This Is Nashville

Not long ago, everybody seemed to want to get in on Pride month festivities. Then the political winds shifted. Companies that were proudly flying the rainbow flag decided to fold up their colors this year, or at least drop their financial support — including Vanderbilt Medical Center, Nissan, Cracker Barrel, Dollar General and Jack Daniel’s. So Nashville Pride has been scrambling to fill the gap w...

Nothing remains of Roger Williams University except a couple of historical plaques tucked away on Vanderbilt’s Peabody Campus. Founded in the wake of the Civil War alongside Fisk and Meharry, this historically Black institution once thrived before being destroyed in two suspicious fires in 1905. Today we uncover the forgotten history of Roger Williams, visit the nearby The Curb Center for Art, Ent...

Americana often becomes a place for artists or music industry types who don’t fit neatly elsewhere. And for Tamara Saviano, it was a place for a writer and publicist who was shunned by country music. Saviano moved to Nashville and quickly found herself crossways with industry heavyweights. A fateful firing over politics led to a phone call from actor and singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, and t...

The Roundabout is your news of the week, analyzed by our panelists from points of view that span left, right and center. Joining us today are Mark Rogers , Republican Party advisor; Dahron Johnson , chaplain and co-chair of the Nashville committee of Tennessee Equality Project ; And Meribah Knight , reporter and producer of special projects for WPLN. What stories are making the rounds in your circ...

There’s a poster in the This Is Nashville studio that says “Our City, Our Stories.” And today it could say “Nuestra ciudad, nuestra historias.” Eleven percent of Nashvillians identify as Hispanic or having Hispanic heritage and today we're spending the hour with some of our Spanish-speaking neighbors: a coffee shop owner who can be found some days passing out free sweet bread to drivers stuck in t...

In My Place is a series that educates listeners on what communities like Nashville can do to prevent and end homelessness — while caring for our neighbors who are still unhoused. In our last episode , we celebrated getting those keys! In this episode, we’re talking about the difficulties of having a home. It’s easy for those of us who have never been homeless to celebrate someone getting housed, b...

Fred Bailey didn’t just defy the odds. He didn’t see his circumstances as a deck stacked against him. In fact, he couldn’t see at all , which was one of the challenges you’d expect to hold someone back. "You’re Black, blind, and poor," his father told him, adding that hard work was going to be the only way out.  And he lived it out.  In this profile interview, Bailey talks about his memoir, his ca...

It’s Thursday and time for another episode of The Roundabout – the "Nashville Nice" edition "Nashville Nice" is a unique flavor of Southern hospitality and friendliness. And since we last took a look three years ago , a lot more than the skyline has changed. Today we wonder, as more transplants move in and Lower Broad leans into its "party city" reputation, are cracks starting to appear in our col...

Let’s discuss the dreaded G-word – geriatrics – and clear up common misconceptions about that medical specialty and why it’s important for healthy aging. For many, it conjures images of decline, disease, and – well – dying. But what if we take the view that geriatricians are experts in body and mind maintenance for late-model humans? That’s the focus of this episode of our monthly series, NEXT AGE...

Running a small business is tough — especially if you’re in a city like Nashville where commercial lease rates are increasing significantly . Today, we’re tallying the cost of doing business in Middle Tennessee. Joining us are small business owners, subject matter experts, and property developers to enlighten us on how small businesses are adapting to the changing economic landscape. You can also...

When people in Nashville have nowhere else to go, they find our guest this hour. We’re getting to know the story of Joy Flores, the vice president of ministries at the Nashville Rescue Mission. Her journey includes time working in foster care, years on Skid Row in Los Angeles, and losing her own brother to the perils that accompany homelessness. It’s a career that has shaped her whole-person philo...

Freddie O’Connell is back for another round of “Ask the Mayor.” Today we have questions for him about a land swap deal for Dolly, massive gridlock at the airport, deploying the National Guard to cities around the country (is Nashville next?) and if public employees should lose their jobs for private speech. But there’s more to be asked and that's where you come in. Call in to ask Freddie your own...

Maybe we didn’t know what we had until it left a theme park-size hole in Nashville’s heart. A documentary premiering at the Nashville Film Festival, called “A Circle Broken,” gives us a good excuse to reopen that wound and hear the story of Opryland like we’ve not heard before, a story about how perhaps Opryland saved the Grand Ole Opry itself. We’re talking to the characters who are keeping the m...

Predatory lending practices are not new. Think salary buying and loan sharks of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But the modern version was born in the 1990s right here in Tennessee. Sometimes called "payday loans," many who use the service are in a financial crisis and need quick cash — often leading to a trap of high interest debt. Today we speak with Tennessee Lookout reporter Adam Fried...

Abdikadir Mohamed spent fourteen years in a Kenyan refugee camp before being able to immigrate to Nashville, where he and his family made a life for themselves. From not knowing where his next meal would come from to advocating for others who are currently facing what he went through, he joins This Is Nashville to share what his upbringing taught him, what life in a refugee camp is like, and the c...

This past spring, Durham, North Carolina, hosted a sprawling roots music festival called Biscuits and Banjos. For the thousands of attendees, it had some similarities to a lot of folk music events around the country. But one major thing set it apart: Nearly every featured performer was Black. The event is just one part of a Black folk music revival sweeping the country that's rescuing lost traditi...

We’ve given you a lot to think about this week as we've examined harm reduction, medication assisted treatment and substance use disorder recovery and loss. Today, it's your turn to talk. Our guests this week have talked about clean syringe exchange, using drugs to get off drugs and the shame and stigma surrounding substance use disorder. Our Roundabout panel is here to listen to your stories and...

While doctors are prescribing fewer and fewer opioids, there’s one that’s not going away – buprenorphine, often known by its brand name of Suboxone. Compared to other narcotics, it's harder to abuse. It’s far less dangerous than the synthetic street drugs. And it reduces the risk of overdosing. But it’s still an opioid that is very hard to get off of. The number of Tennesseans prescribed these opi...

On today's episode of "This Is Nashville," we dive into the work of sanctioned harm reduction. Needle exchanges, distributing drug overdose reversal medication and fentanyl test strips — these tactics to limit the damage of the opioid crisis were once broadly illegal in Tennessee, and now they’re being used by certain groups to, essentially, help people use drugs more safely without necessarily tr...

When it comes to drug addiction, trying to help someone quit can feel like a lost cause. But there are still ways to keep people as healthy as possible. They’re just a little bit controversial. It’s a philosophy known as "harm reduction." And some of the work isn’t just controversial – it can be illegal in Tennessee. A few harm reductionists are willing to take legal risks because they see the wor...

It’s Thursday and time for another episode of The Roundabout. The Roundabout is your news of the week , analyzed by our panelists from points of view that span left, right and center. Joining us today are attorney John Spragens, former reporter and political operative who also previously handled communications for Congressman Jim Cooper; Toby Compton, who worked for Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and a...

Chicken and Waffles, shrimp and grits, powdered sugar on top of fresh French toast—not to mention bottomless mimosas. For those not addicted to social media, that spells brunch. According to listwithclever.com , New Orleans, Indianapolis and San Francisco are ranked among the top cities in the country for that late-morning, breakfast/lunch hybrid. Although Nashville is known for music, food, and s...

We have an episode dedicated to a tiny fraction of the population that fascinates us all: the identical twins in our midst. Life is just different for those who share all of their genetics — and we’re looking to understand them more. We’ll talk to Middle Tennessee twins who work together keeping our community safe, teenage twins growing up and one twin who you hear every day on our show. We’ll als...

It’s Thursday and time for another episode of The Roundabout. The Roundabout is your news of the week , analyzed by our panelists from points of view that span left, right and center. Joining us today are former congressional candidate Kiran Sreepada , Vanderbilt young Republican Noah Jenkins and the Tennessean’s Austin Hornbostel . We’re stepping back from the news of the week and looking for mea...

There’s a caregiving crisis in America, and taking care of our parents is just one part of the struggle. It’s caring for adults with a disability. It’s grandparents raising kids again, or parents as primary caregivers for a medically complex child. Then there are friends caring for friends like they’re family. Today is dedicated to highlighting resources to help caregivers of all kinds – both paid...