The State of the City of Detroit

On this week's podcast:

The Tavis Smiley Show takes an in-depth look at the issues and challenges facing the city of Detroit. We begin with a conversation with Mayor Mike Duggan on the state of the city and his plans to foster the city’s resurgence.

Investigative reporter Curt Guyette of the ACLU of Michigan and Stephen Henderson, editorial page editor of the Detroit Free Press and the winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for commentary for his columns on Detroit's financial crisis, discuss the city's long-term prospects.

in 2013, Detroit suffered the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation’s history. Judge Steven W. Rhodes describes how he handled the bankruptcy proceedings, and shares his feelings about Detroit.

When Detroit declared bankruptcy, some creditors demanded that the Detroit Institute of Arts sell off its masterpieces to help settle the city’s debt obligations, but a deal that became known as “the grand bargain” kept the art off the auction block. Graham W.J. Beal, director, president and CEO of the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Swarupa Anila, head of interpretation at the DIA, describe the grand bargain and the works it saved.

Dr. M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University, shares the importance of making higher education a top priority in the communities of Detroit.

Our special program from Detroit concludes with an in-depth panel discussion on education in the city. Our panelists are Tonya Allen, president of the Skillman Foundation; Darnell Earley, emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools; David Hecker, vice president of the American Federation of Teachers; and Denise Smith, vice president for early learning at Excellent Schools Detroit.