Make It Make Sense, Alabama

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , we continue our look at Alabama's child welfare system by speaking with Baldwin County mother Lindsey Barrios , who shares her experience navigating DHR, family court, and a custody battle that has now stretched on for years. Lindsey walks us through the timeline leading up to the removal of her children, including two separate custody disputes,...

This episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama introduces SHOW Baldwin, a nonprofit in Baldwin County created by mothers of children with disabilities who saw firsthand the lack of accessible resources in their community. What started as a simple effort to raise money for a child’s wheelchair quickly evolved into a full organization focused on inclusive events, equipment access, and direct family sup...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , we sit down with Democratic candidate Clyde Jones , who is running for U.S. Congress in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District. Jones brings a background in military service, community leadership, and advocacy. In this conversation, we break down the real issues affecting Alabamians right now. Healthcare costs, workers’ rights, immigration enforcement...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , we take a closer look at a case involving 71-year-old Nolan Keel of Foley, Alabama, who was arrested during an early morning walk in April 2024. According to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, Keel was stopped for walking in the roadway and later arrested for disorderly conduct. Keel disputes that version of events. Using the incident report, appl...

Why are Alabama power bills so high? Why does the Alabama Public Service Commission keep avoiding transparency? And what really happened with the legislation that expanded the PSC? In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Jeff Ramsey , Democratic candidate for the Alabama Public Service Commission, union electrician, small business owner,...

In this Beyond the Pod episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama, Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi take listeners behind the scenes to discuss real-time developments, political conversations, and investigative work happening outside the main episodes. This episode covers: • A major update in the Tony Quince case and the pending decision before the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals• Allegations of...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , hosts Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Brent Woodall, Republican candidate for Alabama Public Service Commission Place 2, to discuss the growing controversy surrounding the PSC, Alabama power rates, and proposed legislation that could reshape how commissioners are selected. The Alabama Public Service Commission regulates utilities...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , hosts Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Matt Gentry, Cullman County Sheriff and candidate for the Alabama Public Service Commission, to discuss rising power bills, utility regulation, and what the PSC actually does. Gentry shares his background in law enforcement, why he’s running for the Alabama Public Service Commission, and what...

Human trafficking is often talked about as something that happens somewhere else. Another country. Another state. To someone else’s community. But the reality is far different. In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , we sit down with Allana Chris and Genna Van Varden of The Little Tree Project, a nonprofit working directly with survivors of human trafficking and alongside law enforcement...

In Beyond the Pod, Neeli and Whitney take you behind the scenes of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , breaking down what doesn’t always make it into the final cut and what’s actively unfolding in real time. This episode covers: • The developing allegations tied to Daphne High School and the response from parents and media • A major new tip in the Brittany Wood case and how it was handled with law enfor...

Alabama’s prison system is under national scrutiny, and some say it’s becoming the incarceration capital of the world. In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , we sit down with gubernatorial candidate Dr. Will Boyd to break down the biggest issues facing Alabamians today, including prison reform, parole failures, education funding, and the ongoing debate over an Alabama lottery. From first...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with retired Rear Admiral and former Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis for a candid conversation about veteran mental health, government accountability, and the controversy surrounding his removal from office. Davis reflects on his military and public service career, the chal...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense Alabama , Whitney Scapecchi and Neeli Faulkner speak with Beth Robley about her years-long fight to obtain custody of her niece through Alabama’s child welfare system. Beth alleges Alabama DHR denied family placement, overlooked serious concerns, applied standards inconsistently, and blocked meaningful intervention as the case moved toward adoption. This conve...

What happens after the uniform comes off, and why are so many veterans left to navigate that transition alone? In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Marine veteran Patrick Jump, co-founder and president of Warrior Legacy Ranch in Baldwin County, Alabama. Patrick shares how his military service in Iraq and Afghanistan, his transition int...

Pastor Dean Odle joins Make It Make Sense, Alabama for a wide ranging conversation that connects the dots between ballot access, party power, and the issues Odle says the state keeps trying to shove to the side. Odle, a minister from Opelika and former statewide Republican candidate, walks through the challenge that knocked him off the 2026 ballot. He explains what he was told by party leadership,...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Whitney Scapecchi and Neeli Faulkner sit down with special education and civil rights attorney James Gallini of The Gallini Group to unpack two bills moving through the Alabama Legislature: HB7, which has already passed the House, and its Senate companion, SB31. Both bills expand the legal definition of what qualifies as a “terrorist threat,” increa...

In this Candidate Conversations episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , hosts Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Chad “Chig” Martin , a Democratic candidate for governor. Chig shares his path from a blue-collar upbringing in Enterprise to building Thunder Industrial Supply, then launching Alabama’s first hemp dispensary, Honeysuckle Hemp Company. He lays out what he calls a citize...

In this Candidate Conversations episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Austin Sidwell, an America First Republican candidate running for Congress in Alabama’s First Congressional District. Sidwell is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and served as a Major in the United States Air Force, where he trained as an HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue pilot...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with JaMel Jermaine Brown. He is a Montgomery based pastor, community activist, and Democratic candidate for Alabama governor in 2026. Brown is also the pastor of House of Chosen. He founded the JaMel J. Brown Foundation and hosts The JaMel Brown Show . Brown describes himself as a conservative Democrat,...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Jeremy and Heather Clark, the husband and wife team behind C.4 Cattle Company and Vets to Cowboys in Grand Bay, Alabama. What started as a way to feed their special needs son clean, tolerable food grew into a working cattle operation. It also grew into a nonprofit mission. Vets to Cowboys focuses on...

In this Candidate Conversations episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner and Whitney Scapecchi sit down with Jodie Minor, a Carrollton native, retired U.S. Army officer, and candidate for Alabama State Senate District 21. Jodie shares the personal losses that shaped him, including the murder of his father when he was a child, and how those experiences pushed him toward public servic...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , Neeli Faulkner sits down with Kaycee Cavender, Republican candidate for Alabama House District 40, which covers Cleburne County and parts of Calhoun County. Cavender is a small business owner, homeschool mother of four, and longtime grassroots advocate. In this conversation, she discusses her background in legal advocacy, her work to license midwive...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama, Whitney Scapecchi and Neeli Faulkner sit down with Ken McFeeters, a Republican candidate for Governor of Alabama in the 2026 race. McFeeters is an insurance agency owner, former president of the Mid Alabama Republican Club, and a 2024 GOP primary candidate for Alabama’s 6th Congressional District who now describes his campaign as a grassroots, outsid...

In this episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , we sit down with JR Bowling, a candidate for Alabama State Senate District 4. JR is a North Alabama native with a background in agriculture and manufacturing and decades of experience as a volunteer firefighter. He describes himself as a political outsider. Not because he lacks experience, but because his path into politics came through public servi...

In this Candidate Conversations episode of Make It Make Sense, Alabama , we sit down with Dale Deas. He is a cardiac surgeon and biomedical engineer running in Alabama’s 2026 Republican U.S. Senate primary. Deas shares his path from medicine to politics. He details allegations of retaliation and whistleblower suppression after raising concerns about patient care, hospital consolidation, and corpor...