DETROIT – Today on Flashpoint we took a look at a possible UAW strike, the Michigan accent, and the latest regarding Novi’s Paul Whelan.
The UAW contract deadline is still weeks away, but you have to wonder if more industry watchers would be surprised if there isn’t a strike than if there is. Economists are sharpening their pencils to figure out what a strike would mean to the overall Michigan economy, and as diversified as we’ve become, it would still register on the Richter scale.
We also talked about a Detroit Free Press story from last week that caught my attention. It takes a look at the Michigan accent. There are people who study the way we talk, and it turns out, our accent is changing.
Michigan State University is looking for people to sign up for a study that documents the changes in the lives and language of people living in Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. You can sign up online, click here.
Then we shared the latest on a story we have been following from the beginning, the continued imprisonment of Novi’s Paul Whelan. He has been held in Russia since 2018 and he and his family just keept waiting and waiting for an indication that his release is coming. This past week he had a long phone call with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, does that move the needle at all? We’ll talk to Paul’s brother, David Whelan.
You can watch the Aug. 20, 2023, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.