Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Well, our next guest is all about cars, and he's
come to Detroit, and he's come to Michigan to prove
it and to share it. When he gets to Detroit
on a cold day like this and he wants to
get the stretch of the legs, I imagine he'll be
walking all over the Huntington Place at the Detroit Auto Show,
but worry to go outside. Claude Molinari from Visit Detroit
(00:38):
and visit Detroit dot Com would steer him to the river,
to the river Walk and where.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Claude, they can start at Bellisle or start at the
far end right by the Ambassador Bridge. Everywhere in between
on the Riverwalk is spectacular. See Ralph Wilson Centennial Park
is right next to the current post office down by
the Ambassador Bridge. But it is beautiful. But all along
the whole riverwalk from Blaide Park to Coen Plaza to
(01:05):
where the Gilbert family put in the Pirate Ship. That's
a great water park. During the summer, the riverwalk is
just spectacular. Couldn't be better.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Bundle up if you're going to do it. Tim Healy
is the managing editor at the Truth about Cars. He's
on our radio stage our at and T line right now,
having come to the Detroit Auto Show, Welcome to Michigan,
Thank you, good morning. Why did you come to the
Detroit Auto Show formerly known as the North American International
Auto Show.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Well, because my job as an automotive journalist requires would
be to check out all the new cars and all
the activity that's happening at hunting and Place. So I
came here to cover the show. I drove over from Chicago,
which is equally as cold. I'm very useless weather. It's
not unusual for me, and I'll be walking out to
the I'll be walking out of the hotel to the
Huntington Place in just a few minutes. But yeah, I'm
(01:56):
here to see what's going on with the show, whether
it's a new car and veil or the former I
call a mayor Peak, I cannot say his last name correctly,
the former Transportation secretary speaking to media yesterday. So just
kind of checking out what's going on hunting the place
and seeing what the industry has had.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
He Boodha Jedge there lives in Traverse City. I imagine
he drove down to Detroit and you came over. I
ninety four through that stretch of Pawpaw in the winter,
that road can be lethal. What sort of car are
you driving when you're the managing editor at The Truth
About Cars?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So the car and testing this week is an Infinity
QX eighty, So a very big SUV with all wheel
drive should not be a challenge if I hit some
lake of tech snow as I did last year. I
lived in Michigan briefly, but I'm from Chicago, so I'm
used to that lake of tech snow on that drive.
I'm an old handed that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Well, the reason I asked about why you came to
Detroit is because there's talk some times that the show
is not very much of a newsmaker anymore like it
used to be something to cover obviously, But what do
you make of those criticisms of the Detroit show.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, I don't know if it's a criticism so much
as just a fact that it's not just Detroit. Chicago
was struggling with it too. The LA Auto Show was
a little bit reduced in terms of product unveils this year.
So just to kind of give your listeners a background,
until just before COVID, every one of the four or
major American auto shows, new York being the fourth, tend
(03:29):
to have a bunch of vehicle debuts, and over time,
some shows became more important than others. Chicago had kind
of lost its luster a bit, New York became more important,
La became more important, Detroit was always the most important one. Well,
what's happened is and this was already beginning before the pandemic,
and I think the pandemic just rushed it along. Is
a lot of automakers realized if they want to unveil
(03:52):
a new product, they can do it at a time
in sight of their choosing and do it over zoom
for less money than it costs to unveil a product
of the auto show, and they own more of the
news cycle because they have the whole day or a
whole week, Whereas in an auto show they would unvail
a product and then half an hour later our competitor would.
(04:12):
So they're they're they're unveil will get buried on the
websites pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
So uh.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Back in the print days, it wasn't as big as
a deal because the turnaround time was longer on a story.
But when with with the Internet being as fast as
it is everyone who is covering press days for a
digital digital media excuse me, You get a story up
and then half an hour later the next press conference
we can go, the next story be up. So all
(04:39):
of a sudden, automakers get their they get their stories
up there and everyone's looking at it, and then an
hour or two later it's down the page and it's
not being seen as much. So I think automakers are
trying to own the own the news cycle by doing
events at different times and in different ways of doing things.
That being said, I still think there is news to cover.
(04:59):
Ford unveil the new Bronco two nights ago. Obviously, the
mayor Pete being here, he had some interesting things to
say about the future in transit and what he would
do should on democratic administration get back in power after
the Trump administration is done. So you know there was
there's still news. There's still and there's always stuff. There's
always hidden things that you don't think about or don't see.
(05:22):
You find out about that being here in person, whether
you talk to somebody or seasoning on the show floor,
or maybe it's something more interesting to the local area,
to the to the Detroit area. There's always stuff to
do and see these auto shows, but the product and
veils have slowed down.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Why is your publication called the Truth about Cars.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Because we try and be as honest as possible. And
in the past, the faatsball cars is also called out
journalists who have acted on ethically and maybe taken a
little bit too much positive influence around automaker. But the
main thing is a lot of automotive journalists can be
a little bit too nice automakers. They're a little bit
afraid to criticize cars. They don't want to get in
(06:05):
trouble with the automaker, or in some automative journalists just
sort of kind of regurgitate press releases. We try and
cut through propaganda. We try and cut through we try
and look for the truth behind a press release. And
that being said, we try and do it in a
nice way. We're not throwing bombs, we're not being unfairly critical.
But when we review a car, we just try and
(06:26):
be true to its cons and it's flawed or excuse me,
it's president's cons So we try and say, you know,
this is why his car is good, this is why
his car is not good, that sort of thing. And
we also try and cut through when it comes to
industry news, whether it's regulations in the government or manufacturing
strategy by an automaker. We try and look for the
(06:46):
truth of what's being done as opposed to what's being
said in a press release.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Just forty seconds. But Tim Healey, managing editor at the
Truth about Cars, what irks you most about a vehicle?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Oh gosh, where do I start with only forty seconds?
I think the biggest problem right now, and this is
pretty common, is a lot of vehicles have switched to
what we call haptic touch interiors, where you touch the
screen or the button and the buttons. The button's not
really a button, it's kind of just a little bit
of plastic kind of sort of rocks a little And
(07:21):
some of the automakers do a nice job of it,
but a lot of automakers have done it poorly.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Over engineered. Thank you very much, we'll follow your podcast
to healthcare costs. We often focus on one thing, our
insurance premiums. But what if we're only seeing part of
the picture. The truth is our health insurance costs reside
downstream at the end of the cost equation. But to
really understand what's driving up costs. We need to look
upstream to the healthcare system itself. Upstream, there are costs
(07:51):
like the price is charged by hospitals and doctors, and
the cost of prescription drugs, healthcare administration, and technology. These
costs flow downstream directly into your health insurance premium. That's
why Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is advocating for
a system wide solution to address the rising cost of
health care. Blue Cross knows that health care is personal,
(08:13):
needs to work for everyone, and affordability matters, and that
starts with shedding light on the entire cost equation from
upstream costs to downstream premiums. Want to learn more, visitmibluedaily
dot com slash affordability
Well, our next guest is all about cars, and he's
come to Detroit, and he's come to Michigan to prove
it and to share it. When he gets to Detroit
on a cold day like this and he wants to
get the stretch of the legs, I imagine he'll be
walking all over the Huntington Place at the Detroit Auto Show,
but worry to go outside. Claude Molinari from Visit Detroit
(00:38):
and visit Detroit dot Com would steer him to the river,
to the river Walk and where.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Claude, they can start at Bellisle or start at the
far end right by the Ambassador Bridge. Everywhere in between
on the Riverwalk is spectacular. See Ralph Wilson Centennial Park
is right next to the current post office down by
the Ambassador Bridge. But it is beautiful. But all along
the whole riverwalk from Blaide Park to Coen Plaza to
(01:05):
where the Gilbert family put in the Pirate Ship. That's
a great water park. During the summer, the riverwalk is
just spectacular. Couldn't be better.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Bundle up if you're going to do it. Tim Healy
is the managing editor at the Truth about Cars. He's
on our radio stage our at and T line right now,
having come to the Detroit Auto Show, Welcome to Michigan,
Thank you, good morning. Why did you come to the
Detroit Auto Show formerly known as the North American International
Auto Show.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Well, because my job as an automotive journalist requires would
be to check out all the new cars and all
the activity that's happening at hunting and Place. So I
came here to cover the show. I drove over from Chicago,
which is equally as cold. I'm very useless weather. It's
not unusual for me, and I'll be walking out to
the I'll be walking out of the hotel to the
Huntington Place in just a few minutes. But yeah, I'm
(01:56):
here to see what's going on with the show, whether
it's a new car and veil or the former I
call a mayor Peak, I cannot say his last name correctly,
the former Transportation secretary speaking to media yesterday. So just
kind of checking out what's going on hunting the place
and seeing what the industry has had.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
He Boodha Jedge there lives in Traverse City. I imagine
he drove down to Detroit and you came over. I
ninety four through that stretch of Pawpaw in the winter,
that road can be lethal. What sort of car are
you driving when you're the managing editor at The Truth
About Cars?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
So the car and testing this week is an Infinity
QX eighty, So a very big SUV with all wheel
drive should not be a challenge if I hit some
lake of tech snow as I did last year. I
lived in Michigan briefly, but I'm from Chicago, so I'm
used to that lake of tech snow on that drive.
I'm an old handed that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Well, the reason I asked about why you came to
Detroit is because there's talk some times that the show
is not very much of a newsmaker anymore like it
used to be something to cover obviously, But what do
you make of those criticisms of the Detroit show.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, I don't know if it's a criticism so much
as just a fact that it's not just Detroit. Chicago
was struggling with it too. The LA Auto Show was
a little bit reduced in terms of product unveils this year.
So just to kind of give your listeners a background,
until just before COVID, every one of the four or
major American auto shows, new York being the fourth, tend
(03:29):
to have a bunch of vehicle debuts, and over time,
some shows became more important than others. Chicago had kind
of lost its luster a bit, New York became more important,
La became more important, Detroit was always the most important one. Well,
what's happened is and this was already beginning before the pandemic,
and I think the pandemic just rushed it along. Is
a lot of automakers realized if they want to unveil
(03:52):
a new product, they can do it at a time
in sight of their choosing and do it over zoom
for less money than it costs to unveil a product
of the auto show, and they own more of the
news cycle because they have the whole day or a
whole week, Whereas in an auto show they would unvail
a product and then half an hour later our competitor would.
(04:12):
So they're they're they're unveil will get buried on the
websites pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
So uh.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Back in the print days, it wasn't as big as
a deal because the turnaround time was longer on a story.
But when with with the Internet being as fast as
it is everyone who is covering press days for a
digital digital media excuse me, You get a story up
and then half an hour later the next press conference
we can go, the next story be up. So all
(04:39):
of a sudden, automakers get their they get their stories
up there and everyone's looking at it, and then an
hour or two later it's down the page and it's
not being seen as much. So I think automakers are
trying to own the own the news cycle by doing
events at different times and in different ways of doing things.
That being said, I still think there is news to cover.
(04:59):
Ford unveil the new Bronco two nights ago. Obviously, the
mayor Pete being here, he had some interesting things to
say about the future in transit and what he would
do should on democratic administration get back in power after
the Trump administration is done. So you know there was
there's still news. There's still and there's always stuff. There's
always hidden things that you don't think about or don't see.
(05:22):
You find out about that being here in person, whether
you talk to somebody or seasoning on the show floor,
or maybe it's something more interesting to the local area,
to the to the Detroit area. There's always stuff to
do and see these auto shows, but the product and
veils have slowed down.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Why is your publication called the Truth about Cars.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Because we try and be as honest as possible. And
in the past, the faatsball cars is also called out
journalists who have acted on ethically and maybe taken a
little bit too much positive influence around automaker. But the
main thing is a lot of automotive journalists can be
a little bit too nice automakers. They're a little bit
afraid to criticize cars. They don't want to get in
(06:05):
trouble with the automaker, or in some automative journalists just
sort of kind of regurgitate press releases. We try and
cut through propaganda. We try and cut through we try
and look for the truth behind a press release. And
that being said, we try and do it in a
nice way. We're not throwing bombs, we're not being unfairly critical.
But when we review a car, we just try and
(06:26):
be true to its cons and it's flawed or excuse me,
it's president's cons So we try and say, you know,
this is why his car is good, this is why
his car is not good, that sort of thing. And
we also try and cut through when it comes to
industry news, whether it's regulations in the government or manufacturing
strategy by an automaker. We try and look for the
(06:46):
truth of what's being done as opposed to what's being
said in a press release.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Just forty seconds. But Tim Healey, managing editor at the
Truth about Cars, what irks you most about a vehicle?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Oh gosh, where do I start with only forty seconds?
I think the biggest problem right now, and this is
pretty common, is a lot of vehicles have switched to
what we call haptic touch interiors, where you touch the
screen or the button and the buttons. The button's not
really a button, it's kind of just a little bit
of plastic kind of sort of rocks a little And
(07:21):
some of the automakers do a nice job of it,
but a lot of automakers have done it poorly.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Over engineered. Thank you very much, we'll follow your podcast
to healthcare costs. We often focus on one thing, our
insurance premiums. But what if we're only seeing part of
the picture. The truth is our health insurance costs reside
downstream at the end of the cost equation. But to
really understand what's driving up costs. We need to look
upstream to the healthcare system itself. Upstream, there are costs
(07:51):
like the price is charged by hospitals and doctors, and
the cost of prescription drugs, healthcare administration, and technology. These
costs flow downstream directly into your health insurance premium. That's
why Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is advocating for
a system wide solution to address the rising cost of
health care. Blue Cross knows that health care is personal,
(08:13):
needs to work for everyone, and affordability matters, and that
starts with shedding light on the entire cost equation from
upstream costs to downstream premiums. Want to learn more, visitmibluedaily
dot com slash affordability
Popular Podcasts
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.