This Is Nashville

If you bring up the name Buddy Miller in Nashville’s music circles, you’re likely to get a story about how he’s wonderful to work with — humble, talented, and a great collaborator. Sometimes he’s in the band. Other times, he helps write the songs. But he’s just as well known for his production chops. It’s one of the reasons he was tapped to serve as executive music producer on the TV show Nashvill...

Happy Southern Festival of Books week! To celebrate, we’ve invited nine local authors to join us to talk about their work. History, memoirs, YA, fantasy, cooking and more, local authors have been busy, busy, busy putting ideas to the page. Today we hear about their work, their process, and what compelled them to write and, in most cases, self-publish their work. Guests: Leslie Cole, MD, author, Th...

Who says politics can't be fun? Today, independent candidate for governor, Lauren Pinkston, joins us for a one-on-one interview. And a couple of Nashville's political reporters give us the latest on the governor’s race, highlights from our redrawn congressional districts, and a look at what kind of help candidates are getting from out of state. Plus, an attorney helps us parse the language of cons...

A lot of family businesses make it to the second generation. Very few make it to the third. So a fifth generation is something special. We’re looking at our multi-generational businesses in Middle Tennessee, starting with a couple that have reached the end of the line this year. But we’re also going to glean some wisdom from those that have been able to keep the family business afloat — and discus...

On June 20, 1940 in Brownsville, TN, Elbert Williams was overheard vowing to register Black voters. Someone reported him to the local police. That night, police seized him from his home, jailed him, and interrogated him. Three days later, WIlliams' battered body was pulled from the Hatchie River. His killers sent a chilling message to Black citizens: register to vote and die. Attorney Jim Emison g...

One week ago, Tennessee tried to carry out the execution of Christa Pike. The execution did not go as planned. Pike survived the lethal injection, making her case an unprecedented moment in the history of capital punishment. Today, we’re bringing together a death row chaplain, a policy expert from the nonpartisan Death Penalty Information Center, and two journalists who witnessed the execution. We...

Headliner: Journalist JP Olsen on his Nashville Scene cover story about missing immigrant labor. Newsmaker: Luthier Manuel Delgado on new incentives approved by the Metro Council for "legacy" small businesses. Tastemakers: Maestro Leonard Slatkin and classical music commentator Colleen Wheelahan on saving the Nashville Symphony.

The sightings are becoming more common — a Waymo out in the wild. And more are on the way. Waymo and Lyft announced a joint partnership with rideshare liaison Flexdrive at an unveiling on Thursday, October 1. The partnership includes an 80,000-square-foot facility near the Nashville International Airport. Workers at the facility will clean, inspect, and repair autonomous vehicles on a 24/7 basis....

Part coach. Part minister. Part social strategist. Anne-Marie Zanzel is all of those things because it’s what she needed when she came out in middle age. Before the life changing thought, “I think I’m gay", she worked as a hospice chaplain and helped lead churches. But what she really needed was someone who could help guide her through a period she refers to as “the messy middle.” So she became th...

Why don’t Tennesseans vote at the same rates as people in other states? The Center for Politics breaks turnout down by congressional district, and the map tells a striking story: Tennessee, along with Alabama and Mississippi, trails much of the country. We’ll hear from some of you, plus Vanderbilt pollster Joshua Clinton and felony voting-rights restoration advocate Rahim Buford. First though, we...

Today, Mayor Freddie O’Connell joins us in the studio to take our questions—and yours. We’ll ask him about the Nashville Symphony’s financial struggles and the state law that would cut the Metro Council in half. Plus, we’ll ask what’s in part four of the city’s just-released capital spending plan. If you have a question for the mayor, the phones are open at 615-760-2000. At the end of the hour, Ta...

It’s time for Curious Nashville. Typically, the Curious team assigns reporters to answer your questions. Today, though, we’re taking everything we’ve learned in the past decade and turning it into the Curious Nashville Quiz Show! And who better to stump than WPLN's very own Blake Farmer and Nina Cardona — two of the most knowledgeable scholars of local lore.  They'll do their best to answer trivia...

We could ask you what you love about Middle Tennessee, and you'd probably have an answer of some kind. But it might lack specificity. If you really want to know what someone values about this place we call home, ask what they would do on their last day in town. It says a lot about us, and it’s a fairly efficient way to get recommendations on where you should go on your first day here. Our guide to...

We’re talking about one of the most divisive issues of our time: the rules around firearm use and ownership. Following the tragedy at the Covenant School in Green Hills three years ago, Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor became more involved in the conversation around gun safety. While touring the country, he brought together people with deeply held and often opposing views in places including M...

Headliners: WPLN education reporter Camellia Burris on MNPS grading practices and ProPublica’s Aliyya Swaby with an update on a joint investigation with WPLN into the safety of Tennessee’s privately-run juvenile prisons. Newsmaker: Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder on his run to represent the newly sprawling 5th Congressional District . Tastemakers: Nashville Poetry Party co-creator Karen Carr and singer...

Behind every Instagram ad, commercial, or TV trailer you see, there is a fierce battle over what song gets to play in the background. This song what gives the ad a feeling. Music sync, as it’s known, is a place where many independent artists in Nashville can still make their living. But like everything, it’s changing, partly because it’s an increasingly crowded field and partly because of the capa...

Banjo Hall of Famer Ned Luberecki joins us in the studio with a banjo on his knee. We ask Ned about the banjo’s role in modern music, his long road from growing up in Maryland to Music City, and the role sobriety has played in his success. We also explore the collaborative spirit that keeps him in Nashville and how to look cool while your fingers are flying. “Resting banjo face” really is a thing....

Autumn aligns with several significant days for American Indian communities – Indigenous Peoples’ Day (the second Monday in October), the National Day of Mourning (the fourth Thursday in November), and November is National Native American Heritage Month . At least 17 states and Washington, D.C., officially observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Our state is not one of them, although in 2017, Nashville's...

We’re searching for headstones and sifting through dusty documents in our attics. It’s a show about investigating our family histories. We can all become amateur genealogists as we ship off our spit to see where our DNA fits, but there’s more to it than a simple spit take if you really want to help fill out the picture for future generations. We’ll have a few folks speak from experience and some p...

While the neon marquee of the shuttered Belle Meade Theater lives on, the lobby of the once-ornate theater now lies empty. The cinema closed in 1991, and became a bookshop, then a grocery store, and now, sits mostly empty along Harding Pike.  This prompted Curious Nashville listener Richard Daniel to wonder about a remnant of the theater: the marble plaques in the lobby that were covered in celebr...

Local artist Herb Williams spent years struggling to break into the world of visual art. Painting didn’t really work out. Neither did sculpting. After years of doldrums, he did what any starving artist would: He burned all his work. Then one night, he had a dream. He was at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, showcasing a sculpture he made out of crayons — not drawn using crayons, but made fro...

Audio and video for this episode will be added after the live broadcast at noon.  Headliner : Investigative reporter Meribah Knight and her new podcast series with Bloomberg, " Our Town ," about far-right Christians backed by venture capital attempting to take over Gainesboro, Tenn., "where acreage, heritage, and what it means to be an American are all up for grabs." Newsmaker : Rep. John Ray Clem...

Hyperscale data centers are being scrutinized like never before. Even mid-size facilities are receiving fierce pushback, as seen with the data center planned near the Nashville Zoo. But according to analysis by the Pew Research Center , the future of data centers lies in more rural areas, which is why the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom has been checking in with communities in the region that have...

It’s our weekly roundabout when we take your calls and give you a chance to join the discussion about the news. Today, it’s all healthcare. We're starting with the story that has startled so many – a medication mixup at Saint Thomas Midtown that injured four patients, with some still facing paralysis. Our panel includes reporters who have been covering the latest. We’ll also touch on HCA layoffs,...

Headliner: As extreme heat settles in, WPLN environmental reporter Caroline Eggers explains how an NPR/Boston University investigation finds Tennessee and other states have severely undercounted heat-related deaths. Newsmaker: Metro Council Member Sandra Sepulveda makes her case for banning right turns at red lights , plus she shares a look at her Hispanic-majority district and the newly opened Ma...