This Is Nashville

As the cost of home ownership grows beyond the reach of a single family, multiple generations are finding ways to live together and split that mortgage. Cohabitating sure has its benefits, but nothing is perfect. In this episode, we speak with real estate agents, city planners and locals with lived experience about the ups and downs of having two or more generations under one roof. We're also taki...

How do we honor people who were enslaved when the enslavers are at the center of so much of our history? For generations, Nashville’s portrayals of its Black history has lacked accuracy, as institutions have shied away from the legacy of American slavery. Today, we look at three well-known historical sites in Middle Tennessee: The Hermitage, Fort Negley and Travellers Rest. All have made recent ef...

The tank is full. The open road calling. Before you hit the highway, though, you have to make a few decisions about what you want to see, how much you can spend to get there and where to stop for snacks. Today, we look at the economics of a road trip: the local, national, and global events and factors driving gas prices; how places like Buc-ee's (aka the “ Beaver Industrial Complex ”) and Dolly's...

A quote got back to Allison Russell from her daughter talking to the daughter of another artist: My mommy “just sings sad songs about her sad past.” She did win a GRAMMY for a song she describes as an open letter to her adopted father — a white supremacist — who abused her throughout her childhood. “Do you hate, or do you lust?” she sings in " Eve was Black ." Always attuned to prophetic words, sh...

Nationally, sparkler injuries accounted for 1,700 ER visits in 2024. This year, without much debate, the state legislature passed a new law this year allowing convenience stores to sell sparklers year round. Today we spend some time talking about fireworks safety and alternatives to pyrotechnics—including swarm drones in Clarksville. And we’re prepping for tonight’s hike in Shelby Bottoms for Worl...

It's been twenty years since the first Music City Hot Chicken Festival . Today, we get a little spicy with founder former mayor Bill Purcell and second generation proprietor of Prince’s Hot Chicken Andre Prince . Plus, retiring state house representative Caleb Hemmer joins for an exit interview. And Anita Wadhwani shares the latest on sick and disabled kids with questionable immigration status bei...

 A batch of new laws take effect July 1, including rules that will reshape Tennessee's burgeoning hemp business . Many hemp producers are heading to friendlier states, but one explains why he's committed to stay despite tighter restrictions on THC. We drop in on Monday night's town hall organized by the NAACP Nashville chapter about the data center planned for Fisk University's historic campus. So...

If you are taking care of a child and you have a parent over 65, you’re among millions across the U.S. in the same life stage. Nearly a quarter of all American adults — and half of all adults in their 40s — fall into this “sandwich generation” category, according to Pew research . And being in the middle of that sandwich can feel ... intense. HealthQ hosts Cara Anthony of KFF Health News and Blake...

Pride Month brings rainbow flags, parades, and celebration. But for many queer people in Middle Tennessee, it also raises a more complicated question: where do you actually belong the other eleven months of the year? Nashville has a long history of gathering places where queer residents can find community, visibility, and refuge. Some have endured for decades. Others have quietly faded or been dis...

America's independence turns 250 this year, and the country is abuzz with commemorations, flags flying, and patriotic-fueled pride. But as we mark this milestone, what else should we be talking about? Our Roundabout panel, representing perspectives from across the political spectrum, examines the foundational issues America continues to grapple with, as well as the America 250 headlines making new...

Maybe you get overwhelmed at the enormity of climate change and the effects on our environment. But try not to despair. Today we’re talking about the little things anyone can do. And it starts with simply keeping our eyes open, noticing and documenting what we see. We’re watching for our signal species — getting an introduction to iNaturalist and gathering inspiration from the folks who already ke...

Love, romance and intimacy can look very different in the second half of life — no matter your gender or sexuality. Today we get stories of gay men growing older together, a trans woman from Coffee County finally living in full expression after a huge loss and a woman with her own coming out story who is now coaching people later in life on how to get through the messy middle and beyond. Throughou...

Tech developer DC Blox has filed permit applications for a tentacular data center to be built right next to the Nashville Zoo . A 'Quantum Leap' data center is underway on Fisk University's campus . These constructions have seemingly started to pop up nationwide. And they were showing no sign of slowing. That is, until the public had something to say about it. Americans from all political walks of...

The descendants of the American Revolution are the keepers of our personal histories, saving the stories of ancestors whom time might have forgotten. Two hundred and fifty years ago, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, Tennessee was the rugged Western frontier . Yet, the brave individuals who fought for freedom left a legacy that lives on through local families today. Today, we share...

Have you ever looked closely at your Tennessee driver's license? There might be something surprising in the fine print. Curious Nashville listener Sam Barocas used his microscope to find it. And then he asked the question that inspired today's show: Why is there a microscopic typo on the Tennessee driver's license? In some instances — likely on millions of licenses — a thin ribbon of text reads "T...

Long before she ever heard of Hatch Show Print , Celene Aubry fell in love with letterpress printing. Fascinated by the smell of ink, the feel of paper, the hand-carved wood type, and the big machines that churn out poster after poster, she spent her spare time learning about it while working a marketing day job in Chicago. What began as a passion led to where she is now: the first woman director...

Healthcare is all about who is going to pay for it. Because if you can’t afford to go to the doctor, you probably won’t until it becomes an emergency – which isn’t good for the patient or the system. This is a particular problem in rural Tennessee. When there’s a hiccup in the system, rural systems may shutter. Healthcare Hollow is a WPLN series that takes an in-depth look at the crisis of rural h...

“All-American Girl.” “God Bless the U.S.A.” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” You'll hear these songs many times this summer as we celebrate America's 250th anniversary. But those aren't everyone's anthems. In Nashville, a group of musicians and songwriters are responding to this milestone with something different: unfiltered reflections on what it means to exist in America as Black, Brown, a...

With one of the oldest tracks in America , racing is part of our city's fabric as one of Nashville's earliest professional sports. Even as diehard fans say it’s time to invest in our history, the sound of the cars has become an unwelcome neighbor amid rapid development south of downtown. Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s worth understanding this deep legacy as we make decisions about the future. T...

With Father's Day on the horizon, two dads join us to share their perspectives on love, loss, priorities and fatherhood. After David Fischette stepped away from the day-to-day grind of running his business, he began walking 10,000 steps a day as a personal health challenge. Before long, the habit evolved into a series of “walk and talk” videos exploring themes of love, loss, priorities and codepen...

CMA Fest is upon us. How you feel about that will inform whether or not you're hitting up Broadway this weekend. But the festival has a storied past in Nashville, and so do the iconic cowboy boots both fans and performers wear when attending. For this episode, we'll have historians and writers, as well as a seasoned CMA performer and a full-time bootmaker. What's more—we want to hear from you. The...

This summer, much of the nation is commemorating 1776, the year the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. Tennessee would not become a state for another two decades, but the region that would one day become our Volunteer State was already a place of profound change and activity located on what the founders considered the western frontier. Each Wednesday this month, we'r...

We’re surrounded by wildlife that tells us something about our ecosystem if we’ll take just a moment to stop and smell the roses (or, in this case, take a gander at the kudzu). With our partners in the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom , we’re investigating so-called “signal species," starting with the lovable black bear. As their population has rebounded, so have human interactions – both positive...

Jim Palmer was a crusader for Christianity. He accepted the calling in East Tennessee, went to seminary, and started preaching in one of the largest mega churches in the country. He moved to Nashville to start an offshoot. But then things started to unravel. Faith turned to doubt and then to deconstruction. He was into deconstruction before it was cool, and now he sits down with us to talk about h...

It takes more than 500 pages for Lamar Alexander to tell the story of his political career, and that’s understandable given his 26 years as Tennessee governor and U.S. senator. We’ll dig into some untold stories from his new memoir, “ The Education of a Senator ,” which landed on the New York Times Best Seller list this week and we’ll also get his take on the current state of affairs in American p...