WDET in the news

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A look at the most contentious presidential elections in history

It’s Election Day 2020 and after a long and contentious campaign, tensions are running high. It feels like the country is the most divided it has been since the Civil War. Some are worried that the current climate of political instability could jeopardize the country’s democratic process. Though this election cycle is certainly unprecedented, it isn’t the first contentious election in America’s history. What can we learn from previous fraught elections and how the country endured after them? Marc Kruman, founding director of the Center for the Study of Citizenship and professor of history, says that the current election feels very different and is different from those in recent history. “This is the most contentious presidential election of my lifetime,” says Kruman. He adds that the erosion of trust evidenced throughout this election cycle makes it a uniquely anxious event. “I think that if we are going to compare it, it would probably be to the election of 1876,” says Kruman, adding the caveat that the 1876 election was far tenser than the lead up to 2020. The current climate of division, though anxiety-inducing, may actually be necessary according to Kruman. “Contentiousness actually has led to greater voter participation and greater enthusiasm and that speaks to the health of our democracy,” says Kruman.
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Cybersecurity Experts Cautiously Optimistic About Michigan Election Security

Michigan election officials are working hard to prevent a cyber attack ahead of Tuesday’s election. The concern over potential cyber attacks on our election system has been building for years. Hackers and disinformation campaigns have gotten more and more sophisticated, and technology is more advanced than ever. Then in March, the world was hit with the coronavirus pandemic. In the United States, that has resulted in uncharted waters in terms of the ways people are voting, which creates a lot of uncertainty. As a swing state, Michigan could be a very attractive target for cyber threats during the election. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Michigan has done a lot to prepare for this. That includes working closely with federal agencies to coordinate efforts to combat attacks. There isn’t a high likelihood of voter infrastructure being attacked, said Andrew Dold, lead security analyst for Wayne State University and member of the Michigan Cyber Civilian Corps (MiC3). But one area the does have cybersecurity experts concerned is voter misinformation. As we saw in the 2016 election, social media is riddled with falsehoods, bots and organizations trying to influence American voters and their votes. Websites spread misinformation that could incite people,” Dold said. “People kind of believe what they want to believe. All they need is a close reason nowadays, right? So, that’s the kind of thing that worries me more. The erosion of public trust with the government or the results. But I think as far as tabulating votes, I think we’re in really good shape.”
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The combustible mix of white rage, racial injustice and the election

The partisan divide has grown wider over the past four years and the threat of political unrest continues to grow. A rise in anger and awareness over the police killings of Black men combined with an upsurge in the participation of militia groups have already led to confrontations and violence. Frustration, injustice, and politics make for unstable chemistry. “The best-case scenario is to see civil disorder as part of the democratic process and that there are boundaries and that we do not want to stop people from engaging in civil disobedience and in civil dissent. The only time we should arrest people is if they threaten the security of the state. And Black Lives Matters groups are not threatening the security of the state – they’re asking for reform,” says Ron Brown, an associate professor of political science at Wayne State University. Protests by racial justice groups have drawn counter-protests from right-wing militia and white nationalist groups and that can present a problem for authorities. “You will probably see the police put both groups in jail. However, I think that that the vast majority of those must be again those on the right because they are the ones who are disruptive. They are the ones that are largely a threat to democratic norms,” Brown says.
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These 1960’s Black activist groups fought for economic opportunity in Detroit

A new collection at the Walter P. Reuther Library Archives at Wayne State University showcases documents and materials from Black activist groups in Detroit in the 1960’s. In the second half of the 20th century, the Great Migration of African Americans began moving from the south to the north in search of economic opportunity. They joined a burgeoning worker and union rights movement, forming several activist groups across Southeast Michigan to demand better working conditions and access to unionized work. Several industries from the medical field to the auto industries had workers protesting for equality. The Detroit Revolutionary Movement or (DRUM) left a trove of files and materials are available online through the Walter P. Reuther Library Archives at Wayne State University. “We believe during this moment in history, there’s gonna be an increased interest in organizations like this,” said Louis Jones, a field archivist with the library of labor and urban affairs.
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Wayne State researcher predicts a COVID-19 spike as winter nears

It has been more than seven months since the novel coronavirus was first detected in Michigan. During that time, what we know about the virus has changed dramatically and our understanding continues to change rapidly. We’re also now hearing more and more about the race to develop a vaccine. Wayne State University medical researcher Dr. Paul Kilgore joins Stephen Henderson on WDET Detroit Today regularly to give the audience the most reliable and trustworthy information on these subjects. Kilgore is associate professor & director of research at Wayne State University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He says other viral infections tend to peak with colder weather, and researchers expect the same to be true of the novel coronavirus. He says it’s less a matter of if we’ll see another spike in cases in the coming months, and more a matter of how big that spike will be. “Caution is the key word right now,” says Kilgore. But he says one piece of good news is that medical professionals are getting better at treating COVID-19. “We have a better understanding of the pathology of the virus, which means we’re getting better at understanding how to treat it.”
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Tense political culture reveals Black literature’s role in white America

In this installment, Wayne State University assistant professor of African American Studies Valerie Sweeney Prince, author of “Burnin’ Down the House: Home in African American Literature,” discusses the role of African American literature from Ralph Ellison’s time to the present, and questions whether Black literature exists in a pure form considering the white lens of the publishing industry. On the recent killings in Kenosha, Wis., Prince says the white lens impacts so many aspects of Black life, not just in literature. “When someone is tweeting ‘law and order,’ that is very clearly a frame of reference that allows a 17-year-old white kid with an assault weapon to not be seen as a murderer,” she says. When it comes to Black literature, Prince says the question is about who ultimately gets to determine what audiences read and internalize about Black life in America. “Blackness exists because it’s a culture. We have music, we have food, we have dance, we have all these things, a way of speaking, a way of just being and seeing and living in the world. But what does not exist are the mechanisms by which these things get codified and communicated outside our culture.”
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In times of crisis, get free mental health sessions from Wayne State

The novel coronavirus pandemic – and subsequent stay-at-home orders — have taught Michiganders how to interact in different ways. For many, the recent protests have only added to anxiety and increased social isolation. To help residents improve their mental health, Wayne State University is offering free online counseling sessions with psychology and counseling students. Lauren Mangus, professor of psychology, oversees the program. She says the world has changed and it can be difficult to adapt to a new way of living. “Life as it once was, it’s completely changed for so many of us. Not to mention the emotional psychological bandwidth that’s being taxed for many of us right now.” On dealing with grief when gatherings were limited: “Grief is really complex. It’s really difficult because it’s a very personalized, individualized process. But it is never completely finalized. But at the same time when we have different ways to celebrate life, and celebrate loved ones, and to get that support can really help us through the grieving process. So that is really complicated.
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Unemployment processing issues frustrate Michiganders

Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson has been hosting hour-long specials on 101.9 WDET where local experts answer listener questions on COVID-19. For this special, Marick Masters interim chair of the Department of Finance at Wayne State’s Mike Ilitch School of Business, joined other experts to answer questions from tweets, email and call-ins. Economists say Michigan is now at depression-level unemployment. One million people are now jobless. To help residents, Congress passed a stimulus package and expanded unemployment benefits to self-employed and gig economy workers, among others. That has meant an unprecedented surge of jobless claims and applications, which has challenged the state’s unemployment agency’s ability to handle that volume of claims. When eligibility opened up for workers who were previously denied unemployment benefits, the state’s unemployment website malfunctioned under the weight of all of the people hoping to take advantage of the expanded benefits. As of April 17, Michigan has paid out $823 million to 765,000 Michiganders, with about 300,000 more residents expected to receive benefits for the first time next week. 
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How the Wall Street roller coaster affects your finances

It’s been a wild roller coaster ride on Wall Street this past week. Last week saw one of the biggest drops in the Dow’s history. Yesterday, the market saw its biggest single-day jump in history. Matthew Roling is the Interim Chair for the Department of Accounting at Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business. Roling told Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson that “the market rewards patience, diversification and low fees.” He says the large drop last week in stocks was undeniably a reflection of the interconnection between the U.S. and Chinese economies, adding that the consensus cause of the dip by economists was the coronavirus outbreak in China. “It was a realization by the market that what’s going on with this virus might seriously wreak havoc on our economy.”
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Trump’s Iran policy another chapter in decades of dysfunctional relationship

Tensions between Iran and the United States have taken a turn, with retaliation on military bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops and a statement from President Trump about the conflict. Trump says there were no U.S. casualties in the attacks, and announced a new round of sanctions on Iran. He also called on NATO to become more involved “in the Middle East process.” The president struck a tone that suggested Iran is standing down after its retaliation on Tuesday night. But this is just another development in the long-running story of the U.S. relationship with Iran — tracing back to the birth of the Islamic Republic. Saeed Khan, Wayne State University Near and Middle East expert, discussed what these events mean in this context. 
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Beaumont Health exec returns to WDET as general manager

The estate of prominent Judge Damon J. Keith, who was the grandson of slaves and a figure in the civil rights movement, made a $100,000 bequest to a scholarship fund in his name, West Virginia State University announced Wednesday. Keith, who was sued by President Richard Nixon over a ruling against warrantless wiretaps, died in April in Detroit at 96. He spent more than 50 years on the federal bench. Before his death, he still heard cases about four times a year at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. He was a 1943 graduate of what was then West Virginia State College and went on to graduate from Howard University Law School in 1949 and Wayne State University Law School in 1956.
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Russia Steps Into Syria As United States Withdraws

News of the United States pulling out of Syria has triggered upheaval and turmoil in the region. The Trump Administration’s change of course in Syria has complicated the already complex power structure in the Middle East. Wayne State University history professor Aaron Retish joined Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today to help unpack the complex web of interests and influence in the region. On the administration’s newfound adoption of non-intervention policy, Retish says, “There are going to be ramifications for that, one of them is going to be instability and the other one is going to be new power asserting themselves.” Those power players he is speaking of include Russia, Turkey and the Assad-led Syrian government, all of which have unique motivations. Retish asserts that we have to rethink the region if we are not going to commit to a military presence. This new American foreign policy approach in the area might mean “a totally refigured Middle East.”
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Iran sanctions, Saudi Oil attack and changes to Middle East college programs in U.S.

There are allegations that a Saudi oil facility was attacked earlier this month, there’s an Afghan election coming up and Trump discussed Iran aggressively in his address at the UN climate summit yesterday. Plus, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is going after some Near and Middle East college programs to reformat their curriculum to address what her department is calling “anti-Israel bias.” Detroit Today’s host Stephen Henderson sat down with Saeed Khan, senior lecturer of Near and Middle East history and politics at Wayne State University. On the attack on a Saudi oil facility: “The fact that Saudi are self investigating,” is troubling, explained Khan. “I think it’s quite telling that there is still quite a bit of ambiguity regarding what the intel and the investigation have shown, to the point that the government of Japan is still not persuaded that Iran was involved in any way,” he said. At the same time, Khan also pointed out that “the British, the French and the Germans have said Iran is responsible in some way, shape or form.” On the changes to Middle East college programs: “It seems as though the focus is on what is perceived to be an anti Israel bias, that of course is going to be in the eye of the beholder as to what then is the threshold of what is seen as criticism,” explained Khan.
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New podcast from Wayne State features stories of Iraqi students studying in Detroit

Twenty one Iraqi college students came to Wayne State for three weeks over the summer to learn about American culture and democracy. They were here as part of the Iraq Young Leaders Exchange Program, an opportunity sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and funded by the U.S. Department of State. While in Detroit, the students worked on leadership and communication skills. As part of the curriculum they put together a podcast. Colleen Ezzeddine is the communication faculty member who worked with the students on the storytelling project. “The podcast will give you an insight into Iraq’s young leaders of today and what’s on their minds,” says Ezzeddine. Each episode features one of the students telling a personal story from their life. Ezzeddine says the topics touch on death, medical challenges, what to do after high school and more. “The students mentioned that they wanted Americans to know that, on one hand they’re just like anybody else. And on the other hand they’re people that have gotten the short-end of the stick in certain situations but that they’re very dedicated, as one of them put it, to ‘make Iraq great again.’”
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Two generations of Levins talk state of American politics

The Levin family is one of the most powerful political dynasties in the history of Michigan — and, perhaps, the United States. Former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin is one of the longest-serving members of the Senate. Now, his nephew, Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) is one of the newest members of Congress. Both Levins appeared on “Detroit Today” for separate conversations about the state of politics in America. Carl Levin will be a featured speaker today at an event organized by the Journal of Law in Society and the Levin Center at Wayne Law. The event — “Gerrymandering: The Power of Boundaries” — will convene national experts including Sen. Levin to talk about the practice of partisan drawings of political lines. 
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Professor’s new book looks at education of young black males

A new book takes an interesting look at educational outcomes for young black males. “A Walk in Their Kicks” isn’t just about instruction. It delves into ideas about how to engage young black men in ways that acknowledge the difficulties they encounter and point them toward success. Author Aaron Johnson is a public school educator, the associate superintendent for Farmington Public Schools, as well as a lecturer at Wayne State University. Johnson joined Detroit Today to talk about the book, his research, and his personal stories as an educator and as a student.
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What is Wayne State’s role in building Detroit’s future?

Wayne State University powers a big part of Detroit’s economy, and has always done so. But as the city changes, Wayne State is also crafting its vision for the future - both as an institution of higher learning, and as a critical part of Detroit’s economy and culture. The goal at WSU is to be a very different place by 2040. But how to get there? A master planning process for the university begins today, and the university is inviting students, faculty, staff and community to give input. Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson spoke with WSU professor of urban planning, Robin Boyle, about the event and Wayne State’s role in Detroit.
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What history tells us about power of presidential speeches

What makes a president’s words ring throughout history? What are the best presidential speeches in history? Wayne State University history professor Marc Kruman says the most impactful presidential speeches usually come at inaugural addresses when the leaders tend to be aspirational. Kruman says Trump’s first inaugural address, which referenced “American carnage” and other dark and negative imagery, played to his campaign style. Kruman says Trump is unlikely to change his style and delivery any time soon. “I’d be surprised if he sought to redirect it,” says Kruman.