to change the way they saw the world as adults. The first notable name he was able to get on camera was a friend of a creative at Mad magazine, comedian Gilbert Gottfried.
“I drove out to New York, met Gilbert at the Mad offices, and interviewed both him and [former Mad writer] Frank [Santopadre],” Bernstein says. “So, he was the first celebrity interview. I was put in touch with ‘Weird Al’ [Yankovic]’s agent, and we realized he was going to be performing at the Traverse City Cherry Fest one summer. We were able to get him to agree to it, so we all drove up to Traverse City from Detroit and met him in one of those portable office structures behind the stage before he went on to perform.”
Being an independent filmmaker from Detroit made it hard for Bernstein in two ways — first, finding the funding to keep production going and two, getting more notable people to talk to him on camera. In 2013, Bernstein decided to go online and see if Mad fans would step up to help him create his vision. A crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter raised over $58,000 (which included a few dollars donated by the author of this article). After that, Bernstein knew there was a fantastic appreciation and appetite for what he was trying to do.
The next issue was how to get the various people influenced by the Mad sensibility to interview with this guy from flyover country who wasn’t connected to Hollywood. One day, Bernstein
started cold calling and emailing production companies with documentaries on Netflix he felt might be interested in partnering with him to complete his Mad vision. One was to a company called Chassy Media, owned by TV host and podcaster Adam Carolla and his partner Nate Adams and mostly known for creating documentaries with a heavy interest in car culture. They were indeed interested, and having Carolla on board helped to open the door to more interviews with Hollywood creatives inspired by Mad including actor Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), and director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), plus the voiceover talent of actor Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld).
Being not only a fan but a collector of Mad, Bernstein infused his documentary with animations, text bubbles, and comic book panels to bring the kinetic, zany feel of the magazine to the screen. And the documentary’s blend of behindthe-scenes and celebrity interviews highlights how the Mad creative team were carrying forward their own humor sensibilities found around Jewish and immigrant enclaves in New York City, the
peak of two million copies per issue in 1974, just as the magazine’s spiritual children like National Lampoon started to eat into its market with more adult-centered satire. Regardless, the humor team continued to push forward throughout the 1980s because, although it was sold in the 1960s to a bigger company, the original publisher was always able to keep the suits from running the show. But on June 3, 1992, Gaines, the man who ruled the Mad world for almost 40 years, died in his sleep at the age of 70. Without his leadership, the Mad creative team tried to continue on but soon found itself under the thumb of its corporate overlords, which would become Time-Warner and its DC Comics imprint.
While Bernstein was creating his documentary, Mad magazine was hit hard, becoming another victim of the decline of publishing in the digital era. In 2018 the magazine was moved from its New York City home to Los Angeles, where DC Comics could oversee its day-to-day operations. The last magazine of new content was published in October 2019. Since then, Mad is published several times a year featuring mostly compilations of older material. While the print version of Mad today is not what it once was, the sensibility its creative team birthed can be seen in places ranging from Saturday Night Live and The Onion to the entire discography of “Weird Al” to films like Airplane and the memes many of us share daily on social media.
music of Spike Jones, and the vaudevilleinfused puns and satire of the Marx Brothers.
While readers loved the Mad sensibility, it could be tricky for them to pull off without getting into legal trouble, including a case that went to the highest court in the land. A 1964 copyright law case (Berlin v. E.C. Publications, Inc.) found songwriter Irving Berlin — best known for such popular classics as “White Christmas,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business” — suing Mad magazine over the publication of a 1961 issue featuring dozens of parody lyrics to some of Berlin’s best-loved songs for over $25 million in damages (almost $264 million today). Ultimately, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Mad had a right to parody because no reasonable person would confuse the joke version with the original and thus damage Berlin’s right to make money from his original songs. The plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.
Mad continued to be the top-selling American humor magazine throughout the 1960s, ultimately hitting a circulation
Looking back on over a decade and a half of work, Bernstein’s feeling about his effort mirrors the team who started Mad almost 70 years ago — up against challenges, sure, but understanding that tenacity is always the key to creating something worthwhile.
“If it’s important enough to you, the project, whatever it is you’re doing, it’s important enough to you you just keep going ahead,” he says. “You don’t stop. There are always pauses … you just have to see it through, and you can’t worry about, ‘Oh my God, this is Year 14.’ It didn’t matter to me. I just needed to get to the end.”
Metro Detroiters can celebrate with Bernstein for the local premiere of When We Went Mad: The Unauthorized History of Mad Magazine starting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14 at the historic Redford Theatre; 17360 Lahser Rd., Detroit; redfordtheatre.com. Tickets are $10.
Rob St. Mary is a former arts and culture reporter for WDET and the author of The Orbit Magazine Anthology: Re-Entry from Wayne State University Press. The book features reprints and history of Detroit’s notable humor alternative media publication from the 1990s that was also definitely infected by a touch of the Mad satire sensibility.
The doc has its local premiere Thursday at the Redford Theatre.
COURTESY PHOTO
WHAT’S GOING ON
Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check venue websites before all events for latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/ AddEvent.
MUSIC
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Live/Concert
Animals As Leaders, Plini 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $33.
Ashley Kutcher 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; Boney James 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $49-$63.
Candlelight: Aretha Franklin & the Sound Of the Sixties 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.; The War Memorial, 32 Lake Shore Drive, Grosse Pointe Farms; $30.
Cytotoxin, Cognitive, Inoculation, Necroticgorebeast, Recorruptor 6:30 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $18. Matt Lorusso Trio & Special Guests 8-11 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Rod Wave, Moneybagg Yo, Toosii, Lil Poppa, Dess Dior, Eelmatic 7 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $44.50-$244.50. Wyatt Flores, Noeline Hofmann 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $25-$45 Karaoke
Offbeat KARAOKE with Robby Rob 9 p.m.; Third Street Detroit, 4626 Third St., Detroit; no cover.
Thursday, Nov. 14
Live/Concert
Blackberry Smoke, Sam Morrow 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $35-$85 Emily King, Martin Luke Brown 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $32.
Escape From The Zoo, Hans Gruber and The Die Hards, Danny Rebel & The KGB, Killer Diller 7 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $20.
Fit for an Autopsy, Bodysnatcher, Distant, Sylosis, Judiciary 5:30 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $27.50.
Maverick City Music 7 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $31.50-$111.50.
Morris Day and the Time 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $53-$67.
The Slaps, Noah Pope, Shane T, Andrea Doria 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $18.
DJ/Dance
Kasbo, edapollo 8 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $20-$65. Karaoke
DARE-U-OKE 9 p.m.-midnight; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Drag Queen Karaoke 8 p.m.-2 a.m.; Woodward Avenue Brewers, 22646 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; no cover.
Friday, Nov. 15
Live/Concert
Ashley Cooke, Greylan James 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $85.
ATLiens, FuntCase, INFEKT, Gunpoint 8 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $29.50-$59.50.
BigXthaPlug, Ro$ama, Yung
Hood 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.
A Celebration of Native American Culture 7 p.m.; The Hawk Theatre, 29995 W 12 Mile Rd, Farmington Hills; $15 advance, $20 at the door.
Dead Bob, Lung, The War Between 7 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $20.
Don Toliver, Ski Mask The Slump God, Monaleo, Molly Santana 7:30 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $49.50-$109.50.
Everclear 8 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $35-$75.
Gabriel Sanchez Presents The Prince Experience (Prince tribute) 8 p.m.; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $18-$220.
John Waite 8 p.m.; Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $35-$69.
Larry McCray, Duke Tumatoe 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $25-$140.
Mortal Disguise, Exploding Zombies, The Black Temple,
28 November 13-19, 2024 | metrotimes.com
Furnace Winds, Feast of Carrion, Misery Bay 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.
Sax B 8 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $25.
The Vig Arcadia, Slowfoot, Elspeth Trembley 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $15.
DJ/Dance
Jessica Audiffred, Vastive 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $20-$25.
Marshmello, Flosstradamus, Viperactive 8 p.m.; Detroit Masonic Temple Library, 500 Temple St, Detroit; $34-$72.
The Living Tombstone 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; sold out.
Saturday, Nov. 16
Live/Concert
Brother Elsey, Leo Bautista, Scotty 6:30 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25.
Collective Soul 8 p.m.; The Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $55-$75.
Cory Wong, Mark Lettieri 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $34.50-$85.
Ekoh, Ryan Oakes 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $23.
Magic Bag Presents: 80s vs 90sMEGA vs CLASS 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.
Modest Mouse, The Black Heart Procession 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $40.50-$100.50.
Sada Baby, Skilla Baby, FMB DZ 9 p.m.; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $50-$100.
Shiba San, Mona Black, Cait Von Tres 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25-$30.
Wishbone Ash, Act Casual, Brad Russel 8 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $30-$200.
Zoso - The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience (Led Zeppelin tribute) 8 p.m.; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $18-$220.
DJ/Dance
Manic Focus “Magic Tour”: PHEEL., Locally Grown, Kenzybear, Eve, Mac Diesel, Drop Catch, DJ MZNORTH 8 p.m.; Tan-
gent Gallery & Hastings Street Ballroom, 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., Detroit; $30.
Sunday, Nov. 17
Live/Concert
Chief Keef 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $49.50-$85.
Living Room Jazz Night @ Shinola Hotel 5-8 p.m.; Shinola Hotel, 1400 Woodward Ave., Detroit; no cover. Music for the Soul: Musiq Soulchild, Marsha Ambrosius, Angie Stone, Anthony David 7 p.m.; Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $69-$169.
Origami Angel, Arm’s Length, MacSeal, Forests 6 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $27.50.
Phil Ogilvie’s Rhythm Kings 5-8 pm; Zal Gaz Grotto Club, 2070 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor; no cover (tipjar for the band).
Monday, Nov. 18
Live/Concert
iDKHOW: iMPENDiNG GLOOM TOUR 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $27.50.
The Preservation of Jazz Monday Night Music Series Presents “Tribute to Prince starring ft.
The M.U.T.H.A.F.U.N.K.A.’s” 7-10 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $35.
DJ/Dance
Adult Skate Night 8:30-11 p.m.; Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Ave., Detroit; $5.
Tuesday, Nov. 19 Live/Concert
Allie X, Violet Chachki 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $27.50.
Better Lovers, Full of Hell, Spy, Cloakroom 6 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $30.
Global Sunsets, Blackman & Arnold Trio 7-10 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
The Waynewood Boys 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Alpino, 1426 Bagley St, Detroit; $10.
DJ/Dance
B.Y.O.R Bring Your Own Records Night 9 p.m.-midnight; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; no cover.
THEATER
Performance
Embassy Suites Troy The Dinner Detective Comedy Mystery Dinner Show; $69.99; Saturday, 6-9 p.m. Fisher Theatre - Detroit A Drag
Queen Christmas (Hosted by Nina West); Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Matrix Theatre Company Grounded by George Brant; $20-$25; Saturday, 8-10 p.m. and Sunday, 3-5 p.m.
Planet Ant Black Box True West by Sam Shepard; $25 online, $30 at the door; Fridays, Saturdays, 8-9:30 p.m. and Sundays, 3-4:30 p.m.
The Inspired Acting Company Moon Man Walk by James Ijames; $30$35; Fridays, Saturdays, 8-10 p.m. and Sundays, 2-4 p.m.
Musical
FIM Whiting Auditorium Dear Evan Hansen; $35-$87; Saturday, 7-9:30 p.m. and Sunday, 2-4:30 p.m.
Fisher Theatre - Detroit Mean Girls Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Troy Athens High School Shrek: The Musical; $20 for adults, $15 for students and TSD employees, and $5 for seniors and special patrons; Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, 3 p.m.
PODCASTS
Cathedral Theatre at the Masonic Temple Criminal; Saturday, 7 p.m.
Fisher Theatre - Detroit Girls Gone Bible; Saturday, 7 p.m.
COMEDY
Improv
Go Comedy! Improv Theater Pandemonia The Allstar Showdown; $25; Fridays, Saturdays.
Planet Ant Theatre Hip-Prov: Improv with a Dash of Hip-Hop; $10; Wednesday, 7 p.m. Stand-up
Andiamo Warren Motown Marks; $50; Thursday, 6 p.m.
Diamondback Music Hall Heath Cordes, Ric Diaz, and Enrique Chacon; $20-$35; Sunday, 7 p.m.
The Fillmore Zachariah Porter: The Strip Mall Tease Tour; $35.50-$55.50; Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Fox Theatre Dave Chappelle, Killer Mike; $79.50-$299.50; Friday, 8 p.m.
Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Jiaoying Summers; $25-$55; Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. John Heffron; $25-$30; Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 7:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.; Saturday, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Sound Board Gary Owen; $45-$62; Friday, 8 p.m.
The Detroit Masonic Temple Immortal Comedy; $10 online, $15 at the door; Thursday, 8:30-10 p.m.
Metro Times is searching for Michigan’s best
cannabis with new column
As Michigan’s cannabis market continues to grow, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer variety of products on dispensary shelves.
Walking into a dispensary can be a sensory overload — rows of flower jars, glistening concentrates, and pre-rolled joints promising everything from deep relaxation to boundless energy.
But with hundreds of choices, how do you know what’s really worth your time and money?
That’s where Metro Times comes in.
I’m Steve Neavling, a seasoned cannabis consumer and reporter who used to grow weed as a caregiver.
I’m launching a new weekly column dedicated to reviewing weed products sold at Michigan dispensaries. My goal is simple: to cut through the noise and guide you to the best cultivators and strains in the state.
Whether you’re a seasoned connoisseur or just starting your journey with cannabis, my column will serve as your go-to resource for making informed decisions.
Why am I doing this? Because Michigan’s cannabis scene is booming — the Great Lakes State reportedly surpassed the mighty California as the top cannabis market in the
November 13-19, 2024 | metrotimes.com
U.S. by sales volume — and with new growers and products constantly hitting the market, finding quality cannabis can be a challenge. The last thing anyone wants is to spend money on a strain that doesn’t deliver on its promises.
I’ll be putting both popular and under-the-radar products to the test, sharing insights into flavor profiles, potency, and effects — so you can pick the right match for your needs.
There are nearly 2,000 cannabis growers in Michigan, and they are vastly different in quality, strength, and taste. Some are potent, pungent, and coated in trichomes; others are dry and tasteless.
In addition to flower, dispensaries sell live rosin, edibles, vape cartridges, and topicals.
My goal is to help you find the right strains, cultivators, and types of cannabis, while learning about the people behind the businesses.
And remember, THC isn’t the only part of marijuana that matters. While THC is responsible for the primary psychoactive effects, other components like terpenes and cannabinoids play crucial roles in shaping your overall experience. Terpenes are aromatic compounds found in cannabis that can influence the flavor, smell, and even the type
of high you get. Different combinations of cannabinoids and terpenes can create a range of effects, from calming to uplifting, making it essential to consider more than just THC percentage when choosing a product.
In this weekly column, which launches next Friday, you won’t just get reviews; you’ll learn about the people behind the cultivation, the stories that shape these strains, and what makes some stand out from the rest. The aim is to empower you with knowledge, so each trip to the dispensary feels less like a gamble and more like an exciting discovery.
Stay tuned as I kick off this journey to explore, evaluate, and elevate your cannabis experience.
If you are a cannabis business in Michigan and want us to review your products, email us at steve@ metrotimes.com.
And if you’re a cannabis consumer, let us know which cultivators, dispensaries, and strains you want us to test.
Join me every week as we uncover Michigan’s finest cannabis products and share the stories that make them exceptional. The journey starts here, and I can’t wait for us to explore it together.
—Steve Neavling
Critic’s Pick
COURTESY PHOTO
CULTURE
Savage Love Mourning In America
By Dan Savage
Dear Readers: Reading a sex-advice column at a time like this — to say nothing of writing a sex-advice column at a time like this — might seem a little pointless. But I’ve lived long enough to know that welcome distractions, small comforts, and guilty pleasures have the power to sustain us in bad times. Taking a moment to read (or write or illustrate) a sex-advice column — or listen to or make music or watch or make porn — doesn’t mean you’re complacent or complicit. (Unless you voted for him, of course, in which case you can fuck the fuck off.) It’s the little things — the little joys — that keep us sane, keep us connected, and keep us going. Anyway, sitting down to write a column this week lifted my spirits. I hope reading this week’s column lifts yours.
—Dan
P.S. All of the letters below came in late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, so some of them — but not all of them — are about the election. I’m going to answer them in the order received. If you’re sick of reading about the election, feel free to skip to the last two questions, which are about sex, glorious sex, which remains the single best distraction/comfort/pleasure there is.
: Q I’m in despair. I don’t know my country anymore. I’m inclined to move away. What do you recommend. —Election Night Blues
A: I recommend we retire the expression, “This is not who we are.” We could say that after Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the election (fucking Electoral College) and we could say that after George W. Bush lost the popular vote but won the election (fucking Electoral College). But as of this writing, it looks like Trump won the popular vote and the Electoral College. So, yeah. This is who we are — at least right now. Anyway, if someone told me twenty years ago that a reality-show host/serial rapist with a golden toilet would one day appoint a majority of the justice on the Supreme Court, as Trump is likely to have done before the end of his second term,
I would’ve emigrated then. But leaving — whether we’re talking about leaving a shitty spouse or a shitty country — is always easier said than done. So, we’re gonna do what most people in shitty relationships wind up doing: stay and fight.
: Q It’s the morning after the election and I am sobbing for what’s to come and for what we have all lost. Then I started thinking more personally about our youngest. Born female nineteen years ago, they began transitioning to male three years ago. I fear for them. My first thought was to beg them to transition back to female, seeing as they haven’t had blockers or any surgeries yet. I feel horrible that was my first thought. I want them to live their true self, but as a mom, I want to make sure they are safe. My second thought was to get their passport renewed, so if we need to get them out of the country fast, we can get them out.
Thoughts?
—Super Upset Mom
A: I’m planning to stay and fight — at least that’s my plan for now — but I’m not going to let my passport expire. So, I fully support your plan to get your trans kid’s passport renewed, SUM. Diana Adams, Esq., who founded the Chosen Family Law Center, posted a thread the day after the election with tons of actionable advice for queer people who are rightly worried about their rights and physical safety in the wake of an election. Adams specifically recommended that trans people like your son update their passports, Social Security records, and state IDs so all have the same names and gender markers. If you need help doing that, you can find additional resources and get legal help at the Chosen Family Law Center.
P.S. If you’re one of the 70% of Americans who don’t have a passport… now might be a good time to get one.
: Q If you were the parent of a transgender teenager, where in the world would you want to live? Where could we reliably find gender-affirming care and a relatively low amount of bigotry?
—Scared And Distressed
A: “So, I think this is a double-edged sword,” said Brianna Wu, a Democratic operative and the host of the Dollcast. “Because, legally a state like mine, Massachusetts is going to be excellent for SAD’s family. California or Illinois would be as well. But the other half of this coin is social — and what I’ve seen in my own state is a culture that’s not setting trans kids up for success
because it doesn’t ask them to develop agency. Obviously, moving somewhere your child can get the HRT they need to live is job number one. All three of these states will be excellent. But don’t discount the dangers of a culture that can radicalize your child into a brand of trans politics that won’t serve them in the long run.”
But if you wanted to leave the country — and I wouldn’t blame you if you did — the Williams Institute identified Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and Canada as the best places for LGBT people in their most recent Global Acceptance Index. But keep an eye on Canada: they have an election coming and the fascistic right in Canada is borrowing a page — many pages — from the fascistic right in the US and targeting trans and other queer people.
Follow Brianna Wu on Twitter @BriannaWu.
: Q I’m a boring white cis-het middleaged lady. I have been an LGBTQ ally since the day I figured out WTF that meant. This election has me shaken for so many reasons, but one that I wasn’t expecting, was the lack of support from gay men. Not in the vote, necessarily, but the aftermath. I have come across numerous TikToks and Instagram reels saying things like, “At least this means we get Pete in 2028.” Do gay men really hate women as much as straight men? I am shaken to my core.
—Seriously Heartbroken About This
A: You’re heartbroken, I’m heartbroken — but you can fuck the fuck off with this shit, SHAT. Lack of support from gay men? Trump’s share of the LGBT vote — which includes gay men — collapsed between 2020 and 2024: Trump went from 27% of the LGBT vote in 2020 to just 12% in 2024. The fact that two social media platforms designed to stir up outrage — and profit from outrage managed to push a few videos of gay men saying something insensitive (or saying something too soon) isn’t proof that gay men hate women “as much” as straight men do. The people we should be angriest at are the people who voted for Trump, SHAT, not the people who voted overwhelmingly against him. If you’re looking to be angry at men, how about the majority of straight men who voted for Trump and not the overwhelming majority of gay men who voted against him? (And I promise you: Pete Buttigieg is not going to be the Democratic nominee in 2028 — and the gay man who’s fantasizing about Pete getting the nomination next time voted for Harris this time.)
: Q In an episode of the Lovecast over the summer, you urged your listeners to
share their best sex stories to take their minds off current events. This seems like a good time to share mine. Last Tuesday in British Columbia — while we watched the election results trickle in — I had a lovely first date with a prospective bisexual unicorn for me and my partner. The two of us have never had a threesome in our thirteen years together. This guy I met — a male unicorn — seems very sweet. He and my partner exchanged dick picks while I was on the date with him (hubby was at home with the kids), and knowing we were going to have a very special guest star join us this weekend made the rest of this distressing week a little more bearable.
—Scheduling Our First Threesome
A: Like everyone who just read your letter, SOFT, I’m jealous. Not just because you’re gonna have a threesome this weekend — although there is that — but because instead of spending last Tuesday night sitting on the couch watching election returns, you spent last Tuesday night on a date with a hot bi guy. And while you didn’t ask for advice, SOFT, I’m going to give you some.
Four quick tips for making your first MFM threesome a success from a guy who lost his virginity in an MFM threesome…
1. Every threesome becomes — at some point — a twosome. Instead of flipping out when that happens, enjoy the show for a few minutes before inserting yourself back into the action.
2. All three of you should agree — out loud — that anyone can call a timeout at any time for any reason. And since it’s easier to bounce back from a timeout called when someone is feeling off than it is when someone feeling hurt, you shouldn’t hesitate to call for a timeout. (And, yes, you can call a timeout if that twosome goes on too long.)
3. Be clear with each other and your very special guest start about what is and isn’t on the menu. And no reopening negotiation the menu during the threesome.
4. While couples usually do need some time alone to decompress, discuss, and check-in with each other after a threesome, hustling your very special guest star out the door immediately after it’s over is rude. If things went well, you can and should offer your very special guest star a cuddle, a shower, and some ice cream.
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CULTURE
Free Will Astrology
By Rob Brezsny
ARIES: March 21 – April 19
You may be on the verge of the breakthrough I prophesied a while back. Remember? I said you would be searching for the solution to a boring problem, and on the way you would discover a more interesting and useful problem. That exact scenario is about to happen. I also predict that the coming weeks will be a time when you tame an out-of-control aspect of your life and infuse more wildness into an overly tame part of you. I will speculate on one further stroke of good fortune: You will attract an influence that motivates you to be more passionately pragmatic about one of your key dreams.
TAURUS: April 20 – May 20
It’s time for some friendly warnings that will, if heeded, enable you to avoid problematic developments. 1. An overhaul in your self-image is looming; your persona requires tinkering. 2. Old boundaries are
shifting and in some places disappearing. Be brave and draw up new boundaries. 3. Familiar allies may be in a state of flux. Help them find their new centers of gravity. 4. Potential future allies will become actual allies if you are bold in engaging them. 5. Be allergic to easy answers and simplistic solutions. Insist on the wisdom of uncertainty.
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20
To honor and celebrate your melancholy, I’m turning this horoscope over to Gemini author T. H. White and his superb formulation of the redemptive power of sadness. He wrote: “The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”
CANCER: June 21 – July 22
world sometime soon, Leo, I’d urge you to join in. I expect the winner would be a member of your astrological tribe, as you Leos now have a high potential for revitalizing relaxation. Even if you don’t compete in a SpaceOut Festival, I hope you will fully cash in on this excellent chance to recharge your spiritual batteries.
VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22
My favorite Virgos love to learn. They are eager to add to their knowledge. They have a highly honed curiosity that is always percolating, continually drawing them towards new comprehension. On the other hand, some of my favorite Virgos are inefficient at shedding long-held ideas and information that no longer serve them. As a result, their psyches may get plugged up, interfering with their absorption of fun new input. That’s why I recommend that you Virgos engage in regular purges of your mental debris. Now would be an excellent time for one of these sessions. P.S.: The futurist Alvin Toffler said that a key to intelligence is the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn. I invite you to act on that counsel.
LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22
a time considered making that job his career. I’m the opposite of him. I keenly avoided becoming a soldier and have always been passionately anti-war. I bring this subject to your attention because I think now is an excellent time for you to get clearer than ever about how you don’t resemble your parents and don’t want to be like them. Meditate on why your life is better and can get even better by not following their paths and ways. There’s no need to do this with anger and blame. In fact, the healthiest approach is to be lucid, calm, and dispassionate.
CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19
At age 49, James Patterson retired from his job as an advertising writer. Until then, he had produced a few novels in his spare time. But once free of his 9 to 5 gig, he began churning out books at a rapid pace. Now, at age 77, he has published over 305 million copies of 200+ novels, including 67 that have been No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. Would you like to make an almost equally memorable transition, Capricorn? The coming weeks and months will be an excellent time to plan it and launch it.
Do you need a break from the chaos and uncertainty that is the world, as it burns in an epileptic fit?… We recommend drinking, it was good enough for the other empires.
A Massachusetts woman named Andrea Martin loves chickens so much she treats them as family. A few years ago, she took pity on one of her favorites, a young bird named Cecily, who had been born with a damaged tendon in one of her legs. Martin arranged to have the limb amputated. Then she made a prosthetic device on a 3D printer and had it surgically grafted onto Cecily›s body. Success! The $2,500 cost was well worth it, she testified. I propose we make Andrea Martin one of your role models for the coming weeks. May she inspire you to take extra good care of and shower bonus blessings on everyone and everything you love. (P.S.: This will be really good for your own health.)
LEO: July 23 – August 22
Once a year, the city of Seoul in South Korea stages a Space-Out Festival. Participants compete to do absolutely nothing for 90 minutes. They are not allowed to fall asleep, talk, or check their phones. To test how well they are banishing stress, burnout, and worries, their heart rates are monitored. The winner is the person who has the slowest and most stable pulse. If there were an event like this in your part of the
I endorse Libran tennis star Serena Williams’s approach to selfevaluation — especially for you right now. She testified, “I’m really exciting. I smile a lot, I win a lot, and I’m really sexy.” I’m convinced you have the right to talk like that in the coming weeks — so convinced that I suggest you use it as a mantra and prayer. When you wake up each morning, say what Williams said. When you›re asking life for a sweet breakthrough or big favor, remind life why it should give you what you want. Feel free to add other brags, too, like, “I’m a brilliant thinker, a persuasive negotiator, and a crafty communicator.”
SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21:
You are entering a phase when you can acquire more mastery in the arts of self-care and self-sufficiency. I hope you will become more skillful in giving yourself everything that nurtures your emotional and physical health. Have you gathered all you need to know about that subject? Probably not. Most of us haven’t. But the coming weeks will be a favorable time to make this your main research project. By the way, now is also an excellent time to kick your own ass and unbreak your own heart.
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21
My father was a big fan of the military. As a young man, he served as a lieutenant in the army and for
AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18
The Breakfast Club was an iconic 1985 film about teenagers coming of age. Critics liked it. At the box office, it earned 100 times more than it cost to make. Aquarian director John Hughes wrote the screenplay for the 97-minute movie in two days, on July 4 and 5 of 1982. I predict that many of you Aquarians will have a similar level of productivity in the coming weeks. You could create lasting improvements and useful goodies in short bursts of intense effort.
PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20
Ben & Jerry’s is a wildly successful ice cream maker that sells its products all over the world. Its founders are two Pisceans who met in seventh grade. Over 45 years since they launched their business, they have become renowned for their wide variety of innovative flavors and their political activism. When they first decided to work together, though, their plans were to start a bagel business. They only abandoned that idea when they discovered how expensive the bagel-making equipment was. I suspect that you are near a comparable pivot in your life, Pisces: a time to switch from one decent project to an even better one.
Homework: Can you feel less anger about a person who wronged you? It would be good for your health to do so.
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