Vanderbilt fans have rushed the court at basketball games and the field after major football wins. And NIL brand values could go up because of big fan celebrations. Plus, the local news for January 28, 2025 and visiting the state capitol with two moms advocating for their kids. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 28, 2025•18 min
On this episode, we dig into part of what put the “music” in Music City: video game soundtracks. Plus, the local news for January 27, 2025 and a conversation about immigration and Tennessee. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP
Jan 27, 2025•22 min
On today’s episode, we peel back the curtain on how our newsroom thinks about naming assailants in mass shootings and why we’re choosing to focus on the victim, Josselin Corea Escalante, in the Antioch High School shooting. Plus, the local news for January 24, 2025, and a conversation about this week’s news. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner a...
Jan 24, 2025•14 min
On today’s episode, we bring you the latest on the Antioch High School shooting that left two students dead and another injured Tuesday. Plus, more local news for January 23, 2025. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP
Jan 23, 2025•9 min
Having one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans hasn’t stopped this state’s lawmakers from suggesting more ways to limit the practice. Plus, the local news for January 22, 2025, and the unique sound of one of Nashville’s most iconic buildings. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 22, 2025•20 min
On this episode, we dive into a court case that reveals the limits of a church’s power to keep behind-closed-door meetings confidential. Plus, the local news for January 21, 2025 and a profile of the Nashville-based singer/songwriter Yola. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 21, 2025•18 min
On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're bringing you an episode of Versify from the archives. In the episode, Freedom Rider Etta Marie Simpson Ray speaks with poet Kelley Bell about the experience of living in the echo of a movement when your contributions have all but been erased, finding the courage to risk personal gain for the collective good, and the critical importance of carrying the old days with us. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Ed...
Jan 20, 2025•46 min
Both the state of Tennessee and the federal government are having some big discussions about disaster relief funding right now. Plus the local news for January 17, 2025 and a lawsuit involving food stamps in the state. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 17, 2025•18 min
On this anniversary of the start of civil service protections in the United States, we should be watching carefully to see how fragile those protections are. Plus, the local news for January 16, 2025, and the end of a vinyl manufacturer in Nashville. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 16, 2025•16 min
A new lawsuit related to how the state passes out food stamps could reveal how some people fall through the cracks of an imperfect system. Plus, the local news for January 15, 2025 and this week’s edition of What, Where, Whens-day . Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 15, 2025•18 min
Sometimes shocking death rates galvanize Tennessee’s leaders into action. And sometimes they run away from even debating potential solutions. Plus, the local news for Jan. 14, 2025, and a conversation with David French. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 14, 2025•17 min
Tennessee has been known for sending volunteers into national military engagements for a long, long time. And it’s never been completely straightforward. That’s potentially true of the way Tennessee could soon pitch in help for the Trump administration. Plus, the local news for January 13, 2025 and federal protection for massive salamanders native to this state. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Line...
Jan 13, 2025•19 min
Laugh all you want about how badly Southerners handle a few inches of snow, but there are good reasons to be cautious when winter weather hits Middle Tennessee. Plus the local news for January 10, 2025 and new hurdles to getting books in Tennessee prisons. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 10, 2025•19 min
The deadly incident on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street has sparked a new thread of safety discussion in Nashville, just as two other downtown safety initiatives are being discussed at the city and state levels. Plus the local news for January 9, 2025 and the East Nashville inspiration behind a WNXP Artist of the Month song. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTo...
Jan 09, 2025•18 min
There are plenty of parallels between The Titans of the past and today’s team. On today’s podcast, we run down some recent movement on the team’s new stadium and what their record could mean for season tickets. Plus, the local news for January 8, 2025 and this week’s edition of What Where When-sday . Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the s...
Jan 08, 2025•18 min
On today’s episode, Nina explores the life and times of Dorothy Lavinia Brown, the first Southern Black woman to become a surgeon and accomplish many other remarkable things in her lifetime. Plus, the local news for January 7, 2025, and a look at how misinformation spread after Hurrican Helene. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff o...
Jan 07, 2025•15 min
On this episode, host Nina Cardona remembers what it was like to spend three hours with former President Jimmy Carter years ago at WPLN. Plus, the local news for January 6, 2025, and a look at pop crossovers in 2024. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP...
Jan 06, 2025•19 min
Fisk University’s Jubilee singers were formed to respond to a funding crisis started by the end of a federal program. Now, the state and TSU are playing out a story with certain parallels. Plus, the local news for January 3, 2025 and a look inside a storied East Nashville music studio. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN an...
Jan 03, 2025•20 min
Reconstruction was a messy period for Tennessee, with many people formerly aligned with the Confederacy taking the law into their own hands. In Shelbyville during that time, some of the people targeted by the KKK fought back. Plus, the local news for January 2, 2025 and What, Where, Whens-day on a Thursday. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner an...
Jan 02, 2025•18 min
On today’s special holiday edition of the NashVillager podcast, we highlight three of Nina’s best On This Day essays from the last year. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Miriam Kramer Editor: Tony Gonzalez Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Nina Cardona, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP
Jan 01, 2025•18 min
Nashville is lush and beautiful, but not for everyone. On this special holiday edition of the NashVillager podcast, we take a look back at Caroline Eggers’ fascinating story on Nashville’s tree canopy. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Catherine Sweeney Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP
Dec 31, 2024•4 min
Two novels released this year — Those Beyond the Wall by Vanderbilt scholar Micaiah Johnson, and Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner — are works of fiction. But they both showcase ties to real Nashville events: the People’s Plaza and the Covenant School shooting. WPLN spoke with the authors to learn more about the thinking behind the works. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Cynthia Abrams Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Nina Ca...
Dec 30, 2024•13 min
You may have heard the names Harold Love Jr. and William Lamberth in the same breath as a new law or the latest happenings at the Tennessee State Capitol. But who are they when the statehouse isn’t in session? This episode, we’ll hear from these lawmakers on both sides of aisle about what brought them to politics, and who they are outside of it. Plus, a look ahead at some freshman lawmakers we’ll meet in the new year. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Mariann...
Dec 27, 2024•9 min
This year was an emotional roller coaster in the news, with one surprise and unprecedented event after another. It was hard to keep track of life’s more predictable moments — annual traditions and the natural world. In this special holiday episode of the NashVillager, reporter Char Daston shares his favorite WPLN stories from this year about the changing of the seasons. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Char Daston Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Ma...
Dec 26, 2024•12 min
A Murfreesboro 20-something became a monk – for a bit. A temporary ordination is a rite of passage in Thailand, but it hasn’t carried over to Thai communities in the U.S. That didn’t stop this first-generation Thai American from taking part. Plus, a look at WPLN’s religion stories throughout the years. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Rachel Iacovone Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Nina Cardona, Tony Gonzalez, LaTonya Turner and the...
Dec 25, 2024•10 min
On this special holiday edition of the NashVillager, reporter Paige Pfleger takes us back to one of the most joyful stories that came out of the WPLN newsroom this year. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Paige Pfleger Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP
Dec 24, 2024•8 min
We’re revisiting three stories — published over a span of just seven days — showing how the journalists of WPLN News explain local events by connecting the dots. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Tony Gonzalez Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Nina Cardona, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP
Dec 23, 2024•12 min
Tennessee has had its own share of political scandals that rise to the level of criminal convictions. We run down some of them and give you the latest in the case of former Senator Brian Kelsey. Plus, the local news for December 20, 2024 and a Cookeville Christmas parade that never happened. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of W...
Dec 20, 2024•14 min
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressing concern that drones seen over the country recently could be foreign surveillance devices. We break it down. Plus, the local news for December 19, 2024 and a look at new traditions ex-evangelicals in Nashville are celebrating this holiday season. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, ...
Dec 19, 2024•14 min
Nashville’s very first Christmas parade was held in the last week of November in 1928; but, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the annual tradition faded. Before that there was a whole lot of drama. Plus, the local news for December 18, 2024 and this week’s edition of What, Where, Whens-day . Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public Radio Host/producer: Nina Cardona Editor: Miriam Kramer Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Rachel Iacovone, LaTonya Turner and the staff of ...
Dec 18, 2024•20 min
