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NEWS & VIEWS
Feedback
Readers respond to news of progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed proposing putting artificial intelligence under public ownership, public control, and strict guardrails before AI reshapes work, health care, privacy, and democracy.
Great idea. AI should be owned and regulated by the public.
— @lloyd.x.knows, Instagram
And [Republican Senate candidate] Rogers will jump on the public ownership part and call it communism. And those same Michiganders who chose Trump TWICE will fall for it.
— Sheila Sorvari, Facebook
Or we just kill AI before it gets to that point.
— Gary F’n Lawson
Public ownership is a dangerous idea. It leaves the people holding the bag when The billionaires bailout.
— Norma Johnson, Facebook
It’s so universally unpopular a much better strategy would be to flat out campaign against it. Someone took him in a little room and told him to play ball
— @noyoushutupdad, Instagram
Fuck AI
— @xwillybongkax, Instagram
He’s an idiot…the government screws up most things it gets involved in
— @GuzekPatrick, X
Have an opinion? Sound off: tips@ detroitmetrotimes.com
NEWS & VIEWS
Abdul El-Sayed wants to put AI under public control as jobs and democracy face new risks
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is calling for sweeping public control over artificial intelligence companies, arguing that the rapidly growing technology should be governed by the people it will affect.
El-Sayed, who polls show is the frontrunner in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, announced a 22-point AI policy platform Monday that would require the largest AI companies to operate under public benefit charters, give the public majority control of their boards, create an annual AI dividend, and impose new guardrails on how the technology can be used.
The plan, called “AI Under Democracy,” expands on legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders that would put 50% equity from the largest AI companies into public hands through a sovereign wealth fund. El-Sayed’s proposal goes further by calling for public control, not just public ownership.
“AI isn’t just any another tool,” El-Sayed said. “Even today, it holds the capacity to destroy our jobs, deny our healthcare,
and surveil us. That power can’t sit solely within the control of a few billionaires.
‘AI Under Democracy’ reorients AI development around the public good and sets guardrails for its uses so that we all benefit from its growth, rather than fear its deployment. Placing AI under democratic control is a critical step to keeping our democracy intact and our economy healthy.”
The proposal fits with El-Sayed’s broader campaign message that powerful industries should be subject to greater public accountability, a theme he has also applied to health care, labor, and data center construction. It also separates him from his Democratic opponents U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who are vying for the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.
El-Sayed’s campaign says he’s the only candidate in the Michigan Senate race supporting public ownership of AI and the first in the country to propose public control of the industry.
The plan would require frontier AI labs to become public benefit corporations,
especially relevant to Michigan, where automation and outsourcing have reshaped the auto industry and wiped out thousands of jobs over several decades.
“Michigan knows what it’s like to have our jobs and industries ripped from under us, like when profit-driven automation devastated the auto industry in the 1980s,” the campaign wrote in the policy plan. “Michiganders can’t afford to go down this road again.”
The proposal also would create an independent safety testing agency modeled after the Food and Drug Administration to review frontier AI models before they are deployed. It would require independent testing for deception, manipulation, coercion, and biosecurity risks, along with mandatory reporting of AI-related harms to regulators.
El-Sayed’s platform would ban AI from denying medical care, autonomously firing weapons, conducting warrantless surveillance, replacing human oversight in life-or-death decisions, or making hiring and firing decisions.
It also calls for a federal ban on deceptive AI-generated political media, mandatory disclosure of AI-generated political ads, and a federal task force on algorithmic disinformation.
The AI plan follows a related platform El-Sayed released in January that called for stricter rules on data center construction in Michigan, where communities have raised concerns about electricity demand, water use, grid reliability, and promised jobs.
legally bound to balance public interest against profit. It would also require 50% plus one of board seats at major AI companies to be publicly appointed or democratically elected, rather than chosen by shareholders.
El-Sayed also wants major tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta to divest controlling interests in frontier AI companies within a defined transition period. Public board members would be barred from returning to work for major tech companies after serving.
“AI was built off us. It should work for us, not against us,” El-Sayed said. “Americans deserve clarity, control, and a say in how this transformative technology will shape our world.”
The platform also calls for an annual AI dividend, funded through public ownership stakes, and an automation levy on companies that replace workers with AI. The money would be used for education, apprenticeships, entrepreneurship training, expanded unemployment benefits, wage insurance, and small business loans.
El-Sayed’s campaign said the issue is
Under that plan, data centers would have to pay for their own energy demand, preventing costs from being passed on to ratepayers. The proposal also calls for community transparency, enforceable job guarantees, water protections, clean-energy requirements, and binding community benefits agreements.
The issue has become more prominent as at least 15 data center projects have been proposed across Michigan.
El-Sayed, a progressive former Detroit and Wayne County health official, has been trying to consolidate labor and progressive support in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country. He has been endorsed by Sanders, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the Working Families Party, the United Auto Workers, and more than 160 elected officials, community leaders, unions, and organizations.
Recent polling has shown El-Sayed with a narrow lead in the Democratic primary. A RealClearPolling average of public surveys from May and June showed El-Sayed ahead with 31.7%, followed by Stevens at 29.3% and McMorrow at 9.3%.
The Democratic primary is Aug. 4. The winner is expected to face Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers in the race to replace Peters.
— Steve Neavling
U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed proposes public control of AI.
ABDUL EL-SAYED CAMPAIGN
Lawsuit alleges Allen Park Krispy Kreme failed to protect disabled worker before sexual assault
A young woman with a developmental disability was sexually harassed, abused, and discriminated against while working through a supported employment program at a Krispy Kreme in Allen Park, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Wayne County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the woman identified only as K.W., alleges Krispy Kreme knew she had a developmental disability and cognitive impairment, agreed to take part in her supported employment placement, and understood she needed additional supervision, guidance, and workplace support to safely perform her job.
Instead, the lawsuit alleges, Krispy Kreme failed to provide those protections on Aug. 9, 2025, leaving K.W. without the supervision the company had previously determined was necessary. That day, according to the complaint, co-worker Martell Witherspoon lured K.W. into an employee restroom and sexually assaulted her after she repeatedly told him “no.” Witherspoon later denied any sexual contact with K.W. to law enforcement, according to the lawsuit, but changed his account after forensic DNA testing identified him as the source of male DNA recovered from her. The complaint says Witherspoon was later charged and convicted in Wayne County of third-degree criminal
sexual conduct involving an incapacitated victim and is now incarcerated.
The lawsuit alleges the assault didn’t happen in a vacuum. Witherspoon had previously hugged K.W. and grabbed her buttocks while they were working together, and the lawsuit claims Krispy Kreme knew or should have known about the inappropriate conduct and failed to investigate, intervene, or protect her.
“Krispy Kreme did not merely employ Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states. “Krispy Kreme affirmatively recognized Plaintiff’s unique vulnerabilities arising from her developmental disability, undertook to provide her with additional workplace supervision and protection, and then failed to provide those very protections on the day Plaintiff was sexually assaulted.”
The complaint names Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp., Witherspoon, Janae Cook, and Jane Doe as defendants. It accuses Krispy Kreme and its employees of negligence, negligent undertaking, negligent hiring, retention, training and supervision, disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and disability-based harassment under Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Witherspoon is also accused of battery, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
K.W. began working at the Allen Park Krispy Kreme in April 2024 through Arkay Incorporated, a Michigan nonprofit that provides job placement and workplace support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, according to the lawsuit. The complaint alleges Krispy
Kreme assigned Cook and another employee to act as K.W.’s direct supervisor or workplace advocate and scheduled her to work only when one of them was present.
But Cook was not scheduled to work on Aug. 9, 2025, and Krispy Kreme failed to assign another qualified supervisor or advocate to K.W.’s shift, the lawsuit alleges.
“As a direct result, K.W. was left without the supervision, guidance, advocacy, and protection that defendants had determined was necessary for her to safely perform her job duties,” the complaint states. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $25,000, plus costs, interest, attorney fees, and other relief. The complaint was filed by attorney Kara Weisman of Vahdat Weisman Law in Livonia.
— Steve Neavling
Abuse and neglect claims at women’s prison fuel statewide tour
A new coalition of formerly incarcerated women and family members of women held at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility is launching a statewide tour to amplify allegations of abuse, neglect, unsafe conditions, retaliation, and medical mistreatment at Michigan’s only women’s prison.
Survivors Speak announced the formation of the Stand Up, SPEAK OUT Coalition after collecting more than 60 firsthand accounts through a secure online reporting form.
The accounts reviewed by Metro Times describe recurring complaints about mold, medical neglect, rashes, breathing problems, sewage, scabies, retaliation, delayed treatment, and women being ignored after filing grievances or seeking help.
Several women said they were forced to clean or paint over mold without proper
protection. Others said they left prison with serious health problems they believe were linked to conditions inside the facility.
The coalition’s message is blunt: “Everybody Ain’t Lying.”
In the coming months, Survivors Speak plans to launch the “Everybody Ain’t Lying Tour,” a statewide series of press conferences and community conversations where formerly incarcerated women and impacted families will speak directly
to communities, elected officials, faith leaders, advocates, and the media.
The tour comes as Women’s Huron Valley, located near Ypsilanti, faces mounting scrutiny over years of allegations involving medical neglect, toxic mold, unsafe conditions, retaliation, understaffing, violence, and employee misconduct.
The prison has come under renewed criticism after three women died there in less than a month this spring. Last week, MDOC confirmed it had placed the prison’s warden, Jeremy Howard, and an inspector on “temporary personal leave.” MDOC has repeatedly denied that Women’s Huron Valley has dangerous, systemic toxic mold problems. Survivors Speak says the tour is meant to turn private complaints into public pressure for greater transparency, accountability, and oversight at the prison.
— Steve Neavling
Krispy Kreme in Allen Park was sued for sexual harassment and discrimination.
KRISPY KREME
Protesters call out Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. JAY LOVE
TUESDAY JULY 7
-LIVE ON STAGESEAN BLACKMAN’S IN TRANSIT
No Cover / 7-10pm / 21+
WEDNESDAY JULY 8
-LIVE ON STAGEEVENING STAR TRIO PRESENTS HUMP DAYS
No Cover / 9pm / 21+
THURSDAY JULY 9 ELIXIR
W/ DJ’S JOHN RYAN & NICK KOTHARI
No Cover / 8pm / 21+
FRIDAY JULY 10
LOWER REGIONS
TODD MODES / RYAN SPENCER / LADYLIKE No Cover / 9pm / 21+
SATURDAY JULY 11
HOUSE PARTY
J HOUSE - MASQUENEDA Advance Tickets on Eventbrite / 9pm / 21+
SUNDAY JULY 12
4-9PM: BBQ ON THE PATIO by YOLANDA 5PM: SPECIAL EARLY SHOW w/ DJ DEZ No Cover / 5pm / 21+
TUESDAY JULY 14
-LIVE ON STAGESEAN BLACKMAN’S IN TRANSIT
No Cover / 7-10pm / 21+
WEDNESDAY JULY 15
-LIVE ON STAGEEVENING STAR TRIO PRESENTS
HUMP DAYS
No Cover / 9pm / 21+
THURSDAY JULY 16 ELIXIR
W/ DJ’S JOHN RYAN & NICK KOTHARI
No Cover / 8pm / 21+
FRIDAY JULY 17
THE COOKOUT ON THE PATIO
COMPLET’D - DJ MIA - MUVA MARS
Advance Tickets on Eventbrite / 10pm / 21+
SATURDAY JULY 18
THE MIRACLES FOUNDATION & PARTNERS PRESENTS: DETROIT BLOCK PARTY
WAYNE WILLIAMS - BRUCE BAILEY
VERNON ENGISH - EDDIE FOWLKES
MIKE CLARK - DJ EMMETT - KRW
DARROW MERRITT - CHRISTA
SCHRUPP
LAVANCE SYKES
Advance Tickets at GOPASSAGE / 7pm / 21+
SUNDAY JULY 19
4-9PM: BBQ ON THE PATIO by YOLANDA 5PM: SPECIAL EARLY
SHOW w/ DJ DEZ
No Cover / 5pm / 21+
Detroit Club hit with $6.25 million verdict in race discrimination case
A federal jury has ordered the Detroit Club and its owner to pay more than $6.25 million to three former employees who said they were punished after speaking out about racist treatment of Black guests and workers at the historic downtown private club.
The verdict, reached Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, came in a 2022 lawsuit against the Detroit Club, owner Lynn Uralli, and former front office manager Suzette Daye. Jurors found in favor of former employees Miya Shani Hooks, Maria Victoria Ferrer, and Charles Lisée after a trial before U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker.
The lawsuit accused the club of retaliating against employees who objected to what they viewed as discriminatory treatment of Black patrons and staff. In
court filings, the former employees said the club’s dress code was enforced more harshly against Black guests than white guests and that complaints about racism were ignored or led to retaliation.
“The Plaintiffs were terminated for the selfless act of standing up against the discrimination of others,” Jack W. Schulz, attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “They did what was right. Instead of addressing these issues head on, the Detroit Club terminated and threatened the Plaintiffs in an attempt to discourage future complaints.”
The Detroit Club, at 712 Cass Ave., is one of the city’s oldest private clubs and includes a restaurant, bars, hotel rooms, and a spa.
— Steve Neavling
Mike Rogers wants the Gordie Howe bridge open except when he doesn’t
Mike Rogers has found a new position on the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
All of them.
The Republican U.S. Senate candidate, who recently filmed a campaign video in front of the nearly completed bridge and vowed to “get this bridge open,” told a Detroit radio station that the critical span between Detroit and Windsor should remain closed for another six months if Canada does not bow to President Donald Trump’s demands.
In an interview on WJR’s “JR Morning,” Rogers defended using the bridge as leverage in trade talks, even though the delay could hurt Michigan manufacturers, disrupt supply chains, and preserve the dominance of the privately owned Ambassador Bridge.
“It is no money out of our pocket
having that bridge closed for another six months,” Rogers said.
That’s a sharp reversal from his campaign video nine days earlier, when Rogers stood in front of the bridge and promised, “Send me to Washington. I’ll get this bridge open. I’ll protect our auto jobs.”
The Gordie Howe International Bridge was built to add capacity, reduce congestion, and create a publicly owned alternative to the Ambassador Bridge, which is owned by the billionaire Moroun family. The family has spent years fighting the new bridge and has donated to Rogers’ past campaigns.
Rogers’ latest position leaves him trying to have it both ways. He claims credit for opening the bridge while defending Trump’s threat to keep it closed.
— Steve Neavling
Detroit City Club in Detroit lost a discrimination lawsuit. STEVE NEAVLING
Many cannabis smokers
will always love a good joint. But for those who care most about flavor, potency, and a cleaner expression of the plant, live rosin offers something flower can’t.
Increasingly popular among cannabis consumers, rosin is one of the clearest examples of how far cannabis has come.
Live rosin starts with fresh-frozen cannabis, which is washed in near-freezing water to separate the trichomes from the plant material. Those resin glands are collected as hash, then pressed with heat and pressure into a thick, sticky concentrate. Because the process doesn’t use chemical solvents, live rosin can provide a clean hit, strong aroma, and fuller taste.
Why
Michigan live rosin is cannabis at its best
That is what makes July 10 more than another weed holiday.
Known as 710 because the number spells “OIL” when flipped upside down, the day celebrates concentrates, including wax, hash, vapes, infused pre-rolls, and live resin and rosin.
For decades, flower has been the go-to form of cannabis because it’s simple, familiar, and easy to share. It’s still the foundation of weed culture.
But if the goal is flavor, potency, and purity, flower is no longer the best cannabis has to offer. A good dab of live rosin can make that obvious pretty quickly.
Take one of my favorite rosin strains – Lantz. No one in Michigan does the strain better than Detroit-based Hytek, a cultivator known for flavorful flower and increasingly impressive rosin. A dab of Lantz delivers a flavorful hit that tastes like a lime sherbet float. It packs a punch, is smooth, and leaves behind a tangy, sweet, and
creamy finish that lingers in a way flower can’t.
Hytek, long known for its premium but reasonably priced flower, began producing rosin in December 2024. The process is slow, exacting, and difficult to master, which helps explain why some rosin is exceptional and some is forgettable. But with each new batch, Hytek dialed in the process, and today its rosin is among the best in Michigan.
“Right now our retailers are yelling for more and more of our rosin,”
Hytek owner Bill “Chocolate” Anderson tells Metro Times. “There are a lot of guys who have been doing rosin for a long time, and there are a lot of great companies out there. We just hope to bring great rosin to the community and become a staple in Michigan and in Detroit. We’re putting in our time and getting it right.”
Live rosin has moved from a niche product for hash enthusiasts into one of the most popular premium
categories in the legal cannabis market.
That makes 710 a good time for flower smokers to branch out, especially with dispensaries rolling out rosin deals for the holiday.
There are plenty of good concentrates in Michigan, and live resin remains popular because it’s also flavorful and potent, and it’s usually more affordable. But rosin has become the concentrate many consumers are willing to pay more for because it offers a cleaner, more flavorful hit than most other extracts.
Smoking flower requires burning much of the plant to get to the THC, aroma, and flavor. That means inhaling smoke, ash, and the byproducts of combustion. Rosin avoids much of that by separating the resin glands from the plant material before it’s consumed. You can taste the difference almost immediately. A low-temperature dab of quality rosin can taste cleaner, hit smoother, and feel more complete than
a bowl, joint, or bong rip.
Rosin also delivers more potency. A tiny dab can produce the kind of effects that might take half a joint to achieve. It’s efficient. You use less, smell less, waste less, and get a stronger, more flavorful experience.
That does not mean everyone should take a giant dab and hope for the best. Concentrates are powerful, and people who are new to them should start small. A dab the size of a grain of rice is usually enough. In some cases, it’s more than enough.
But that potency is also why rosin has become so popular. Cannabis consumers are more educated than they used to be. They are not just chasing the highest THC percentage anymore. They want flavor, freshness, and good genetics. They want a product that reflects the skill of the grower and the hash maker.
One reason behind the rise in rosin is that dabbing is easier than it used to be, notes Jesse Rose, founder of Exotic Matter, another high-quality rosin producer. For years, dabbing meant using a glass rig, heating a nail with a torch, and hoping you knew what you were doing. It worked, but it wasn’t exactly easy for newcomers to try. It also wasn’t something most people were going to pull out at a concert, along Detroit’s riverfront, or on a road trip.
That changed as electronic rigs became more common and technologically advanced. E-rigs and other dab devices give consumers better temperature control without the torch, hot nail, or bulky setup. They made dabbing easier, safer, and far less intimidating.
“Those methods of consumption changed everything,” Anderson says.
“Before you had to have a torch and a rig. It took a very specific type of person to buy a rig and run around with a torch all the time. There’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve been there. It’s just a lot easier now.”
For newcomers, disposable vapes offer a simple way into concentrates. They are relatively cheap, discreet, and easy to use.
But jars of rosin are where the experience really opens up. Scooping a soft, creamy dab into a quality e-rig gives you more control, more flavor, and a better sense of what live rosin can do. The Utillian 6 and Puffco Pivot offer a lower-priced option in a discreet, pen-sized device. The new Utillian 8 Turbo, Dr. Dabber, and the Puffco Peak are more expensive, but they remain popular among consumers who want a fuller dabbing experience.
The growing popularity of rosin comes at a time when Michigan’s cannabis market is under intense pressure. Prices have plummeted, dispensaries are competing aggressively, and much of the market has become a race to the lowest price.
Rosin has held onto its value because consumers are still willing to pay more for quality.
In Michigan, official sales data still lump rosin into broader categories, making it difficult to measure the product on its own. But the shift is obvious. In December 2025, non-flower inhalables nearly matched flower in adult-use sales, with flower at about 42% and vape cartridges, inhalable concentrates, concentrates, and kief together at about 41%.
Rosin typically comes in one- or twogram jars, with prices that vary from $10 a gram to $75 a gram. In general, higher-priced rosin tends to be better, though there are plenty of exceptions. Cultivators like Hytek, Exotic Matter, Growing Pains, and Ice Kream Hash Co. manage to produce high-quality rosin at a reasonable price.
Here are 12 of the best rosin makers in Michigan:
Hytek
Detroit-based Hytek has built a reputation for growing a wide range of flavorful, award-winning strains. The experienced team first focused on terpene-rich flower and over the past year has really begun dialing in its live rosin.
At first, Hytek used its flower strains to make its rosin. But the strains that produce high-quality flower aren’t usually the same ones that make the best rosin. Anderson says his team has spent countless hours finding the best strains for rosin, and it shows.
To honor Dab Day, Hytek is dropping a bunch of good rosin strains at dispensaries statewide on July 10, including Piña, Oishii, Hardcore OG, Purple Drank, Los Muertos, and Hy-Z. Other top-tier rosin
strains from Hytek are Grape Lakes, Lantz, and Rainbow Belts.
A gram ranges from $35 to $50. The best prices for Hytek and many other rosin brands are at the Refinery in Detroit, the cultivator’s sister dispensary. Hytek also offers more affordable options under the banner Lowtek. While Lowtek’s rosin isn’t as dialed in as Hytek’s, it’s a great option if you’re on a tight budget.
Hytek’s future only looks brighter as the team continues pheno-hunting in search of the best flavors and consistency.
“You’ll see our rosin menu get even more unique,” Anderson says. “By this time next year, we should have a very unique menu for our flower and rosin.”
Exotic Matter
Exotic Matter has become one of Michigan’s strongest small-batch rosin producers. The Kalkaska-based company stands out for its flavor, freshness, and value.
Founder Jesse Rose and his team make rosin from plants grown outdoors on terraced family land along an ancient creek bed that feeds into the Manistee River. The rosin comes in two-gram jars and typically ranges in price from $50 to $65. For rosin this good, the price is hard to beat.
Exotic Matter’s current strains are Papaya, Banana Candy, Moroccan Peach, Blue Yuzu, Orange Yuzu, and Lemoya. All of them are fresh and flavorful.
“All the good stuff is in the hash,” Rose says. “You aren’t leaving out any of the good stuff by leaving out the plant matter. It tastes better. It’s a better product all the way around.”
Exotic Matter also recently began mak-
ing rosin gummies with solventless hash rosin instead of standard distillate. The result is a fuller edible experience that keeps more of the plant’s cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds intact. The effects are “like a warm hug,” Rose says. “I think the high is a lot better.”
Eastside Alchemy
Eastside Alchemy is one of Michigan’s most recognizable names in live rosin. Based in Lansing, the small, owner-operated company has built a loyal following with clean, flavorful, and consistently fresh rosin. Previously known for its incredible collaborations, Eastside Alchemy is producing more single-source, in-house rosin that never misses.
Some of its most flavorful and consistent strains are Pomelo Punch, The Hive, Blue Zoap, Too Much Grape, Rainbow Guava, D-Lish, Rose Fuzz #12, Blueberry Tartz #6, Funk From Mars #11, and Banana Shack #11.
A gram typically ranges from $45 to $65.
Ice Kream Hash Co.
Ice Kream Hash Co. has become one of Michigan’s most trusted names in live rosin. The Dimondale-based brand is created by Lake Life Farms, which grows its rosin flower at its indoor facility near Lansing and is expanding with a 16,000-square-foot hybrid greenhouse next to its existing 34,000-square-foot grow.
The company has built its following with flavorful, affordable rosin, creative infused pre-rolls, and a growing library of hash-washing strains developed with help from True Organics. Standouts include Super Boof, Rainbow Guava, Tally
Exotic Matter is known for flavorful, affordable live rosin. STEVE NEAVLING
Mon, Bananaconda, Double Baked Cake, and Egyptian Gold.
A gram goes for about $40, which is a bargain for the quality of rosin.
Local Grove
Local Grove is another metro Detroit brand with a loyal following. Based in Harrison Township, the company has earned a reputation in Michigan for its increasingly impressive live rosin. Its lineup continues to evolve with new strain drops, but the brand has also kept a steady group of reliable favorites.
Some of its most flavorful and consistent strains are Rainbow Pushpop, The Hive, Biscotti Chunks, Rainbow Guava, Grape Cream Cake, Black Maple, Gogurtz, and Sour Gak.
The prices for a gram of rosin range from $35 to $45, depending on the dispensary.
Growing Pains
Long known for its top-tier flower, Growing Pains has become respected for its rosin. Based in Paw Paw, the company grew out of a caregiver basement grow and now produces rosin with flower grown in-house at its roughly 20,000-square-foot facility.
The team brought on an experienced rosin producer, Jason Waller, who was tired of selling cars and missed weed. The decision paid off, and Growing
potent, and fresh. Standouts include Scented Marker, Rambutan, Lantz, Cranberry Z, and Honey Banana.
A gram goes for about $45.
Known
Traverse City-based Known has built a strong following with small-batch live rosin and a steady focus on genetics. The team is always looking for unusual strains and standout flavors, and that approach shows in jars that are clean, smooth, and consistently flavorful. Strains like Traverse Cherry Rootbeer, Dirty Gak, Cherry Cookie, Yellow Zushi, and Gyozaa have helped set the brand apart, while collaborations with respected flower cultivators have given Known an even wider range of rosin drops. For some strains, Known also collaborates with reputable cultivators like MattyB Stackers, an award-winning cultivator and solventless producer, and Michigrown, a large grower of high-quality flower. Alpha Buddz and Known teamed up for their popular White Gummy Bear strain, which won best rosin at the Zalympix in 2024.
A gram of rosin ranges from $40 to $50.
Wojo
Wojo has become one of the most recognizable names in live rosin. Based in Pinconning, the brand has built a following with a large and constantly
organized by five profiles: candy, citrus, floral, funky, and gassy.
Wojo’s rosin remains relatively affordable and is easy to find at dispensaries across Michigan. Many of Wojo’s most flavorful strains have become classics, and they include Donnie Double, Luchini, Malibu Marsha, Oiishi, Rojo Wojo, Sundae Driver, and Tangerine Limousine. Newer strains like Jolly Rauncher and Banana Boat are solid additions to an already incredible lineup.
Wojo also has a nifty strain guide that describes the flavor, effects, and genetics of each offering.
One-gram jars sell for about $38 to $45.
710 Labs
710 Labs is a national brand with a major footprint in Michigan and a strong reputation for live rosin. Known for smallbatch production, first-press rosin, and carefully chosen genetics, the company has built a loyal following among consumers willing to pay more for quality.
Its jars are often among the priciest in
each. The one-gram ground score jars go for about $40 to $45. At The Hive in Hazel Park, one gram of Hunna Hash is available in the deli for just $25 to $30.
Some Hunna Hash standouts are Root Beer, Grease Bucket, Fopoz, Honey Banana, Honey Nectar, Rainbow Push Pop #4, and Too Much Papaya.
Polare
Focused on organic flower and living-soil practices, Polare is a small team that is producing some of the purest and most pungent rosin in the state. The brand takes no shortcuts by prioritizing quality, purity, and craft cultivation.
The result is fresh, flavorful rosin with a clean hit and strong effects. Some of its best strains are Chem Burger, Blue Zushi, Melted Strawberries, Orange Mintz, Strawberry Pie, Black Lime, Bananaconda, and Black Maple.
Nature’s Remedy in Ferndale carries most of Polare’s lineup and, unlike most dispensaries, gives customers an opportunity to look at and smell the rosin.
the state, with grams typically ranging from $40 to $80. The brand’s Persy tier costs more, but it’s also where 710 Labs often delivers some of its best rosin, with the strongest drops offering a flavor and finish that few brands can match.
Some of the most highly regarded strains are Sour Tangie, Mango Banana #9, ZZ Top #3, SB36 #1, Cereal Star #5, Gak Smoovie #5, and Lemon Heads #4.
Ferndale dispensary Nature’s Remedy has one of the best 710 Labs offerings in the state.
Hunna Hash
Hunna Hash has become one of the rosin brands that more consumers are starting to recognize by name. The company specializes in solventless hash rosin, with a focus on small-batch products, clean hits, and traditional hash-making methods.
Hunna Hash has two levels – Ground Score and Head Stash. The latter comes in two-gram jars and is considered higher quality. They’re a little over $100
Polare may not have the name recognition of some larger brands, but its rosin deserves more attention.
Peachy Hash Co.
Peachy Hash Co. has become one of the more reliable names in Michigan live rosin. The single-source brand focuses on small-batch, indoor cannabis and solventless extraction.
Peachy offers live hash rosin in several textures, including fresh press, cold cure, and jam, along with rosin vapes and solventless gummies.
The brand’s jars are usually clean, flavorful, and easy to find across Michigan, with flavorful strains like Dulce De Fizz, What the Grape #1, GMO, Supergrape, Sherbtang, Leia’s Love, Hash Burger, and Strawberry Pie.
Peachy’s rosin generally lands in the middle of the premium range, making it a good option for consumers who want quality without always paying the highest prices. A gram sells for about $38 to $45.
Local Grove has dialed in its live rosin.
STEVE NEAVLING
710 Labs has some of the best live rosin in Michigan.
STEVE NEAVLING
Wojo has a large selection of flavorful live rosin.
STEVE NEAVLING
WHAT’S GOING ON
LISTINGS
Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check venue websites before all events for the latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/AddEvent.
MUSIC
WEDNESDAY JULY 8
Melanie Fiona 7:30 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit.
Kahil El’Zabar & David Murray 8 p.m.; The Blue LLama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; $85.
Janelle James 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit.
THURSDAY JULY 9
Dueling Pianos 8 p.m.; AXIS Lounge, 1777 Third St., Detroit.
Elixer: DJs John Ryan and GEO 8 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; No cover.
Curated Cool 7 p.m.; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River Ave., Detroit.
FRIDAY JULY 10
Summer Sounds at The Mall at Partridge Creek 5-8 p.m.; The Mall at Partridge Creek, 17420 Hall Rd., Clinton Township; Free.
Woodbridge Pub Presents: Live Music
Under the Stars 5-9 p.m.; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit; Free. Open Air Fridays 4-10 p.m.; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit.
SATURDAY JULY 11
Hippie Fest in the Village 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Canterbury Village, 2359 Joslyn Ct., Orion Township; $4.99-$15. Geronimo Stilton, Flowers For Persephone, Theyhungusfrompowerlines, Abuse Repression, sixteen12swag, Brittle Bullet, Meek 5 p.m.; TSDMAAC,
15701 James Couzens Fwy., Detroit. DemsFightInWords, Keep, Krooked, Good For Nothing, Barefaced 6 p.m.; TSDMAAC, 15701 James Couzens Fwy., Detroit.
Smell the Roses 6 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale.
Magic Bag Presents: Drivin N Cryin 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale.
King’s X 7 and 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland. Grocer, Legume, Pretty Island 7-11 p.m.; Outer Limits Lounge, 5507 Caniff St., Detroit; $10.
Dusty Rose Gang, Dream Shoppe, Zinc Vacuum 8 p.m.; Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $10. Ella Mai 8 p.m.; Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
The Hentchmen with Day Residue and DJ Sovain Sylvain 9 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; No cover.
SUNDAY JULY 12
Hippie Fest in the Village 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Canterbury Village, 2359 Joslyn Ct., Orion Township; $4.99-$15.
Laurie Berkner 10 a.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak.
Lord Huron 7:30 and 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor.
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs 8 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac.
Babyface 8 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit.
MONDAY JULY 13
The Pretty Reckless 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
TUESDAY JULY 14
idobi Radio Summer School 5 p.m.;
Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit.
Soul Tone 9 p.m.; The High Dive, 11474 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; No cover.
WEDNESDAY JULY 15
Krocophile, Orbital Gate, Truckstop Dickpill, Gutnoose, Gutpile 6 p.m.; TSDMAAC, 15701 James Couzens Fwy., Detroit.
Magic Bag Presents: KEEM the Franchize 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale.
Crashing Wayward 8:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland.
FRIDAY JULY 17
Ann Arbor Art Fair 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; downtown Ann Arbor; Free. Yacht Rock Detroit July 17-18; Roostertail, 100 Marquette Dr., Detroit; $199. Souls of Mischief 7 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw St., Pontiac. The Effigies with The Rumble and De -
Daft Punk Night 8 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale. Love In The Club 8 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit. Urgent and Creedence 9 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland.
SATURDAY JULY 18
Ann Arbor Art Fair 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; downtown Ann Arbor; Free. 7th Annual Detroit Abloom Vegan Fest noon-6 p.m.; 244 Manistique St., Detroit.
Southern Soul on The River 8 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit.
Carbon Decoy, Black Moon Cult, Dream Shoppe, Sky Dog 8 p.m.; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; $5. Rick Ross 8 p.m.; Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
Melanie Martinez 8 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit. Princess Gigi with Mara Wanna and DJ Tony Drake 9 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak.
SUNDAY JULY 19
Detroit Festival of Books 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Eastern Market, 2934 Russell St., Detroit; Free.
Heavy//Hitter, Chain Gang, Torn Open 6 p.m.; TSDMAAC, 15701 James Couzens Fwy., Detroit.
Blue Bang Theory Reunion with Shawn Riley Band 6-10 p.m.; Ground Control at Major Tomato, 6547 Allen Rd., Allen Park; $20.
Bryan Eng 6 p.m.; The Blue LLama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; $95. Poppy 6 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
ford. 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit.
Wax and DJ Hoppa 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale. Here Come the Mummies 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte.
MONDAY JULY 20
WWE Monday Night RAW 7:30 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
TUESDAY JULY 21
Legal Aid and Defender Association Fundraiser 5-8 p.m.; Castle Hall, 1942 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $150.
A Night at Gatsby’s 6-10 p.m.; Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters, 130 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $145.
Smokey Mirror, Kozy, Dusty Rose Gang 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck.
WEDNESDAY JULY 8
Janelle James 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit.
Hip-Prov: Improv with a Dash of HipHop 7 p.m.; Planet Ant Theatre, 2320 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $10.
Wellness Wednesday 9-10 a.m.; The Mall at Partridge Creek, 17420 Hall Rd., Clinton Township; Free.
City Sweat Club: Running A Wellness Revolution In The City 6-8:30 p.m.; Nike Community Store, 1261 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free.
Free Drag Queen Trivia 7-8:45 p.m.; Five15 Media, Mojo and More, 600 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; Free. Vibes & Verses Spoken Word Poetry Night 7-10 p.m.; The Vinyl Society, 1427 Randolph St., Detroit; Free.
Trivia Wednesdays 8 p.m.; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; Free. BarProv! An Improv Open Mic 8 p.m.; Ghost Light, 2314 Caniff St., Hamtramck; Free.
THURSDAY JULY 9
Bugs on Wheels 10 a.m.-noon; The Village of Rochester Hills, NE corner of Walton and Adams, Rochester Hills; Free.
Lavelle Dontae 7-8:30 p.m.; The Comedy Bar Detroit, 6531 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $44.
Johnny Mocny Live at Eastern Palace Club 8:30-10 p.m.; Eastern Palace Club, 21509 John R Rd., Hazel Park; $5. Michigan Shakespeare Festival pres -
Thursdays at the Museum 1 p.m.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free. Tonight vs Everybody: Open Mic Comedy 9-10:30 p.m.; The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant, 2320 Caniff Ave., Hamtramck; $5 suggested donation.
FRIDAY JULY 10
A Retrospective Exhibition: Sculpture & Drawings By John Nick Pappas 5-9 p.m.; Galerie Camille, 4130 Cass Ave., Suite C, Detroit; Free.
Detroit Tigers vs. Philadelphia Phillies 6:40 p.m.; Comerica Park, 2100 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
Ryan Brown Presents Scumbaggery! 7-9 p.m.; Emagine Royal Oak, 200 N. Main St., Royal Oak; $20. Complicated Women 7 p.m.; Southgate Community Players, 12671 Dix Toledo Rd., Southgate; $25.
Labyrinth/Laboratory Curator-Led Exhibition Tour 11:15 a.m.-noon; Cranbrook Art Museum, 39221 N. Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills.
SATURDAY JULY 11
Free Lead Testing Event 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Team Wellness Children & Adolescent Center, 10201 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit; Free.
Hippie Fest in the Village 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Canterbury Village, 2359 Joslyn Ct., Orion Township; $4.99-$15.
Pole Pixies 2nd Annual Aerial and Variety Show 5-10 p.m.; Trixie’s Bar, 2656 Carpenter Ave., Hamtramck; $35.
The Peaceful Poetic Place 5:15 p.m.; Royal Oak Woman’s Club, 404 S. Pleasant St., Royal Oak; $13-$22. Latrez Anderson 7 and 9 p.m.; The Comedy Bar Detroit, 6531 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $38.
Footloose: The Musical 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Boardwalk Theatre, 109 S. Third St., St. Clair; $38.
Seth Meyers: Live 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor.
SUNDAY JULY 12
Hippie Fest in the Village 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Canterbury Village, 2359 Joslyn Ct., Orion Township; $4.99-$15.
Footloose: The Musical 1-3 p.m.; Boardwalk Theatre, 109 S. Third St., St. Clair; $38.
Y2K Burlesque Beach Party 8-11 p.m.; Planet Ant Theatre, 2320 Caniff St.,
WHAT’S GOING ON CONT’D
Hamtramck; $25.
MONDAY JULY 13
Youth Theatre Camp 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; The Inspired Acting Company, 1124 E. West Maple Rd., Walled Lake; $350.
TUESDAY JULY 14
Dart for Art 5-9 p.m.; Ann Arbor Art Fair the Original, 721 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor; Free.
WEDNESDAY JULY 15
The Big Picture Guided Tour 1 p.m.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free. Free Drag Queen Trivia 7-8:45 p.m.; Five15 Media, Mojo and More, 600 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak; Free. Vibes & Verses Spoken Word Poetry Night 7-10 p.m.; The Vinyl Society, 1427 Randolph St., Detroit; Free.
THURSDAY JULY 16
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, The Original 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, downtown Ann Arbor; Free. Ann Arbor Art Fair 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; downtown Ann Arbor; Free. Footloose: The Musical 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Boardwalk Theatre, 109 S. Third St., St. Clair; $38.
Summer Sunset Forest Therapy Walk 10 a.m.-noon; Rose Oaks County Park, 10501 Buckhorn Lake Rd., Holly; $15.
FRIDAY JULY 17
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, The Original 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, downtown Ann Arbor; Free. Ann Arbor Art Fair 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; downtown Ann Arbor; Free. Footloose: The Musical 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Boardwalk Theatre, 109 S. Third St., St. Clair; $38.
Nicely Theatre Group Presents Oliver! 7:30-10:30 p.m.; The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, 6600 W. Maple Rd., West Bloomfield; $40. Athena by Gracie Gardner 8 p.m.; Theatre NOVA, 410 W. Huron St., Ann Arbor; $15-$30.
Broadway Rave 9-11 p.m.; The Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $21.91.
Midwest Auto Auction 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Midwest Auto Auction, 14666 Telegraph Rd., Redford.
SATURDAY JULY 18
Escape to Belle Isle 5:30-10 a.m.; Belle Isle Casino, 1 Casino Way, Detroit; $28-$60.
Ann Arbor Art Fair 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; downtown Ann Arbor; Free. Brunch & A Movie at Emagine Royal Oak 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Emagine Royal Oak, 200 N. Main St., Royal Oak; $55.
1-Year Anniversary Sound Bath Journey 1-2 and 5-6 p.m.; Gladden Vibes, 20131 James Couzens, Detroit; $30. Zug Isle Tiki 2-11:45 p.m.; Carbon Athletic Club, 111 Gates St., Detroit; $20. The 90s vs Y2K Bar Crawl 4-11:45 p.m.; Bookie’s Bar & Grille, 2208 Cass Ave., Detroit; $12.78.
Art in the Garden 4-8 p.m.; Griffin Gardens, 19400 Bentler, Detroit; Free. The Dinner Detective True Crime Murder Mystery Dinner Show 6-9 p.m.; Ann Arbor Marriott at Eagle Crest Resort, 1275 S. Huron St., Ypsilanti; $85.07.
Nicely Theatre Group Presents Oliver! 7:30-10:30 p.m.; The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, 6600 W. Maple Rd., West Bloomfield; $40. Maz Jobrani 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit. El Topo 8-10:45 p.m.; Senate Theater, 6424 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $6.
SUNDAY JULY 19
Detroit Festival of Books 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Eastern Market, 2934 Russell St., Detroit; Free.
Feel the Thunder Car & Air Show 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; Free.
Fish & Chips noon-4 p.m.; Zingerman’s Cornman Farms, 8540 Island Lake Rd., Dexter; $24.
Footloose: The Musical 1-5 p.m.; Boardwalk Theatre, 109 S. Third St., St. Clair; $38.
Self Care Sunday 2-7 p.m.; New St. Mark Family Life Center, 24331 W. Eight Mile Rd., Detroit; Free.
Nicely Theatre Group Presents Oliver! 2-5 p.m.; The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, 6600 W. Maple Rd., West Bloomfield; $40.
MONDAY JULY 20
Teen Theatre Camp 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; The Inspired Acting Company, 1124 E. West Maple Rd., Walled Lake; $350. WWE Monday Night RAW 7:30 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
TUESDAY JULY 21
Legal Aid and Defender Association Fundraiser 5-8 p.m.; Castle Hall, 1942 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $150. A Night at Gatsby’s 6-10 p.m.; Infinity and Ovation Yacht Charters, 130 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $145.
Art of Living Part-1 Program 6-9:03 p.m.; Art of Living Happiness Center, 44815 Cherry Hill Rd., Canton.
BITES
James Oliver Coffee Co. in Corktown is in danger of losing its flagship shop amid lease dispute
James Oliver Coffee Co., one of Corktown’s most popular coffee shops, is in danger of losing its flagship Detroit location as the company remains locked in a lease dispute with its landlord.
The coffee shop recently posted a sign inside its shop at 1236 Michigan Ave., telling customers that its future in Corktown is uncertain.
“We want to share we are currently in a lease dispute with our landlord regarding future occupancy of this location,” the sign reads. “We have been working toward a solution that would allow us to remain here, but at this time no agreement has been reached.”
The dispute comes as James Oliver Coffee Co. continues to grow in Detroit and the suburbs. The company has shops in Corktown, Brush Park, the Guardian Building downtown, Trenton, and Wyandotte. It is also preparing to open a new shop in Woodbridge, about 1.5 miles from Corktown, at 4569 Trumbull St.
But co-owners David Shock and Miranda Clark say the Corktown shop remains central to the company’s identity.
“We don’t want to give up on Corktown,” Shock tells Metro Times. “It’s our flagship. We just can’t afford to pay more rent.”
The Corktown shop opened in 2021 in the former Detroit Institute of Bagels space, bringing coffee, espresso drinks, cold brew, tea, bagels, bagel sandwiches, and pastries to the prominent corner building near Michigan Avenue and the Lodge.
Shock says James Oliver signed a fiveyear lease in 2021, when the future of the business was anything but certain.
“We weren’t sure how it was going to go,” Shock says. “I never baked a bagel in my life. I thought this might be a really bad idea.”
But the company hit the ground running, with a menu that kept people coming back.
The lease, Shock says, included a provision for another five years, but he says the landlord has not honored it or agreed to a new long-term lease, leaving the company on a month-to-month
arrangement in its sixth year at the site.
“We’re month to month,” Shock says. “It’s year six. They won’t give us a new lease.”
The landlord is Alex Riley, who also owns PJ’s Lager House in Corktown next door. Public records reviewed by Metro Times show the property was sold in 2021 for $1.4 million after the Detroit Institute of Bagels building was put on the market. A company called 1236 Michigan Avenue LLC was formed in Michigan in October 2020, during the sale period, and it now owns the building. Riley is the registered agent.
Metro Times was unable to reach Riley.
Shock says the dispute has been especially frustrating because James Oliver poured its own money and labor into the Corktown location.
“Corktown is like 30% furniture from our home because we spent so much building it out,” Shock says. “We self-financed.”
The shop has developed a loyal following, especially during the morning rush. Shock says the shop is busy from about 8 to 11:30 a.m., but the business thins out later in the day, making a major rent increase difficult to absorb.
“Corktown gave us enough to keep going and double down our investment,” Shock says.
The dispute also comes as Corktown continues to change around the newly restored Michigan Central Station, which reopened in 2024 after Ford Motor Co. spent years transforming the long-vacant landmark into a technology and innovation hub.
Shock says the lease was signed before the train station’s future was clear.
“When we signed the lease, no one knew about the train station,” Shock
A donut shop known for over-the-top creations is coming to Dearborn
A viral donut shop known for overthe-top sweet and savory creations is coming to Dearborn.
Homies World Famous Donuts is opening a new location at 23780 Michigan Ave. in West Dearborn, according to an announcement on Instagram.
“Dearborn is about to get one of the most viral donut shops around!!!” the post says.
The shop is expected to serve a menu that goes beyond traditional donuts, with pizza donuts, Dubai chocolate donuts, specialty coffee, loaded milkshakes, ice cream, and brunch.
“Homies World Famous Donuts is bringing its famous sweet and savory creations to West Dearborn,” the post says.
An exact opening date has not been announced, but the company expects to open later this month or early August.
says. “Then six months later, they announced it.”
In the sign posted at the shop, James Oliver says it hopes to remain in Corktown but is also preparing for the future.
Shock says the company has been building up its roasting operation on Detroit’s east side, near Mount Elliott and East Davison, in a former National Coney Island chili factory that once housed Gem Coffee Company. The company also wants to move more of its baking operation into another space and expand catering.
“We want a robust catering business,” Shock says.
James Oliver traces its roots to New Hampshire, where James Oliver Clark, known as Jim, started the roasting company with his wife, Annie, in 1995. In 2019, he turned the company over to his daughter Miranda Clark and son-in-law David Shock, who moved the operation to Detroit. Clark remains involved as a consultant to help maintain the company’s roasting process and recipes, according to the company’s website.
Shock says the company’s roasting business has grown significantly, with about 60 wholesale partners.
But even as James Oliver grows elsewhere, Shock says leaving Corktown would be a blow.
“We don’t really want to move,” Shock says.
For now, the shop remains open, and the company says it’s grateful for the customers who have supported it through the uncertainty.
“We are incredibly grateful for the Corktown community and your continued support during this time,” the sign reads.
— Steve Neavling
The Dearborn shop will be located on Michigan Avenue, west of the Henry Ford Museum and downtown Dearborn.
Slutty Vegan is bringing its plant-based burgers to Detroit
Slutty Vegan is headed to Detroit.
The Atlanta-based plant-based burger chain is expected to open its first Michigan location this fall at 1441 W. Elizabeth St. in Corktown, behind McShane’s Irish Pub & Whiskey Bar and across from The Corner Ballpark.
The Detroit location is being opened by franchisee Obinani Iwuoha, the owner of Nigerian Streetz Cuisine, a food truck that operates around southeast Michigan.
Founded by Pinky Cole Hayes in Atlanta in 2018, Slutty Vegan built a national following with plant-based burgers, loaded fries, and a menu full of deliberately provocative names like Hollywood Hooker and One Night Stand. The chain started as an Instagram-based burger business before opening its first brick-and-mortar location in Atlanta’s West End.
The menu includes plant-based burgers served on Hawaiian buns with vegan cheese, vegan bacon, onions, tomatoes, and the chain’s signature sauce. Other offerings include vegan brisket sandwiches, loaded fries, lemonade, slushies, banana pudding, and churros.
Slutty Vegan has since expanded to locations in Georgia, Alabama, New York, and Maryland. Earlier this year, the chain drew long lines during a pop-up in Allen Park, where customers waited hours for a limited menu.
The Corktown location is expected to open around September, though an exact date has not been announced.
James Oliver Coffee Co. in Corktown is in danger of closing because of a lease dispute with the building’s owner. STEVE NEAVLING
CULTURE
Film Toy Story 5 still knows how to break your heart
I’ll be perfectly honest right now. The hardest I’ve ever cried in a movie theater was at the end of “Toy Story 3.” Rewatching it to prepare for the release of “Toy Story 5,” I figured it wouldn’t wreck me as badly as it did 16 years ago. I thought I was an older, more mature man who could handle watching our favorite toys wordlessly hold hands as they await a fiery, garbage-incinerator fate.
Instead, I cried even harder.
I genuinely feel sorry for cynics who flippantly say, “I don’t watch cartoons; they’re for kids.” Yeah, some certainly are. But the best ones are aimed squarely at people who used to be kids (which, shocker, is all of us), written by honest-to-god adults, who – gasp – also remember what it was like to be small. These films are beautifully transcendent vessels for us to reconcile with the slow, incredibly fast loss of our own youth. On the surface, the “Toy Story” franchise plays perfectly well for children. The adventures of Tom Hanks’ Sheriff Woody, Tim Allen’s spaceman Buzz Lightyear, Joan Cusack’s cowgirl
By Alan Sculley
Jessie and a sarcastic Mr. Potato Head, a heroic Slinky Dog, a cowardly T. rex and many more could easily just be thoughtless, cynical product placement for kids to stare at while parents think about what they’re fixing for dinner.
Instead, what Pixar and its team of magicians have crafted is a living history of modern childhood that acts as a profound marker for who we were as a species at the volatile crossover of the 20th and 21st centuries. Pixar remains the undisputed master at unearthing the sadness at the core of the human condition and, if you think the writers and artists would have lost some of their thematic heft across five movies and 30 years, no one would blame you.
The original 1995 “Toy Story” gave us our first look at Woody as he feared being replaced by a flashier toy in Buzz Lightyear. It gave words to our anxieties about watching the world outgrow us. “Toy Story 2” showed us what toys would really fear: failing their purpose of being played with by children, which subtly mirrored our very human fears of just existing without truly living. “Toy Story 3” was un-
where Jessie (still wonderfully voiced by Joan Cusack) takes center stage. With Andy long gone and most of the toys now lovingly possessed by eightyear-old Bonnie, the series shifts into an intimate look at what it’s like to be a little girl growing up today.
When Bonnie gets a frog-themed tablet known as a Lilypad (voiced by the always-welcome Greta Lee), she stops playing with Jessie and the other toys and immediately surrenders to the addictive glow of the screen and the feeling of finding your friends while still suffering from crippling loneliness. The movie could’ve easily devolved into an angry anti-tech screed about inherent isolation kids feel in the digital age, especially post-pandemic. But realistically, mega-corporation Disney would never alienate its tech-titan compatriots by pushing back against children receiving tablets before books. Instead, “Toy Story 5” pivots into a touching, grounded story about the sheer difficulty of making friends as a kid in 2026.
Does it have the same inherent power as the masterpieces that came before? Not quite. As much as I love Jessie, changing the protagonist five films deep makes the cracks in the franchise visible for the first time. Don’t get me wrong, “Toy Story 5” is vastly superior to most of the animated films released over the last few years, but it also reveals a cynical truth: this is how the machine keeps running forever. Long after Tom Hanks and Tim Allen retire from these roles, it’s clear how easily Pixar can just transfer these powerful life lessons onto different characters…to infinity and beyond.
apologetically a meditation on death and pushed parents into having some very real conversations with their kids.
While “Toy Story 3” was a perfect send-off for Woody and co., with “Toy Story 4,” they smartly pivoted to having Andy, the child who played with them all these years, head off to college and pass his toys off to a little girl named Bonnie. Even as many franchise fans complained that “TS4” didn’t hold a candle to the rest of the series, the cartoon about anthropomorphic toys still managed to tell a quietly bleak fable about mental illness, a bittersweet love story and an elegiac rumination on a group of aging toys trying not to focus on the diminishing prospects of their collective futures. But, you know, for kids.
What enjoyment you take from “Toy Story 5” is largely predicated on what exactly you want from this series. “TS4” effectively finished Woody’s arc, much like the third film wrapped up Buzz’s story. So, consequently, most of our beloved legacy toys are sidelined this time around. Instead, we’re given a story
I can’t decide if that’s deeply depressing or somewhat comforting. Just as the toys watch the world pass them by, I felt the same passage of time while sitting in the theater. Instead of a classic Randy Newman tune over the credits, it’s a Taylor Swift song. It’s not bad, necessarily, but it served as one more stark reminder of the quiet evolution of these movies into something I one day might not recognize.
I hope to keep watching these movies as long as they continue to communicate something meaningful and as long as I can remember the kid inside me who loved playing with toys on his bedroom floor. While “Toy Story 5” might not reach the profoundly high highs of the original trilogy, it still hums with that ephemeral magic only Pixar can conjure. As we quietly age alongside Woody, there’s something remarkable about how an animated series for kids has managed to say more about mortality, obsolescence and the human condition than almost any other cinema in our lifetime.
Not bad for a bunch of cartoons.
Grade: B+
Toy Story 5 is another reminder that growing up hurts.
DISNEY
CULTURE
Free Will Astrology
By Rob Brezsny
ARIES: March 21 – April 19
There are only two types of humans, right? Some of us serve beauty, truth, and goodness, while the rest pledge their allegiance to illusions, lies, and shadows. Our planet is now caught in a colossal showdown between these two sides. And it’s high time for you to align yourself with one or the other. JUST KIDDING! The truth is far messier and more interesting: Every one of us is a blend of luminosity and ignorance. And now is a perfect moment to study how those two currents move within you. When you clearly see how you contribute to the murky jumble, your commitment to love, harmony, and justice will soar.
TAURUS: April 20 – May 20
You’ll move with style and purpose if you take quick jaunts, dare gentle risks, and make a few nimble leaps of faith. You’ll go awry and astray if you wander too far afield, chase swaggering adventures, or try vaulting across yawning chasms. Keep it light, sharp, and intuitive, Taurus. Refrain from lugging heavy emotional baggage or drifting into daydream limbo. It’ll be wise to trust your sprightly impulses, but foolish to dissect them so ruthlessly that the magic leaks out. The color amber and the number three will be your allies. Somber gray and the number four will not. Align with sly visionaries and soulful realists but sidestep bitter contrarians and nostalgic clingers.
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20
I swear I’m smarter in some places than in others. My intelligence soars in Barcelona, Kyoto, Aix-en-Provence, France, and Florence, Italy. But I seem dull-witted in Munich, Moscow, and Washington, D.C. Even in Northern California, my long-time home, some areas bring out the best in me. I feel mediocre on Valencia Street in San Francisco, for instance, whereas I’m extra wise in downtown Berkeley. Why is this? The branch of astrology known as astrocartography says that my strengths are more likely to shine in certain spots than others. In the coming weeks, Gemini, I urge you to experiment with the possibility that this may be true for you, as well. Wander far and wide. Find out where you feel most aligned with your deep, bright, genuine self.
CANCER: June 21 – July 22
Male humpback whales in the Pacific Ocean change their songs over the years. New phrases can spread across thousands of miles as other whales take up and transform them. Researchers don’t know why, but the pattern is clear: The whales value novelty even in their ancient rituals. They create an evolving musical tradition. Consider what this practice might suggest for your own relationship with the past, Cancerian. The memories and patterns you’re carrying don’t have to remain frozen. You can honor your history while remixing it, adding new verses, and changing the key. What needs to be preserved isn’t the exact form but the living spirit.
LEO: July 23 – August 22
Leo-born oceanographer Marie Tharp created the first comprehensive maps of the ocean floor. Her work was pivotal in proving theories about plate tectonics. She did much of this work in the 1950s, when women weren’t even allowed aboard research vessels. She had to rely on data collected by others, never seeing the terrain she mapped. But her limitation became her advantage; distance allowed her to perceive patterns that field researchers missed. I suspect that you, too, are working with incomplete information, Leo. Does this disqualify you from drawing conclusions? No! I believe your inability to access certain details will compel you to see larger patterns. What you’re missing might be precisely what enables you to see what others can’t.
VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22
The “problem” confronting you right now is unusual: Your vision is too sharp, your thinking too precise, and your words too unambiguous. This would usually be good news to celebrate, but at the moment it’s blocking you from noticing the subtle openings life is presenting. Those portals may only reveal themselves if you soften your intense scrutiny and call on a creative, blurry logic. It’s like how, at night, you sometimes see more clearly when you peer from the edges of your vision rather than staring straight ahead.
LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22
This is a perfect moment to express your own unique power more than ever before. I invite you to act with conviction, assert your influence, and claim what you’ve earned. For best results, clarify your ambitions and assert your authority. Write down a formal vow or two. Don’t wait for approval from anyone higher up, and don’t waste time wondering whether destiny is on your side. The succulent opportunities aren’t somewhere else or someday later. They’re here and now.
SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21
I’m exultant when a vigorous bike ride up the trail of my local mountain leaves me so cleansed and energized that a flash of truth strikes and instantly dissipates the illusions I’ve been clinging to. I get a delightful shock when, while wandering through a city’s maze of asphalt and litter, a sudden breeze carries the earthy aroma of a rebellious garden. I love it when the reckless choices of misguided leaders jolt my community into doubling down on our quest for audacious harmony, inventive affection, and untamed wisdom. How about you, dear Scorpio? Where do you search for your awakenings and salvations? Keep your inner radar tuned; they’re circling close.
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21
Sagittarian physicist Freeman Dyson (1923–2020) proposed that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations might build megastructures around stars to capture their energy. These “Dyson spheres” would be detectable from Earth as unusual infrared signatures. We haven’t found any yet, but his idea revolutionized how we think about looking for alien intelligence. Moral of the story: Valuable contributions can come from inventing the framework for how to search for unknown things. In the coming weeks, Sagittarius, you might not solve problems, but you could redesign the questions. You may not find the answers, but you could create better tools for exploration.
CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19
Do you have a muse? If not, please find one. You shouldn’t go another day without a provocative, inspiring presence to stir your imagination and drive you deliciously wild. If you already have a muse and that genius has been faithfully fueling your creative fire, bestow a reward. Give a gift or blessing
that provides a muse-like boost to your muse. And if your existing muse has grown quiet lately, go off on an adventure together. Dream up plans to stimulate the bursts of kaleidoscopic energy that you two are capable of generating.
AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18
In some monastic traditions, practitioners engage in “work prayer.” They transform ordinary labor into spiritual practice not by thinking holy thoughts while working, but by bringing complete presence and fond attention to ordinary labors. Chopping vegetables becomes meditation. Sweeping floors becomes devotion. The sacredness arises from their wholehearted attitude. This would be an excellent experiment for you to try, Aquarius. Divine solace and inspiration will arrive as you perform your daily duties with verve and gratitude. Try this: For a few days or even two weeks, approach routine duties and familiar obligations with a ceremonial reverence. Be joyful for the privilege of being alive in the most ordinary ways.
PISCES: Feb. 19 – March 20
You’ve entered a phase when your magnetism and charisma will expand as you focus on ruminating deeply about what’s most meaningful to you. Seeking out new teachers and fresh lessons will bring lucky breaks and helpful influences into your sphere. Each fresh insight will polish your allure, and every surge of curiosity will add to your glow. Be extra sexy and ultra smart: Cosmic energies will work in your favor as you weave your id and intellect together.
Homework: Imagine I say to you, “Teach me the most important things you know.”
JAMES NOELLERT
CULTURE
Savage Love
Quickies
by Dan Savage
: Q I’m a 20-year-old virgin and I have until very recently thought I was pan romantic/ asexual. But I have found myself being sexually attracted to my close female friends. How do I know if I am ace or struggling with religious guilt?
A: Labels can wait — get out there and live a little.
P.S. Religious guilt and/or trauma is something you work through with a therapist; it’s not something you work through with (or take out on) your first girlfriend.
: Q Into fisting?
A: A lady never tells.
: Q I’m a 58-year-old gay man in a loving relationship with my husband of 35 years. We both recently retired. We are seeing this phase of life to be able to create a new life not beholden to anyone (family, friends, employer, etc.). However, since retiring I feel that I don’t truly know who I am as a gay man. I grew up during the 80s and my husband was my only sex partner. I feel like I missed out playing the field. This need seems very strong. Is this “missed out” feeling common among men after we retire?
A: Everyone has ragrets.
P.S. Talk to your partner about having some adventures together. There are lots of hot guys on the apps — guys of all ages looking to get tag-teamed by a couple of hot daddies.
P.P.S. The “missed out” feeling you describe is a common one among older men — it’s so common, in fact, that Stephen Sondheim wrote a whole song about it for Follies, his show about the pain and regret of late middle age. One lyric: “The load you didn’t take hardly comes to mind, does it? The dick you didn’t try, where could it have led?” It might speak to you. (Okay, okay: I tweaked those lyrics — but not much. Listen here.)
: Q My ex-girlfriend’s name is tattooed on my right calf and my current girlfriend wants me to get it lasered off. I think it’s part of my story and that I have a right to some bodily autonomy here. I would never tell her to delete pics of her exes from her Instagram, which is way more “public facing” than my right calf. It’s not like it’s in a place where my girlfriend has to see it when we’re having sex. What do you think?
A: “I had a tattoo of my ex — just the first letter of her first name although in a much more precarious place, my lower left hip — and it was a major point of contention in my relationship,” said Gianmarco Soresi, the standup comedian and host of The Downside podcast. “We tried putting a Band-Aid over it, I offered to get a tattoo of her full name (‘Great, so I can bintree #2’), but the disagreement, like the tattoo, did not go away. At a certain point it became less about the tattoo itself and more my own sense of bodily autonomy, my history, a snapshot of who I once was! But I love my girlfriend and so I ultimately found a way that felt like I could cover it up on my own terms: I filmed a comedy special where I told some jokes about the tat and our fights about it — and we showed me getting it covered up with a bouquet of flowers in the credits. To me, I transferred my past self onto film in a way that could honor the (insane) younger man I once was but also in a way that didn’t remind my girlfriend of my ex every time she gave me a blowjob. So, my advice is become a stand-up comedian.”
To hear those jokes about Gianmarco Soresi’s tattoo — and to watch it get covered up — check out his latest stand-up special, Thief of Joy, on YouTube. Follow Soresi on Instagram @gianmarcosoresi.
: Q Why is hangover horny a thing?
A: Because Jesus loves us and wants us to be happy.
: Q The wife asking: How can I gauge if a guy might want to have a threesome with me and my husband?
A: You might already know a guy who wants to have a threesome with you and your husband — fucking the two of you might be this guy’s go-to fantasy when he’s having a wank — but that guy, if he exists, is highly unlikely to signal that he’s interested in having a threesome with you and your husband. So, you’re going to have to ask.
P.S. If this guy exists… why hasn’t he hit on you and your husband already? Well, this hypothetical guy most likely assumes you and your husband are monogamous, which is not an unreasonable assumption as most opposite-sex couples are monogamous, and he doesn’t want to come across as a creep by making the first move. So, again, you’re going to have to ask.
: Q What’s the best way to get a pubic hair out of your throat?
A: Hack that hairball up.
: Q My ex dumped me a month ago after seventeen years together. Took a beat from dating. How to fuck?
A: I have to assume you remember how to fuck… it’s finding someone to fuck you’re out of practice with. Dating apps are hell, yes, but you can’t avoid them. But in addition to getting on the apps (and taking Dr.
Jennie Young’s advice about the apps), go places, do things, and meet people.
: Q 9. Why do the actors in American-made porn scream something that sounds very much like the German word “ja” in contexts where I’d usually expect them to scream the English word “yes”? What’s going on here?
A: Put your teeth together with your lips slightly parted and your tongue pressed to the roof of the mouth and moan — “ nnnnn” — and then open your mouth all the way and say “yeah.” Sounds a lot like “ja,” doesn’t it?
: Q What is the most jaw-dropping letter you’ve ever received?
A: This letter about a fairly vanilla MMF threesome made my jaw hit the floor so hard I lost a tooth. I’ve gotten letters about far crazier kinks, but nothing has ever topped that letter.
P.S. The fact that there was no update to this letter — the fact that I never heard from this LW again — proves I don’t write the questions myself. Because if I’d written that question, I also would’ve written an update detailing how things worked out for the LW and his new boyfriend. My readers were dying to know if his relationship survived the revelation that the boyfriend he brought home to meet his parents had already met (and fucked) his parents.
P.S. If you’re still out there and you read this, “I Knew He Was Into Blonds,” please write in!
: Q The man I’m seeing is extremely rude to waiters and a terrible tipper. He is kind and generous with me personally. He’s also hot. I’m torn.
A: I learned this one the hard way: Sooner or later… and probably sooner rather than later… that hot man is gonna start treating you the way he treats waiters. DTMFA.
: Q I’ve stopped coming via oral but can still come with a vibrator. So, the wiring still works. But have I “death-gripped” myself via vibe?
A: If you feel like you’ve become physically or psychologically dependent on your vibrator, stop using your vibrator for a few months. If you’re able to come again in a few weeks or months, you didn’t need that vibrator, and you should use it a little more sparingly from now on. If you aren’t coming after a few months, you do need that vibrator, and you shouldn’t be shy about giving it pride of place on your nightstand.
: Q My new boyfriend wants me to meet his “significant ex” because being friends with exes is something “the gays” do. Maybe I don’t get it because I’m bisexual, but I really don’t want to be in the same room with any of his ex-boyfriends. Thoughts?
A: Being weird about your boyfriend’s
significant ex — or any of his exes — is the quickest way to become his next ex.
: Q How old is too old to be posting thirst traps?
A: Gerontophiles exist — they even have their own pride flag (and it is hilarious) and gerontos deserve a little eye candy too.
: Q I have hemorrhoids that bleed routinely but I want to have anal sex. What do I do?
A: See a doctor and/or date a vampire.
: Q What should I know if I am entering a Dom/sub situation where I am being sub?
A: Know the red flags: wannabe Doms who tell you “real” subs don’t have boundaries, wannabe Doms who won’t share references, wannabe Doms who think you can go from zero (just having met) to sixty (total power exchange) in under a week. (Getting to TPE, if that’s even a goal, takes years, it’s never actually “total,” and it has to be the sub’s idea.)
P.S. Lina Dune’s “Ask a Sub” podcast is required listening for wannabe/newbie subs and the wannabe Doms who wanna do right by them.
: Q I just want to know why Dan has no shirtless IG pics. What’s under your shirt, Dan? Hairy or smooth?
A: My parasitic twin lives under my shirt, and my parasitic twin insists we’re too old to be posting thirst traps on Instagram.
: Q I know you love a good portmanteau, Dan, so here is one: “kinkronicity.” It’s when two lovers in a romantic relationship accidentally discover they’re into exactly the same kinky shit. This is from the “Profanisaurus” column in British humor mag Viz, which is always full of fun new words and turns of phrase.
A: First: Love it, gonna use it, thanks for flagging it!
Second: There are lots of ways two people might accidentally discover they’re into the exact same kinky shit — one stumbles across the other’s browser history, they run into each other at a fetish club, what one thought was an empty suitcase turns out to be filled with gear — but my favorite way for two people to discover they’re into the same kinky shit is when one person nervously lays their kink cards on the table and their person smiles and says “OMG, me too!” I call that a “kinkyahtzee.”
: Q I’m a heterosexual woman who orgasms too quickly. My husband always wants me to come first, but it’s often way before he’s even close. We’ve tried avoiding direct clitoral stimulation during foreplay and not letting me get too close and focusing more on him instead. But it’s like once I’m even the tiniest bit close, the train has left the station, and even smallest touch in
the right place makes me come. My bigger problem is that I’m tired of manually stimulating my husband to completion after I’ve orgasmed. I don’t find it at all pleasurable and it takes a while. Any advice on how I could last longer or how he could get there faster?
A: Have you tried keeping your pants on? Not in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense — keep your pants on, lady, and leave ‘em on until your husband is close.
: Q Bi guy going to Berlin next month. Best gay district? I want to avoid the apps.
A: “The whole city is pretty gay,” said Alexander Cheves, an American writer based in Berlin. “But the old-school gayborhood and epicenter of gay sex tourism — especially the leather and kink kind — is Schöneberg. More of a raver? Go to Friedrichshain. Museums and galleries? Mitte. Want an alternative, local bar crowd? Try Kreuzberg, home of Ficken3000 and other great gay bars. Love outdoor cruising? Hit the nudist cruising grounds at Hasenheide in Neukölln and in Grunewald out west. (But go with a local or you’ll get lost trying to find them.) Love hanging out by a big gay lake? Try Teufelssee in Grunewald, and a bit further out, the Kaulsdorfer Seen in the east, where I’ve had my best outdoor sex.”
Alexander Cheves is a writer, an advice columnist, and an author. He wrote an acclaimed sex memoir in 2021 (My Love Is a Beast: Confessions) and has a new book coming in 2027. He also leads a new independent nightlife magazine in Berlin called Hinterhaus.
: Q I’m a 50-year-old woman. I’ve been single a while and on the apps. My profile is always really clear, I’m vanilla, cis het with no kinks. Every man I’ve clicked with over the last five years has said they’re also vanilla but ended up being into BDSM, pegging, or were submissive. I don’t enjoy it and almost psychologically separate from the act when I force myself to play along. I’ve tried being brutally honest in advance about not having kinks but it’s like they’re repressed until they find a safe and accepting partner. How do I screen out guys that aren’t compatible?
A: Keep doing some of what you’re doing keep being brutally honest about being vanilla — but stop doing that one thing where you force yourself to play along. If a guy shares a kink you’re not interested in, tell him he’ll have to find someone else if he can’t live without BDSM, pegging, being dominated, or whatever.
Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love!
Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love
