Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview

2026-10-07 · 52 min · episode 21 · 14 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ appeared on Living for the City podcast

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Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview
→ hosted by Side Stage person

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Feed author/publisher: Side Stage
→ discusses Music concept

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Feed category: Music
→ discusses Music Commentary concept

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Feed category: Music Commentary
→ discusses Music Interviews concept

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Feed category: Music Interviews
→ discusses Music History concept

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Feed category: Music History
→ references @LivingfortheCityPod website

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Link in episode "Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview": https://youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod

Entities found in this episode

concepts 8

mentioned Music Commentary concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music Commentary
mentioned Music Interviews concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music Interviews
mentioned Music History concept

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Feed category: Music History
mentioned Living for the City Full Interview concept

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evidence rules-v5
Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview
discusses Music concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music
discusses Music Commentary concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music Commentary
discusses Music Interviews concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music Interviews
discusses Music History concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music History

persons 3

mentioned Side Stage person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Side Stage
mentioned Liz Warner person

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evidence rules-v5
Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview
hosted by Side Stage person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Side Stage

websites 2

mentioned @LivingfortheCityPod website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview": https://youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
references @LivingfortheCityPod website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview": https://youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod

podcasts 1

appeared on Living for the City podcast

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evidence rules-v5
Liz Warner on Electrifying Mojo and Detroit Techno | Living for the City Full Interview

Episode description as stored

Liz Warner is an award-winning journalist and the host of Alternate Take on WDET, Detroit's NPR affiliate, where she explores music and culture in the city's most freewheeling register. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. Warner traces Detroit radio's role as a source of comfort and community, from Martha Jean The Queen calming the city during the 1967 riots to her own philosophy that the airwaves are a state of mind. She talks about building an audience during her midnight-to-5am show by thinking about who was actually listening, auto workers on the overnight shift, night owls, musicians, and why discovery, not just rotation, is what keeps a radio audience coming back. She also breaks down Electrifying Mojo's outsized role in breaking Detroit techno to a wider audience, his relationship with Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May, and how his willingness to get fired for following his instincts set him apart from safer public radio programming. She talks about why she eventually left Detroit, her return to WDET, and what she thinks is most important to preserve about Detroit radio's sense of collective discovery. CHAPTERS 00:24 - Mixtapes, Radio Dreams, and Finding the Station 02:37 - Martha Jean The Queen: Radio as Comfort During the 1967 Riots 06:43 - "The Airwaves Are a State of Mind" 09:32 - Late Night Radio: Building an Audience of Night Owls and Shift Workers 13:17 - Detroit as a Car City and the Power of the Commute 16:04 - Breaking Detroit Techno: From Drexciya to Electrifying Mojo 24:09 - The Responsibility of the Airwaves: Ed Love and 70 Years in Radio 27:34 - Staying Curious Over Five Hours a Night, Five Nights a Week 35:56 - The Mothership, World-Building, and Mojo's Fearless Programming 44:21 - Leaving Detroit, Coming Home, and Keeping WDET Adventurous LINKS YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5 Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267 Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/ TAGS / KEYWORDS Liz Warner, Liz Warner interview, Alternate Take WDET, WDET Detroit radio, Electrifying Mojo, Martha Jean The Queen, Detroit techno history, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Detroit radio history, Ed Love radio, Drexciya, Detroit music culture, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit radio culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices