The Stories We Tell

President of Open Primaries, John Opdyke, joins The Shields Report to discuss primary voting and the myths surrounding it. How did it begin? What was the original intent of primary voting? Is it actually illegal to crossover vote in Tennessee? John is a wealth of knowledge and walks us through the necessary details regarding primaries.

Courtney Searcy has been an integral part of Our Jackson Home since its inception. Last October, Courtney stepped down as Director of OJH, leaving a lasting legacy of storytelling, creativity, and style. Throughout this episode, Courtney and I discuss her formative years growing up in Middle Tennessee, what brought her to Jackson, and how art can enhance community.

Tennessee Lookout reporter Adam Friedman joins ATA to discuss his most recent piece concerning charter school donations to the Lee campaign.

Dr. Mark Fowler joins Chuck and Gabe for Part 2 of this WAY Across the Aisle episode. The subject of this episode is public education. Check it out!

Chuck always likes to bust out the political number line when gauging the conservative or liberal leanings of people. Well, on this episode of ATA, Dr. Mark Fowler (a 6 or 7) on the conservative side joins Chuck (a 0-1) and Gabe (a 7 or 8) on the liberal side to discuss some national narratives such as education, the LGBTQ movement, and much more. The conversation was productive, informative, and...

We deviate from the formula a little bit in this episode. While Jenci is definitely the focal point, the majority of this episode is spent talking about the work she does at W.R.A.P. WRAP was founded in 1975 as a volunteer-led rape crisis hotline. Since its founding, it has expanded to serve survivors of both sexual and domestic violence, as well as supporting children and families through the Rel...

My favorite episodes are the episodes where vulnerabililty is evident throughout the conversation. This is one of those episodes. Darin Hollingsworth sits down to have a conversation about mental health and how he's working to raise awareness for suicide prevention. In this episode, Darin tells his story of early trauma in childhood and how that manifested later in his adult life. He also open...

Chuck and Gabe hit on some wild Tennessee topics such as Sexton's task force to discuss rejecting federal dollars for education. Billions of federal dollars. We also have an in-depth conversation about ACE Charter Schools with Dave Wicker. Dave is working on his doctorate and focusing on the cost and sustainability of charter schools. Hint: there's not a history of success.

Cody Stooksberry loves beer. In fact, he loves it so much that his job is to create new flavors and styles of beer. Yes, he's actually paid to do that. Cody is the brewmaster for Hub City Brewing and Rock-N-Dough Pizza, two staples of Downtown Jackson. On this episode, we discuss the how and why of Cody's start in brewing and how the process for him is both artistic and scientific.

ATA episodes will currently drop under the umbrella of TSWT. The purpose of ATA is to have informed, productive conversations from different ideological perspectives. On this episode, we talk with Lauren Kirk about the housing situation in Jackson and clear up some misinformation about Airbnb rentals. During the first 30 minutes, Chuck and I discuss some local news - charter school review, Deaton&...

This episode has everything - a heart-wrenching story, the science behind cannabis, and how a family is keeping the memory of their loved alive while helping others. Patrick Nelson is the Operating Manager of Hemphill Pharms - an organic, hand-harvested hemp farm. The farm began as a family labor of love after Patrick's sister, Kelly, passed away from cancer. During the final stages of her lif...

A.J. Massey is the mayor of Madison County, but I knew him long before he held that title. Over the course of an hour and a half, AJ and I talked about growing up in Jackson, attending JCM and Union, local politics, and the surprising turn the mayoral primary took last year. While AJ and I do disagree on most socio-political issues, our conversation on this episode was light and focused on AJ'...

I've known Sabrina Parker for several years. I knew her son before I knew her, though. Sabrina's son, Tyler, was in my Language Arts class at Northeast Middle School during the 2017-2018 school year. Tyler was a quiet student with a distinct sense of humor. He was one of the calmest students I have ever taught in class. On May 20, 2022, I received a text from someone telling me that Sabrin...

Devante' Chaney is a fighter - literally. Devante' is an amateur MMA fighter in pursuit of professional status, but that's not his only goal. Devante' is a trainer and coach, too, helping people achieve their personal fitness goals as well helping kids gain confidence and skill in combat sports. In the Season 1 finale of TSWT, Devante and I discuss growing up in Jackson, why his gr...

Chris Felder opened Grubb's Grocery eight years ago in Jackson. Before moving to Jackson in 2015, Chris lived in Nashville for 30 years. The move to Jackson was reminiscent of Chris's childhood hometown in rural Mississippi. Throughout this conversation, we touch on a variety of topics including the duality of beauty and ugliness in the culture of the south, 90s country music, the importan...

On this episode, we sit down with Oliver Rieger and discuss our mutual love for reading, Oliver's past careers, and the personal journey to authenticity. Oliver's story, like most people's, is filled with times that were challenging, struggles to be seen, and a continuing perseverance to live an authentic life even when society doesn't seem so welcoming.

On this episode of TSWT, Trunetta Atwater sits down and discusses her work as a photographer and creator in Jackson. I've admired Trunetta and her work for a long time simply by following her on Facebook, but being able to sit down and hear her story face to face helped me gain an even greater appreciation for the work she's doing for women and for the African-American community in Jackson...

I've known Hunter Cross for nearly twenty years; he's been creating the whole time. Most likely, you know Hunter as the photogenic musician and talented guitar player who plays and sings all over Jackson; he also bears a striking resemblance to a certain early 90's grunge rock god. On this episode, Hunter and I discuss his creative evolution - from a burgeoning eleven year old independ...

Our final episode of Conversations with the Candidates is none other than Mayor Scott Conger. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Mayor Conger has had to deal with a lifetime of challenges in his first term as the mayor of Jackson. Only eight months after he took office, the Covid-19 pandemic hit Jackson. After navigating everything that went along with managing a pandemic, Mayor Conger was s...

I've known Dr. Jerry Woods for nearly three decades, and every time our paths have happened to cross I leave the interaction feeling a little bit better than before. Jerry Woods is the type of person can make you do that. Throughout our conversation on this episode, Dr. Woods discusses growing up in Pinson, Tennessee and attending grades 1-8 in a school district that was still segregated. He w...

Lisa Williams-Lyons came back to Jackson to make a difference in a community that meant so much to her when she was a child. We open our conversation discussing her connection to Jackson and her experiences spending her summers here with both sets of grandparents. This allowed Lisa to simultaneously experiences two separate socioeconomic cultures in one city. She's carried those memories with...

Mayoral candidate Daryl Hubbard sits down to discuss why he's running to be the Mayor of Jackson, Tennessee. Mr. Hubbard has served as City Court Clerk for a number of years and is extremely passionate about needed changes in the criminal justice system. Mr. Hubbard was engaging and energetic throughout our conversation and his passion for the city is undeniable.

Drew Baker was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee, and - like all lifelong Jacksonsians - has his story threaded throughout the town. Drew has spent the majority of his adult life in the food service industry, but a battle with alcoholism nearly derailed what has turned out to be one hell of a story. We dive deep into the pain of his addiction and, more importantly, how he stepped out of that d...

Keith Davis has lived a life unlike most Jacksonians. After graduating from Jackson Central-Merry, he attended college in Massachusetts before delving into the arts scene in Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. Keith returned to Jackson in 2014 and began to face a lot of the trauma he experienced as a black male growing up in the south in the 60's. His story is filled with wonderful memories and...

Lauren Kirk is the Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Jackson. If you don't know what that is, Lauren sums it up quite well by saying "My job is to make government better for people." Over the course of thirty minutes, Lauren and I discuss the work being done by the City of Jackson to ensure that every community member is being served. We talk about investment in certain parts...