WDET 101.9 FM

01 / The story of this place

Make time for these

WDET traces its roots to 1948, when the United Auto Workers launched it as the first radio station owned by a labor union in the country; regular broadcasts began on February 13, 1949. Wayne State University bought the station for one dollar in 1952 and converted it into a noncommercial, educational outlet, and it has served as Detroit's public radio station ever since. Its studios moved several times over the decades, including a long stretch in the Maccabees Building on Woodward Avenue from the early 1960s to 1987, before settling in its current home on Cass Avenue on Wayne State's Midtown campus. Poet and activist John Sinclair, a fixture of Detroit's counterculture, hosted music programs on WDET in the 1980s. Musician and producer Don Was has hosted his show Don Was Motor City Playlist on the station since April 2021. WDET remains Detroit's NPR member station today, broadcasting news, jazz and local culture programming around the clock.

1. Founded by the United Auto Workers in 1948, first union-owned radio station in the US.
2. Wayne State University bought it for one dollar in 1952.
3. Studios were in the Maccabees Building on Woodward Avenue from the early 1960s to 1987.
4. Poet John Sinclair hosted music programs here in the 1980s.
5. Musician Don Was has hosted a weekly show here since 2021.