How America has changed — and hasn’t — 25 years after 9/11

Tomorrow marks 25 years since the twin towers came down. What came next reshaped this country. The Patriot Act. Two wars. Here at home, a registration program fingerprinted, photographed and questioned more than 80,000 men and boys largely from Muslim-majority countries. It didn't produce a single terrorism conviction. Almost none of that machinery was ever dismantled. So, we're wondering: How has American politics changed — and how hasn't it — since September of 2001. Ali Harb is a freelance journalist based in Washington D.C. He covers American politics, U.S. foreign policy, and politics in the Middle East. He spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

More than 450,000 DTE customers lost power in last week's storms. Michigan requires a $42 daily credit — but in the biggest outages, it doesn't start until day four. Rep. Rashida Tlaib joins host Robyn Vincent to discuss the rule, the regulators who wrote it, and her bill to raise pollution fines on utilities that keep raising rates. Have thoughts? Email the show at [email protected]

The Recovery and Resilience Festival in Wyandotte is an upcoming music and art festival focusing on recovery from drugs and alcohol. Festival goers can expect free activities such as creative writing workshops and more. Christopher Tait, director of Passenger Recovery, and Michael Balcom, director of Be Well My Friends, are the co-founders of the event.They join The Metro to share their personal experiences that led to them placing sobriety center stage at the Recovery and Resilience Festival on Sunday, Sept. 20.

The Season Fair is a free non-profit contemporary art fair. This second edition of the fair is titled "Detroit Presents: Other Routes," exploring how six featured artists came into their craft and how their personal journeys shape their art, down to the non-traditional materials they use. Amani Olu is the founder and curatorial director of Season Fair. Oshun Williams is a featured fine artist on the Detroit Presents Artist Platform. They join The Metro not only to describe the event, but also emphasize the importance of investing in art.  The fair is at The Shepherd in Detroit, on Sept. 11-13. 

In Michigan, a local campaign believes residents can have a stronger, more representative democracy if political spending by some big-time actors is limited. The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics measure, which is now on the November ballot, would change some aspects of how money gets into the hands of politicians and political candidates. Voters decide Nov. 3, though opponents have asked the Michigan Supreme Court to block it. Executive Committee Co-Chair for the Michiganders for Money out of Politics campaign Sean McBrearty spoke with producer and host Robyn Vincent about the consequences if the ballot measure passes.

At least 19 Michigan communities have voted to pause new data centers . The one going up south of Ann Arbor will use more electricity than a million homes and never shut off. State Rep. Jennifer Wortz, a Republican from Quincy, wants to freeze new approvals across Michigan for a year. Her bipartisan bill has sat in committee since February, and both the Republican speaker and the Democratic governor have said no. She joins host Robyn Vincent to talk about power, farmland, and who decides when a data center comes to town. Have thoughts? Email the show at [email protected]

This weekend is Labor Day weekend and in Motown—that means it’s time for the Detroit Jazz Fest. Dozens of acts will take the stage in Hart Plaza from Sept. 4-7. The Detroit Jazz Fest is the world’s largest free jazz festival. This year marks the 47th time the event has been held. Chris Collins president and director of the Detroit Jazz Fest Foundation. He joined The Metro to preview this weekend’s festivities.

Detroit voters created a board of civilian commissioners in 1974 with the power to investigate their own police department. Eleven members. Its own staff of investigators. Since May, those investigators can no longer pull body camera video themselves. Victoria Camille represents District Seven on the oversight board. She’s circulating a petition to get that access back. Commissioner Camille spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent about what the police oversight board can actually do to hold cops accountable and whether some of its power has weakened. Editor's Note: After this segment aired, the motion to limit public comment options to solely in-person attendees was rescinded. 

Since the pandemic, Michigan schools have faced a persistent problem: Students are not showing up enough to class. In Detroit public schools, the chronic absenteeism rate has been higher than the rest of the state’s. Recently, that number has been decreasing. In just one school year, chronic absenteeism dropped 10 percentage points. Even in comparison with other high-poverty school districts, a recent report shows Detroit public schools have been the most effective in the state at boosting attendance rates. Jeremy Singer is an assistant professor of education policy and leadership at University of Michigan-Flint, and does research with Wayne State. He helped write that report, and spoke about it with The Metro's Robyn Vincent. 

Michigan is in the national spotlight because of the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. If Democrats lose, their path to a Senate majority all but closes. The race can tell us a lot about the direction of the Democratic Party — what is seen as acceptable to voters, and what appears too extreme. Adrian Hemond is the CEO of the bipartisan advocacy firm, Grassroots Midwest, and a longtime Democrat. He spoke with The Metro's Sam Corey. Clarification: In the conversation, Hemond said Dr. El-Sayed has associated himself with people who have committed acts of antisemitism. He did not name anyone on air, and we did not press him to at the time. We should have. WDET asked Hemond afterward for specifics and reviewed what he provided. None of it involved conduct by Dr. El-Sayed, and we found no evidence supporting the claim as stated.