24 | DECEMBER 23 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

A

re you a baseball fan? Or inter-
ested in Detroit Jewish history? 
If so, then you will love the latest 
episode of the Detroit History Podcasts: 
“Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg. How a 
Jewish Kid from the Bronx became a Tiger 
Great.” 
The Detroit History 
Podcasts (detroithistorypod-
cast.com) are the brainchild 
of Tim Kiska, a professor at 
the University of Michigan-
Dearborn. Kiska earned his 
Ph.D. in history at Wayne 
State University in 2003 and 
specializes in the history of 
Detroit. Prior to entering academia, he 
worked in journalism for many years at 
the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News and 
WWJ-AM radio. 
Kiska decided to create the Detroit 
History Podcasts to “mine this city’s his-
tory, telling its story through this town’s 
cultural, social, political, musical and 
automotive heritage. Our chosen tool is 
the podcast.” 
As Kiska tells it, he “fell in love with this 
medium after listening to one of Malcolm 

Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcasts. I 
immediately said: ‘I’ve got to do this. This 
is an enormously exciting way of telling 
history.’ My hero is Edward R. Murrow, 
who once did a program, Hear It Now.” 
The production of the Detroit History 
Podcasts is also a family affair. Kiska is the 
host of each episode, and son, Eric, along 
with daughter-in-law, Kelley, work on the 
podcast. Kiska’s good friends also con-
tribute: Bob Koski as associate producer/
audio specialist and Tom Ferguson as copy 
editor.
Kiska launched the Detroit History 
Podcasts on Dec. 10, 2017. The first 
episode was “When the Beatles Came 
to Town,” the story of the Beatles’ two 
appearances in Detroit in 1964 and 1966. 
Both shows were wild affairs at Olympia 
Stadium. 
The first episode set the audio standard 
for the podcasts. The introduction to the 
Beatles episode nicely sums up the Kiska 
approach to telling history. Along with a 
solid historical narrative, as he states it: 
“We’ll listen to the screams when the Fab 
Four took the stage. We’ll hear Detroit’s 
intense reaction to the group. And what 

was up with the jelly beans raining down 
on stage?” 
In short, the podcasts relate histori-
cally accurate and compelling stories, 
greatly enhanced with thoughtful and 
entertaining additions of voices, music 
and sounds. Because of this formula, the 
Detroit History Podcast won the “best 
media” award from the Historical Society 
of Michigan in 2021. 

HAMMERIN’ HANK
The latest episode of the Detroit History 
Podcasts about Hank Greenberg is, like 

Tim Kiska and son, Eric, 
interviewing Detroit Red 
Wing Hall of Famer Ted 
Lindsay.

Detroit History 
Podcasts showcase 
Hammerin’ Hank 
Greenberg and other 
local Jewish history.

Motown 
History

Tim 
Kiska

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

