AADL Talks To: Stephen Cain, Award-Winning Investigative Reporter for the Ann Arbor News

Fri, 07/19/2024 - 8:10pm

In this episode, AADL Talks To Stephen Cain. Stephen, now retired, was an award-winning investigative journalist for the Detroit News, Ypsilanti Press, and Ann Arbor News. His stories from his fascinating career in southeast Michigan include hair-raising undercover operations; exposing corruption in the newspaper, labor, and criminal justice system; reversing wrongful death row convictions, and inspiring sweeping changes in the health industry. Stephen also talks about some of the changes he's seen in Ann Arbor over the years and the loss of the city's original Ann Arbor News. Stephen’s recent book "Relentless: The Making of an Investigative Reporter,” is available in hardcover and softcover from Amazon.com, or locally at Schuler Books in Ann Arbor's Westgate Shopping Center. For a signed copy, e-mail the author at Cains1001@bellsouth.net.

AADL Talks To: Zeke Mallory, Designer & Artist

Thu, 07/18/2024 - 5:19pm

In this episode, AADL Talks To Zeke Mallory. Zeke studied Fine Art and Commercial Design at Eastern Michigan University, worked at Mr. Flood’s Party, and has been a successful graphic artist since starting his career in Ann Arbor in the 1970s. Zeke talks about some of his signs and murals around town, his experiences working as an artist, and some of the influential people in his life.

See AADL's collection of Zeke Mallory's posters and artwork here.

AADL Talks To: Skip Taube, Former Member of the SDS, White Panther Party, and Community Organizer

Sat, 06/15/2024 - 9:30pm

In this episode, AADL Talks To Milton 'Skip' Taube. Skip came to Ann Arbor in 1965 and quickly became involved in radical politics as a student at the University of Michigan. He was involved with the SDS and the White Panther Party, doing both community organizing and participating in “adventurism”. Skip recalls the people and events from his time in Ann Arbor and discusses the political and cultural forces that influenced the course of his life.

AADL Talks To: Bill Ayers, Former U-M Student Activist and Member of the SDS and Weather Underground

Wed, 04/03/2024 - 10:21am

Bill Ayers is a retired Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During his time in Ann Arbor during the 1960s, he served as director of Ann Arbor's experimental Children's Community School; Education Secretary for the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and co-founder of the militant Weather Underground organization, which originated in Ann Arbor in 1969 as a far left-wing revolutionary party. 

Ayers traces the path of his political awakening from wide-eyed college freshman to seasoned student organizer and educator. He reflects on the tumultuous moral dilemma he and many activists faced as the Vietnam War raged on in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He discusses the factionalism within the SDS leadership that resulted in the formation of the Weather Underground; how the strands of student activism during this turbulent time were rooted in the moral agenda outlined by Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; and his lifelong pedagogic commitment to education.

AADL Talks To: Peter Andrews, Music Promoter, Organizer of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally and Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival

Thu, 02/29/2024 - 9:08am

In this wide-ranging interview from 2010, Peter Andrews recalls his varied career producing and managing local and regional music talent — from managing the Scot Richard Case (SRC) band and bringing bands like The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and the Yardbirds to Ann Arbor’s Fifth Dimension club, to booking national acts for University of Michigan student groups. He also discusses his role in Ann Arbor’s legendary Blues and Jazz Festivals, producing the John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Crisler Arena in 1971, and bringing John Lennon and Yoko Ono to town.

Articles and photos about Peter Andrews