Soul Sessions Jackson

On today's show, we're talking with Joe Kosin, VP and Head of Programming at Innovation Arts & Entertainment, the company behind Broadway in Jackson, about the five productions coming to Thalia Mara Hall this season, what the hall's reopening means for touring Broadway, and why getting Jackson back to a week-long run of a blockbuster show is the goal — and why he thinks that's actually within reac...

On today's show, we're sitting down with Jerry Douglas — Alison Krauss and Union Station anchor and board member of the National Council for the Traditional Arts — ahead of his performance at the National Folk Festival, November 13th through 15th in Jackson. His latest album, The Set, his first solo release in seven years, captures exactly what makes him irreplaceable: a player who's always adapti...

Jackson, Mississippi marks Juneteenth with seven free events across eight days — from a folk opera premiere at Jackson State University to a Ranger Talk at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument to an inaugural gospel celebration at LeFleur's Bluff State Park. We've got the full guide, plus a conversation with Brad Franklin, the organizer behind the 10th Annual Juneteenth on Farish, on...

On today's show, David and Jason talk about what it actually takes to bet on a neighborhood like Fondren — and why, for two people who aren't planning to go anywhere, that bet only keeps getting bigger. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-david-pharr-jason-watkins

On today's Soul Sessions Extra, we're talking about Jubilee: A Folk Opera — a collaboration between Jackson State University and Yale University debuting this summer, free and open to the public, right here in Jackson. I'm joined by Patricia Syner, Communications Director at the Margaret Walker Center. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-patricia-syner

On today's show, we're talking with urban strategist Josh McManus — partner at M|B|P, co-creator of JXN Rising, and the driving force behind Better Together, the effort to bring architect Sambo Mockbee's personal archive back into public view for the first time in 25 years. Josh has spent three decades working in post-industrial cities from Chattanooga to Detroit, and now he's turned his attention...

On today's show, we recorded live on location at the Mississippi Museum of Art during Third Space JXN's Soulfood Sunday event this April with our guest, Third Space founder Aisha Carson. We find out what it actually takes to build intentional community in a city that deserves to see itself celebrated. Her belief is rooted simply in this: that narrative change is where all other change begins, and...

On today's show, we're talking with Andrea Patterson, Executive Director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum about 30 years of preserving Mississippi's greatest sports legacy, a $4 million renovation that's redefining what the museum can be and why the stories told inside those walls still stop people cold. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-andrea-patterson-...

On this EXTRA, we're talking about Jackson Coffee Festival. One day, one location. More than a dozen of the region's best specialty coffee producers all under one roof in Jackson, MS on May 2 at the Mississippi Trade Mart. https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-coffee-fest

On today's show, Dr. Robby Luckett, President of the Farish Street Main Street Association Board of Directors, shares insights on reigniting a legacy of resilience and cultural pride in Jackson, Mississippi. Discover how this historic district's past shapes its future through strategic support and community transformation. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-robby-luckett-f...

This is a Soul Sessions Extra, a shorter form episode focused on one thing we think you need to know about right now. And today, that's the second annual Stranger Than Fiction film series. Four documentary screenings at the Capri across the month of April, brought to you by the Mississippi Film Society and made possible in part by a grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Our guest today is a chef, farmer, and writer who covers food and Southern culture for Local Palate magazine out of Charleston. On today's show, Jasmine Michel brings an outsider's eyes to Jackson — fresh off the JXN Food & Wine Festival — and what she found here quietly challenged everything her nervous system had been trained to expect from the Deep South. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.co...

On this podcast extra, it's just a quick rundown of one of my favorite weekends of the year. The 43rd annual Hal's St. Paddy's Parade and Festival is this Saturday, March 28th and here's how to make the most of it. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-paddys-parade-guide

On today's show, we're putting Mississippi on the Map with Nick Wallace and Hunter Evans, two chefs cooking at the highest level, both part of this weekend's sold out third annual JXN Food & Wine Festival.

Today's episode is a Soul Sessions Extra, a shorter conversation with Jessica Walzer, curator of collections and exhibits at the two Mississippi museums about a brand new exhibition called “Mississippi Made.” In celebration of America 250, it's 250 artifacts spanning from the early 19th century to the present day. Agriculture, manufacturing, music, fashion, science, literature, film, the breadth a...

On today's show, we're talking American favorite classic foods with two people who've built their restaurants around it. Jeff Good is the owner of Sal and Mookie's New York Pizza and Ice Cream Joint at The District at Eastover in LeFleur East. Since 2007, he's been making New York-style pizza in Jackson. Fresh dough every day, the kind of slice that folds just perfectly. And Scott Jackson, he's a...

On today's show, we're talking about Southern food traditions with two women who are keepers of those traditions in very different ways. Chef Enrika Williams trained at a culinary school in Atlanta and came home to Jackson, the city that's always felt like endless possibilities for her imagination and creativity. And Glenda Cage Barner opened Sugar's Place on West Griffith Street with her son, Che...

On today's show, we're talking about two of those daily rituals with two people who've built their businesses around them: Matt Flinn at Native Coffee Company and Brandi Carter at Levure Wine Shop. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-matt-flinn-brandi-carter

Today, we're talking about the HBCU Power Series coming to Trustmark Park in Pearl this February. Six tradition-rich programs, three days of games, and a weekend that celebrates everything great about HBCU athletics. And yes, your Jackson State Tigers will be playing right here at home. JSU head baseball Coach Omar Johnson joins us. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-hbcu-...

On today’s show, I stepped back and let two incredible chefs talk shop. Geno Lee, the fourth-generation owner of the Big Apple Inn on Farish Street, sits down with Simms Powell, a 15-year-old culinary and artistic prodigy who's been cooking since he was nine. Both are featured on the cover of our 2026 tour guide, and this conversation about Filipino food, fusion cuisine, and what it really takes t...

On today's season six opener, we're celebrating what makes Jackson's food scene unlike anywhere else through the voices of the chefs, restaurateurs and the food makers who bring it to life. Hear from Chefs Nick Wallace, Hunter Evans, Enrika Williams, Damien Cavichhi and Chaz Lindsay; distiller Richard Patrick and coffee roaster and expert Trey Malone. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/...

On today's show, we're talking about Mississippi's return to the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day. Last year's debut was a landmark moment. 800,000 people on the streets of Pasadena, millions more watching worldwide. This year, Mississippi goes back with a new theme celebrating the arts and Jackson's own USA International Ballet Competition will be represented on the float. TRANSCRIPT:...

On today's show, we're talking with WJTV's Kayla Thompson, who turned a scary moment in Tupelo into a career-defining revelation. Now she's the face of Live at 9, where she spotlights Jackson's creative hustle every weekday morning. Her new book, Master of the Pivot, chronicles her journey from Jacksonville State in Alabama to becoming one of Jackson's most recognizable voices. TRANSCRIPT: https:/...

On today's show, we down with Ally Durr, visual designer by day, soulful musician by calling. From singing gospel with her cousins to releasing her breakthrough single, “What You Livin' For,” to grooving for Aunjanue L. Ellis-Taylor at Tougaloo, Ally's journey through Jackson's music scene is a masterclass in creative courage and community connection. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/...

On today's show, Blaine Wade, the president and CEO of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, joins us to talk about the National Folk Festival, coming to Jackson for a three year residency, November 7th, 8th and 9th. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-blaine-wade