Veteran newsman Bob Wheelock is the executive director of Al Jazeera America. He tells WDET’s Travis Wright that metro-Detroit’s significant Arab-American population had nothing to do with the decision to place a bureau here.

A study released this week -- by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism – finds that budget cuts in news rooms across the country are diluting coverage of events…and driving people away from media they used to trust.

Which Super Bowl ads stood out the most? WDET's Pat Batcheller talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly ads that came out of Super Bowl XLVII.

A film featuring the work of 25 directors is getting another screening in Detroit before it’s released on video later this week. The feature is called “The Owner” and was developed by Detroit filmmaker Marty Shea. He spoke to WDET’s Rob St. Mary.

Alfred E. Neuman is getting his close up from a Detroit area filmmaker. Alan Bernstein is the director of a new documentary about MAD Magazine. “When We Went MAD” interviews many of the creators who have made a scrappy little magazine with a comic book past into an influence on popular culture and humor in America. WDET’s Rob St. Mary spoke to Bernstein about the film.

“I don’t tend to analyze what I’ve done. I can’t really… I’m not entirely sure why I have succeeded, why I have been able to cut out a career in show business for over 30 years and why I still have a real hardcore fan base that has stuck with me. If there’s any secret, it’s just not to do anything that feels wrong for you.” – Chris Elliott, actor/writer/comedian

WDET’s Rob St. Mary spoke to Elliott about this new book, his work on “Get A Life” – featuring his father, Bob Elliott of the well-known 1950s comedy team “Bob & Ray” – and his most recent TV work.

A new book on a legendary pop culture character takes a look at why we embrace the heroes we do. “Superman: the High-flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero” is the latest book by author Larry Tye. He’ll be in the Metro Detroit area talking about the book this weekend. Tye spoke recently to WDET’s Rob St. Mary.

Fans of comics, sci-fi and other pop culture will find creators and vendors galore as part of this year’s Detroit Fanfare. The annual convention kicks off this evening at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn. Dennis Barger is one of the organizers of the event. He spoke to WDET’s Rob St. Mary

In 1988, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris’s film “The Thin Blue Line” helped to release an innocent man from Texas’s death row. Today, his latest book – “A Wilderness of Error: the Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald” – could do the same. Morris’s book investigates a murder case that put the Green Beret doctor behind bars for the killing of his family in North Carolina in 1970. The story was the basis for two other books and a popular 1984 TV mini-series called “Fatal Vision”. Morris spoke to WDET’s Rob St. Mary about his book, the nature of truth and how his investigation shows MacDonald should be released from prison.

Comic book writer and Michigan-native Geoff Johns was in Dearborn this weekend to usher in a new member of the DC Comics universe. Johns held a book signing at Green Brain Comics and a presentation at the Arab American National Museum. The newest Green Lantern, Simon Baz, is an Arab American from Dearborn. Johns, who grew up in Grosse Pointe and Clarkston and is of Lebanese heritage himself, says the new Green Lantern reflects a larger understanding of culture diversity at DC Comics. He spoke to WDET's Rob St. Mary about the character, his Michigan roots and the recent reboot of the DC Comics universe with "the new 52".

It seems like every summer comic book characters invade the screens at the multiplex. This summer’s big films include “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises”. But, a small, long-running comic from a local artist makes its way to the big screen this summer. Hamtramck resident Matt Feazell is the creator of “The Amazing Cynicalman” – a strip that’s been running for over 30 years. Wednesday evening he’ll be screening his independently produced live action film version of Cynicalman at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn. Feazell spoke recently to WDET’s Rob St. Mary.

Kathe Koja’s first book, “The Cipher”, was released by Dell in 1991 as a paperback. 21 years later, the horror story comes to e-readers worldwide.

WDET's Rob St. Mary sat down with Koja last week for for coffee and conversation of the state of publishing, the future of print, e-books and her latest works.