ML Soul of Detroit ML Soul of Detroit

ML dodged every kind of horseshit during a political confab on Mackinac Island, then debates Shawn on whether government works without good people. Marc injects some much needed common sense into the conversation.







STRAIGHT DOPE







High Energy Shawn says he’s having trouble getting going because of a change in our routine. Then he announces that he’s in a hurry to wrap up the show so, of course, he immediately abandons the game plan for some random thoughts – including asking ML and Marc if they prefer routine to randomness. Somehow, ML ends up comparing himself to James Bond, or at least that’s how Windsor, Shawn Windsor sees it.







It’s not easy to get around Mackinac Island, but ML almost always gets a free bike on loan from his friend Louie, the lead singer of Hot Carl and the Cleveland Steamers. Marc says that’s gross, but it’s not clear whether he’s referring to exercise or the band…or both.







ML’s bike riding prompts some bystanders to compare him to one of the world’s greatest, but also most diabolical, athletes. Listen to learn who … and what ML fires back at the wags.







When he wasn’t dodging horse apples and curbside comedians, ML was talking to leading officials about what Michigan can to do help police politicians who like to take money but don’t like to do the right thing with it. He writes about it in his latest On Guard column, which includes references to Honeydukes and The Spider-Man Shop, where a scurrilous politician allegedly spent some dough that was supposed to help people who weren’t his friends and family. Read all about it here.







Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has generated plenty of controversy since she was first elected in 2018, but Marc wants to know what she’s accomplished. ML provides some details, as well as revisiting some of the criticism he’s leveled at Madam General.







ML-a-culpa. Or at least that’s what we’re calling ML’s effort to apologize to a state employee he feels he didn’t do right by, even though Shawn keeps trying to let ML off the hook. If you’re keeping track at home, this is the FIRST time ever that Shawn has tried to let ML off the hook.







Marc, Shawn and ML debate the matter of how can you trust government if you can’t trust the people running it? Shawn offers a vigorous position, then seems to agree with ML and Shawn. Kinda. Listen and decide for yourself.







Because ML wants some kind of squirrel reference in each show after Shawn expressed his fascination with the tufted-tail rodents, he brings up a topic involving nuts. And how some creatures can live longer without them. What would YOU choose?







Nut up and join the Soul Patrol by becoming a Patreon member. For as little as $5 a month, you can enjoy benefits like ad-free episodes and video of the show. For $15 a month, you get the bonus episode. At the $25 and $60 a month levels, you get free swag and exclusive merchandise. Sign up here: Get more from ML Soul of Detroit on Patreon







GEEK OF THE WEEK







A bad driver who shoots a woman he almost ran over is this week’s geek – and we’re hoping that’s not the worst thing to happen to him after John Law gets through with him.







ROOM 7609







DJ Dan takes us back to Trapper’s Alley and a momentous night in the nearby Shelter when he books PiL into the New Wave suite to perform “FFF.” Send us your favorite deep cut or obscure band – and a story about them or why they mean something to you – by writing to&nbsp...

ML tells Marc and Shawn how he almost joined the Marines – and how he avoided wearing pink skivvies while waiting with hundreds of other recruits in downtown Detroit.







STRAIGHT DOPE







ML, Marc and Shawn get together a day early to record this week’s episode on Memorial Day so ML can head up to Mackinac Island on Tuesday for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference, an annual confab where politicos, business leaders and the media mingle on an island that was covered with horseshit BEFORE they got there.







Shawn asks ML how people react when he makes the scene, prompting ML to recount the time he and a news crew went to the policy conference looking for someone who had eluded them on the mainland – and how they almost got the wrong guy.







Get the bell ready! ML says that in the midst of the furor over the Manoogian Mansion rumor, Kwame Kilpatrick and his team showed up on the island in force to create the impression that it was business as usual in city hall.







ML explains how what’s on the official agenda is rarely the reason people head to Mackinac … and how it’s what goes on behind closed doors that is really where business gets done.







Memorial Day is, as its name suggests, a time to remember those who gave all. ML, Marc and Shawn salute our soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us and the rights we enjoy.







A college course set ML on course to spend a summer in the Marine’s Platoon Leadership Class, before he changed his mind and had to talk his way out of it. It’s a decision he has regretted ever since. Shawn and ML agree that America would be better off if all teenagers were required to do a year of national service. What do YOU think?







Even though he never spent a day in the service, ML had a couple experiences while undergoing his pre-enlistment physical that he’ll never forget. Listen and learn.







Marc spent the early part of his weekend at Cedar Point and shares his personal connection with a tragedy that occurred at the amusement park’s newest attraction.







Other than hosting the Soul of Detroit, ML doesn’t like roller coasters. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a thrill-seeker, as he demonstrates by sharing his experience bungee jumping at Coney Island.







One of the reasons ML doesn’t like roller coasters is a trip he took to Six Flags back in the late 90s. It was a trip that left his head spinning. Listen and learn why.







Shawn may become known as “Mr. Corndog” after this week’s episode. ML and Marc still aren’t sure what grape jelly has to do with it, though.







ML discusses his latest “On Guard” column, which exposes the misfits who derailed congressional candidate Adam Hollier’s campaign. Read all about it here.







Join the Soul Patrol by becoming a Patreon member. For as little as $5 a month, you can enjoy benefits like ad-free episodes and video of the show. For $15 a month, you get the bonus episode. At the $25 and $60 a month levels, you get free swag and exclusive merchandise. Sign up here: Get more from ML Soul of Detroit on Patreon







GEEK OF THE WEEK







After picking on a billionaire last week, ML changes course and HONORS a billionaire who taught college graduates a valuable lesson at their commencement.







ROOM 7609







Shawn’s squirrel fancying gives listener Kevin the o...

Shawn comes to the studio and insists he’s more productive working from home. Then Marc plays audio of ML’s futile search for the people responsible for derailing congressional candidate Adam Hollier. 







STRAIGHT DOPE







ML’s personal crusade to get people to return to work pits him against remote work advocate Shawn who says people are more productive when they work from home. ML cites the Unabomber (a U-M grad) as someone who worked from home VERY productively. Shawn also thinks it’s swell that kids connect virtually to play video games and communicate. ML and Marc beg to differ.







In the midst of a vigorous debate, Shawn somehow works in a plug for his latest column. In classic contradictory Windsor manner, Shawn, who hates making predictions, is pleased as punch with his predictions for the outcome of each game the Detroit Lions will play next season. If you know Shawn, you won’t be surprised by the basis on which he makes those predictions. Read all about it here. 







Shawn says the modern workplace is changing and that people are more productive working from home. ML counters with two recent examples of how working in the same space with colleagues improved their work – including how a colleague helped him figure out the identity of a key player in a burgeoning political scandal.







While the fur is flying in Red Shovel Network studios, ML and Marc play a clip from “Anchor Man” inspired by the strange obsession Shawn revealed at the top of last week’s show. Patreon subscribers who pony up a measley $5 a month can watch the clip, while the cheapskates will have to be satisfied just listening.







Marc and ML discuss the scheme that may get multiple candidates kicked off the ballot. Like in 2022, when multiple Republican gubernatorial candidates got kicked off the ballot, it involves fraudulent petition signatures. This time, it could cost a congressional candidate his chance to take on Congressman Shri Thanedar and might even wipe out every Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Read ML’s column here:.







ML hit the streets in search of two people at the center of the petition problems that might end Adam Hollier’s congressional campaign. Hear what happens when he lands on the doorsteps of the places where they claim to live.







Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has been very careful to protect her image as an elected official above partisan politics. But her decision to endorse Hollier could become a problem for Michigan’s top election official. ML explains why.







Shawn asks Marc if the benefits of binge watching outweigh losing the communal experience of watching movies together. The discussion leads ML and Marc to offer their reviews of “Sugar,” the AppleTV limited series starring Colin Farrell. If you haven’t watched it yet, pay close attention to the countdown before ML and Marc reveal massive plot twists.







“Sugar” may be sweet, but nothing is sweetering than joining the Soul Patrol by becoming a Patreon member. For as little as $5 a month, you can enjoy benefits like ad-free episodes and video of the show. For $15 a month, you get the bonus episode. At the $25 and $60 a month levels, you get free swag and exclusive merchandise. Sign up here: Get more from ML Soul of Detroit on Patreon

The Synanon cult had a branch in Detroit where addicts played “The Game,” which Amelia Benavides-Colon describes to Marc and ML while Shawn waxes poetic about the squirrels in Ann Arbor.







STRAIGHT DOPE







On her way to a gig in Washington, D.C., super Free Press intern Amelia Benavides-Colon revisits the show to talk about ANOTHER cult in Michigan, this one created to help people get off drugs. But first, Shawn explains how he uses the interaction between students and squirrels as a barometer for social norms.







Synanon started in California before heading to Detroit, where it had its only Midwest chapter. But before we get to that, a discussion about the appropriateness of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Keidis’ relationship with a 19-year-old dominates the conversation. ML suggests not dating anyone whose parents might have been your classmate, then shares a former roommate’s brush with Flea in East Lansing.







The cult is the subject of a documentary on Max, but first everyone does their Jerry Seinfeld impression while discussing the Duke University students who walked out on Seinfeld during his commencement speech.







By the time Amelia FINALLY gets to talk about the Synanon, she explains its ties to Alcoholics Anonymous and its unusual approach to helping people kick their drug addictions by playing “The Game.”







“The Game” doesn’t sound like much fun. It could last for days and involved hurling insults. It was a lot like this podcast, only longer.







All this addiction talk inspires Shawn to ask Marc if he’s ever taken heroin … and a whole bunch of other drugs. Listen to learn Marc’s answer.







Marc then launches into the weighty topic of whether it’s worse to be murdered or (fill in the blank). If you think “murder” is the obvious answer, you might be surprised by what you hear.







Synanon founder Chuck Dederich finally got in trouble with the law. So he put a snake in the mailbox of a prosecutor. Learn more about charming Charles, including his shifting position on the importance of marriage among cult members.







Read Amelia’s story here.







Amelia wrote many amazing stories this year, and ends her stay at the Free Press with a humdinger about roadside attractions. Read it here.







ML also has a new column, this one telling the story of a man who helped get Mike Duggan elected Detroit mayor in 2013 who is now at the center of a petition fiasco that could get multiple candidates thrown off the ballot. Read On Guard here.







Skip the cult and join the Soul Patrol by becoming a Patreon member. For as little as $5 a month, you can enjoy benefits like ad-free episodes and video of the show. For $15 a month, you get the bonus episode. At the $25 and $60 a month levels, you get free swag and exclusive merchandise. Sign up here: Get more from ML Soul of Detroit on Patreon







GEEK OF THE WEEK







ML considers naming Duke students who booed Seinfeld or the guy who punched Steve Buscemi GOW, but instead comes up with a scheme that allows him to say the name “General Booty” over and over.

James Crumbley’s attorney breaks her silence to describe a prosecution that often seemed more like a smear campaign, while ML and Marc dive deep into defense strategy and what it’s like to represent the reviled.







STRAIGHT DOPE







She might not be a lot of fun at parties that don’t involve deep discussions of constitutional law, but Mariell Lehman is still mighty interesting to anyone who wonders what it was like to defend James Crumbley, the father of Oxford High School massacre shooter Ethan Crumbley.







Mariell spent 2½ years representing James Crumbley in a case that she says was unlike just about any other she’s ever handled. For starters, she said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald began making decisions about the case long before the evidence was in. Mariell says it was part of a pattern that seemed more about ruining the Crumbleys’ reputation than administering justice.







Mariell offers lots of revelations — including that she originally wanted to be a prosecutor and that she really likes James Crumbley.







Marc asks Mariell whether she has been targeted by people outraged about the Crumbley case. She shares stories about the keyboard warriors (who ML prefers to call keyboard cowards).







The Crumbley case made history because of the charges filed against the parents, but there were plenty of other unusual occurrences, such as the judge waiting until the last minute to announce whether mom Jennifer Crumbley or dad James Crumbley would go on trial first. Mariell discusses how she handled all the curve balls.







Did Jennifer Crumbley’s decision to testify in her case – and her conviction – impact Mariell’s strategy for defending James Crumbley? Listen and learn.







ML asks Mariell what happens to the pets, the homes and anyone or anything else dependent on people who get locked up? Mariell says life – and a lot of sales – goes on.







Mariell says the prosecution’s agreement not to prosecute school officials came as a surprise to defense attorneys – and had a significant impact on the way they handled their cases. She explains why.







Another potential blow to the defense was the judge’s decision to move the cases forward even after Ethan Crumbley’s last-minute decision not to testify in his parents’ case. Mariell explains why that was a big deal – and how there was nothing defense attorneys could do to stop it.







The judge issued a gag order early in the Crumbley case, but it’s not clear whether the prosecutor’s decision to give a documentary film crew access to her team may have impacted that gag order or the case itself. Mariell gives her take, while ML wonders whether the judge expressed any concerns. This also gives him a chance to work in this week’s Kwame Kilpatrick reference.  







Listen for some instant classic Shawn drops from last week’s episode with Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports that capture Shawn’s feelings about a former lover … and, quite possibly, how he feels about his podcast partners.







Marc asks a deep question about innocent victims of Luke Skywalker’s assault on the Death Star, inspiring ML to trot out his lame imitation of Mark Hamill’s spot-on imitation of Harrison Ford.







Please join the Soul Patrol by becoming a Patreon member. For as little as $5 a month, you can enjoy benefits like ad-free episodes and video of the show. For $15 a month, you get the bonus episode. At the $25 and $60 a month levels, you get free swag and exclusive merchandise. Sign up here: Get more from ML Soul of Detroit on Patreon







GEEK OF THE WEEK

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports stops in to talk about an epic FBI fail and Detroit’s epic performance as host of the NFL Draft while Marc joins in and ML types Shawn’s national sports writing award.







STRAIGHT DOPE: We start this week’s show trying to celebrate Shawn, whose outstanding work for the Detroit Free Press was honored with a third place award for sports opinion writing in the prestigious National Headliner Awards. Shawn tries to downplay it but, like Ron Burgundy, he really IS kind of a big deal. Read his superlative work here.







Dan returns to the basement just in time for ML to inadvertently revive the Caitlin Clark discussion when he makes the mistake of mentioning that Burt Reynolds, in this week’s intro, is wearing 22 in the movie “Semi Tough,” then noting that it’s the same number he wore in “The Longest Yard.” As luck would have it, 22 is also Clark’s number.







That conversation turns to controversy stirred up when a sports writer for the Indianapolis Star rather awkwardly welcomed Clark to Indy, where she landed as the top pick in the WBNA draft. Read his apology here.







Dan and Marc bemoan the fact that more people are paying attention to that tempest in a teapot instead of another huge story out of Indianapolis: The FBI’s agreement to pay more than $100 million to Larry Nassar’s victims.







Dan discusses how the FBI did virtually nothing to investigate or stop Nassar from abusing young gymnasts – and may have even prevented other authorities from stopping the diabolical doctor. Read his column here.







Detroit is still basking in the afterglow of a successful NFL Draft. Dan, Marc, Shawn and ML discuss what went well, and why Detroit could reap the benefits of throwing a great party for years to come.







Please join the Soul Patrol by becoming a Patreon member. For as little as $5 a month, you can enjoy benefits like ad-free episodes and video of the show. For $15 a month, you get the bonus episode. At the $25 and $60 a month levels, you get free swag and exclusive merchandise. Sign up here: Get more from ML Soul of Detroit on Patreon GEEK OF THE WEEK: Shawn finished third in the national sports writing competition. The person who keeps finishing number two a Dearborn cemetery is this week’s geek.







ROOM 7609: DJ Dan introduces us to a side of the Thompson Twins by booking “Squares and Triangles” into the New Wave suite. Send us your favorite deep cut or obscure band – and a story about them or why they mean something to you – by writing to mlsoulofdetroit@gmail.com.







FEEDBACK: Shawn on NPR, Lee Chatfield faces criminal charges and revisiting the Super Bowl XL murder is on your minds. We welcome all your comments – and constructive criticism – atmlsoulofdetroit@gmail.com







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