Closer Look with Rose Scott

The future of the building once known as the McLendon Hospital is unknown. The now-gutted structure was used to provide healthcare services for Atlanta’s Black community during its operation between 1946 and the 1980s. Atlanta media mogul Alexis Scott and her brother were born at McLendon Hospital. Scott, along with David Mitchell, the executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center , and Li...

The “Closer Look” team head to  Waller’s Coffee Shop for the April installment of Coffee Conversations . Rose talks with panelists about the most pressing issues facing Decatur, including affordable housing, transit and community safety. Guests include Jason Waller, the owner of Waller’s Coffee Shop, Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett and Dan Whisenhunt, the founder and editor of Decaturish . See om...

Alex Ip, editor-in-chief of the independent news site The Xylom and an environmental engineering undergraduate student at Georgia Tech, recently fact-checked what the City of Atlanta called “myths” about the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center . Ip talks with Rose about the findings of his report and the Georgia Tech communications department's response to his report. See omnystudio.com/lis...

Lisa Aman, the executive director of Kate’s Club, and Fatima El-Amin , the Chief Judge of DeKalb County Juvenile Court, discuss the new pilot program Disrupting the Grief to Prison Pipeline – a partnership between Kate’s Club and the DeKalb Juvenile Court. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Rich McCormick is an emergency room physician and veteran. He was recently elected to serve Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. The new Republican leader talks with Rose about his top priorities for the year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeff Filipovits is an attorney representing the family of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, also known as Tortuguita. Filipovits talks with Rose about the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report that reveals the environmental activist was shot at least 57 times by officers in January near the proposed site for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.   Alan Cowan, a student at Morehou...

Two Kennesaw State University professors recently received a Spencer Foundation grant for a research project to incorporate Asian American history in Georgia school curriculum. Dr. Sohyun An, a professor of social studies education, and Dr. Theresa Alviar -Martin, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction, talk with Rose about their research and the need for diverse and comple...

Several Georgia State University faculty members and students oppose the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center . Dr. Makungu M. Akinyela , an associate professor in the Africana Studies Department at Georgia State University, and Niana Battle, a junior at Georgia State University majoring in public policy, discuss an open letter calling for GSU to disinvest in the controversial developme...

Little Shop of Stories recently launched the Banned Books Book Club . Justin Colussy-Estes, the manager of Little Shop of Stories, talks about the monthly event and discusses why the local bookstore decided to take action amid the recent wave of book banning across the nation.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The federal government recently rescued Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank from bank failure . Rose talks with several guests about the banking scare and what it means for local banking in Georgia. Guests include Georgia Bankers Association leaders Joe Brannen and David Oliver and John McNair, the president and CEO of chief executive officer of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia and...

 Chase Miller, the president of the East Atlanta Community Association , discusses why his association feels like it’s being left out of the conversation about the future of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, also known as ‘Cop City.’ Plus, “Closer Look’s” new Hip Hop @ 50 series continues. Illya Davis , a philosophy professor at Morehouse College and the director of New Students...

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is coming to Atlanta. Dan Corso , the president of the Atlanta Sports Council at Metro Atlanta Chamber, talks with Rose about preparations for the international sporting event and the lessons learned from the 1996 Olympic  Games. Civil rights activist Angela Davis  talks with Rose about her recent decision to return a proclamation from the City of ...

Michael Baptiste, Metro Atlanta Chamber's vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, provides an update about MAC's ATL Action for Racial Equity initiative. U.S. Representative Lucy McBath recently announced that Lawrenceville will receive more than $7.7 million in infrastructure funding . Lawrenceville Mayor David Still discusses the current state of Lawrenceville’s infrastructure and sha...

Hope Wollensack, the executive director of Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund, and Lauren Priest, the program officer on the Community Impact Team at the Community Foundation for a Greater Atlanta, join “Closer Look” to provide a one-year update about In Her Hands a guaranteed income program for Black women in Georgia.   Gabriela Sandoval, founding executive director of the Exc...

A new ProPublica investigative report suggests that for more than 20 years, real estate developer Harlan Crow has gifted U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with expensive gifts and luxury domestic and international vacations. Rose talks with guests about the investigation and judicial ethics. Guests included in the conversation: Tanya Washington a professor of law at Georgia State Uni...

Hip Hop turns 50 this year. Every Friday through the end of August, for “Closer Look’s” Hip Hop at 50 series, Rose will talk with several guests about the art form and its influence on global culture. The series will explore and celebrate the past, present and future of Hip Hop. We revisit Rose’s conversations with De La Soul, MC Lyte, T.I., Goodie Mob, and Killer Mike. See omnystudio.com/lis...

Nita Farahany is the Robinson O. Everett Distinguished Professor of Law and Philosophy at Duke University and the founding director of the Duke Initiative for Science and Society. Farahany, who also served as the former commissioner on the U.S. Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues during the Obama administration, joins “Closer Look to discuss her new book “The Battle for Your...

Paula Moody was recently named the CEO of Families First . Moody talks with Rose about her new role, the organization, and the ongoing challenges of transitioning from foster care to adoption in Georgia and across the nation. Plus, Farley Barge, the co-founder and president of Navigate Recovery , and Ashley Parham, a lifeline lead recovery coach and program implementation specialist at Navigate Re...

Tuesday marks 55 years since Martin Luther King was assassinated . Rose talks with Vann Newkirk II, the senior editor of The Atlantic, about his new podcast, “ Holy Week: The Story of a Revolution Undone." The podcast explores the uprisings that happened across the country the week after King’s death. We will then rebroadcast reflections from our ATL 68 series as well as a recent conversation with...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a new leader. Leroy Chapman is the first Black editor-in-chief to lead the newspaper that has been in circulation for 155 years. Chapman talks with Rose about his career path, vision for the publication, and the overall state of journalism. Former President Donald Trump has been indicted in New York in connection to his alleged role in paying hush money to adul...

On Friday’s special edition of “Closer Look,” show host Rose Scott talks with several guests about women breaking into the craft brewing industry. Rose talks with Tracy Bardugon, the chapter lead for the Atlanta Pink Boots Society , Jen Blair , an advanced cicerone, Jossette Footmon-Smith, a co-owner of Our Culture Brewing , and Jen Price, the founder of Crafted for Action . See omnystudio.com/lis...

Plus, the Georgia General Assembly's 2023 legislative session has concluded. WABE politics reporters Rahul Bali and Sam Gringlas reflect on the legislative session and discuss key bills that passed on Sine Die. Georgia State Sen. Sheikh Rahman joins “Closer Look” to talk about the legislative session and to provide an update about mental health funding in Georgia. Belisa Urbina, the CEO...

“Buried Truths, Season 4: Race & Rage in Terrible Terrell” is out now. Hank Klibanoff , an Emory University professor, veteran journalist, and the host of WABE’s “Buried Truths” podcast, and Jake Busch, an Emory University graduate and local journalist who assisted with research for the podcast, talk with Rose about the new series that investigates the death of James Brazier. The Georgia Supre...

District 2 Atlanta City Councilmember Amir Farokhi discusses Atlanta's history of underfunding the city’s maintenance needs and what needs to be done to streamline the process of maintaining city roads and infrastructure projects. Plus, Chris Johnson, the interim executive director of Communications at the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network , discusses mental health funding cuts and the potent...

First, Reverend Leo Seyij Allen, a Baptist minister and the Georgia campaigns manager for Faith in Public Life , and Rebecca Stapel-Wax, the executive director of Sojourn , the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender & Sexual Diversity, discuss why they oppose SB140 becoming law. Rose Scott then talks with the Frame family. The family of four discuss their experience in raising a child who...