On the latest Ask the Mayor, the This Is Nashville team broke the news of the pending sale of the historic Morris Memorial Building to a boutique hotel chain. And let’s just say, people were not pleased. The news of the pending sale added fuel to the ongoing debate on whether the city should or should not purchase the building. With resident Metro Council “expert” Nicole Williams, we’ll dive into what exactly council members had to say about the effort to #SavetheMorris. Later in the hour, we’ll...
Dec 05, 2023•40 min
Hemp and CBD are legal in Tennessee but marijuana (medical and recreational) is not. So where does this leave Delta-8? A Tennessee lawmaker proposed a bill this legislative session that would have regulated and taxed Delta-8 products, but the bill didn’t make it out of committee. Meanwhile, stores selling Delta-8, CBD and hemp products are cropping up across the state, and there’s even a CBD restaurant and bar that’s coming to Nashville . Today we talk to people who make a living in the hemp and...
Dec 04, 2023•40 min
And we did it without use of excessive force. On Halloween, the newly formed This Is Nashville Blaction Team (aka producer Elizabeth Burton and host Khalil Ekulona) took to the streets to find Nashville's unofficial mayor, Willie "Big Fella" Sims. Along the way, they sought answers to a question at the top of all of our minds: what is the scariest place for Black people in Nashville? Now, we received some feedback about this episode. Some positive, some negative. But the issue isn't so black and...
Nov 30, 2023•51 min
Nashville has been drawing in musicians of all stripes for the better part of a century. The city offers many outlets for these composers to apply their talents — from scoring the ballet, to writing arrangements on a hit record or even making music for video game soundtracks. But first our sister station WNXP’s Marquis Munson brings us a new edition of What Where Wednesday. Guests: Marquis Munson, WNXP host Wu Fei, composer, guzheng virtuoso and vocalist Larissa Maestro, recording musician, arra...
Nov 29, 2023•53 min
With more than 40 years of journalism experience in Nashville, emmy-award-winning Demetria Kalodimos is still one of the best-known names and faces in local news. After a long career in television, she’s moved on to documentary filmmaking, teaching, and resurrecting the print-gone-web Nashville Banner. We sit down with her to talk about her career, the golden days of local tv news, and what’s next for this venerable journalist.
Nov 28, 2023•51 min
Some community members and parishioners are taking a new approach to the old concept of “charity.” There are countless governmental and non-profit support systems for citizens in need, but these resources often funnel people through without meeting one fundamental need: community. That’s where radical hospitality comes in. Community centers and churches are finding ways to bring neighbors together and develop relationships that go beyond the transactional. This often looks like having a weekly m...
Nov 27, 2023•50 min
Traffic in our city is…a mess. But there is a bright side to having more congestion on the streets. You get more time to have a captivating conversation. TIN host Khalil Ekulona has taken lots of rides with some of our fellow Nashvillians for the Riding Shotgun series. Fortunately, not many of the rides have had us stuck in traffic, but they have been some truly insightful conversations. For this version of the Best of Riding Shotgun we are going to hang out with some of the music makers in our ...
Nov 24, 2023•51 min
It's the day before Thanksgiving. Regardless of how you spend your holiday, the vibes will be cozy. And what better way to manifest that than with some spoken word? In this episode, we'll hear from some of Nashville's best spoken word poets. We'll learn about what exactly spoken word is, and how it can be used as a tool for education and community building. Then, we'll close the episode with some performances from our guests — so get ready to snap and sigh introspectively! This episode was produ...
Nov 22, 2023•51 min
Nicole Williams is back! On this week’s edition of Inside Council Chambers, Nicole Williams (aka @startleseasily on X or Twitter) takes us out west. In this recap of November 7’s Metro Council meeting, we hear a lot from CM Courtney Johnston about some rules and regulations on the proper etiquette. We also dive deep on what the what is going on with the pythons being around people’s necks, Nashville’s night mayor, and more. Next, we’ll hear from WPLN reporters Blaise Gainey, Caroline Eggers, and...
Nov 21, 2023•51 min
On February 1, 1981, the Metropolitan Interdenominational Church held its first Sunday service — or celebration, as they call it. The founders of the church are Dr. Billye Sanders and Reverend Edwin Sanders. Observing denominational and political division amongst the Christian community, they decided to found a church where all were welcome. Their guiding principle is the Bible verse John 3:16, which reads: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth...
Nov 20, 2023•51 min
You can call him on your cell phone. It's the third Thursday of the month, which means it's time for the next installment of Ask the Mayor . At noon, call the studio at 615-760-2000 to ask your burning questions to our city's mayor, Freddie O'Connell. In the second half of the show, we'll hear from Nicole Williams, the host of Inside Council Chambers . Ahead of next week's episode, she'll give us the rundown of what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks goes on at these meetings, and take any questions y...
Nov 16, 2023•51 min
Nashville has a rich indigenous history that dates back to the last ice age, as well as a small but vibrant Native American community that is working to gain recognition and resources in Middle Tennessee. The first people to inhabit the area that is now modern Nashville were Native Americans who arrived here about 14,000 years ago. During the Mississippian period they built farms, villages and even cities — all decades before contact with European settlers. In this episode, we address a listener...
Nov 15, 2023•51 min
As of Wednesday, Nov. 8, SAG-AFTRA announced that it had reached a tentative deal with the AMPTP. After months of delayed negotiations, contentious conversations, and a simultaneous strike with the Writers Guild of America, Hollywood is now ready to get back to work. But just because the strike is over, doesn’t mean that we won’t be dealing with the ramifications for a long time. While many of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA concerns are very specific to the worlds of television and filmmaking, there is o...
Nov 14, 2023•50 min
And Nashville will be as one. After a hiatus, Imagine Nashville is a community-led initiative to include residents in shaping the city's future. Through a survey, Imagine Nashville asks the city what we want to see in our future. From the survey results, they will advocate for policy that promote that vision of the future. To accomplish this lofty goal, they are " (reaching) across geographic, socioeconomic, racial and ethnic lines, and age differences" to ensure everyone has a chance to make th...
Nov 13, 2023•51 min
What, to the Black Nashvillian, is the scariest place in Nashville? It's Halloween, the spookiest day of the year. Ghosts and ghouls, razors in children's candy, and weirdos who still think it's funny to chase kids with chainsaws roam our sidewalk-less streets. But, for Black Nashville, today is not the only scary day. In fact, some might argue that it's scary to be Black all the time . The horrors of mass incarceration, gentrification, inaccessible public transit, interpersonal and institutiona...
Oct 31, 2023•51 min
Nashville Design Week is an annual series of citywide events that brings the local design community together. But Nashville hasn’t always had a design week — this marks this fest’s sixth year. So, what is design week? And what is design? We see design in skyscrapers and curated cocktail lounges. But design is all around us, from street lights to email formatting. Every choice is an opportunity for creativity. We’ll talk to folks involved in Design Week to hear how design affects all of us, along...
Oct 30, 2023•51 min
In 2016, WPLN’s senior reporter and special projects producer Meribah Knight heard a disturbing story from Rutherford County, a suburban Tennessee community southeast of Nashville. A group of elementary schoolers were arrested for something that didn’t seem like a crime: watching a fight between other kids and not intervening. Meribah dug in further and discovered a pattern of young kids in Rutherford County being jailed for minor offenses. More: Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn...
Oct 26, 2023•49 min
It's Thursday. We are tired. So, here is some of everything. Today, we'll have our second installment of Inside Council Chambers with Nicole Williams. We'll dive into the votes on key Metro Council leadership positions including planning and zoning committee chair and the vote on school resource officer funding. Next, we'll hear from local author and change-maker Jerome Moore for his new recurring segment Diversely Segregated. Last, but not least, Chris Crofton will take us on a tour of the Bell...
Oct 26, 2023•51 min
Sheila Calloway is at the center of local conversations about justice. As the presiding judge of Nashville's juvenile court, she has found new ways to hold young people accountable without sending them to jail. She's now leading the effort to build a larger and less prison-like juvenile detention facility, and she's also on the front lines of Tennessee's shortage of attorneys for low-income clients. In this in-depth interview with This is Nashville , Judge Calloway reflects on her career as a de...
Oct 25, 2023•51 min
Death rituals take different forms from what we would call a standard funeral. Cultures honor the lives of those who have passed away in diverse ways. Sometimes services depend on spiritual beliefs and practices. Other times, the service or remembering is held long after the honoree has transitioned. On this episode, we dive into the history of death and burial in the south, explore what some would call uncommon death rituals and perhaps broaden our perspective on how we can honor the dead. But ...
Oct 24, 2023•51 min
This episode originally aired August 16, 2023. Since its meteoric rise to popularity in the early aughts, emo music has been alive and well in Music City. Artists have flocked to the city’s community-centered scene and passionate fans. As the emo revival continues to thrive today, Nashville has claimed its rightful spot as a hub for the genre. Today, we’ll talk with musicians and the people supporting them behind the curtain. Guests: Ryan Burleson, music journalist and musician Piper Payne, mast...
Oct 23, 2023•51 min
Today, Mayor Freddie O'Connell joins us in studio for the first iteration of Ask the Mayor . Once a month, Mayor O'Connell will join This Is Nashville to answer your questions live on air. We'll be taking phone calls and give Nashvillians the chance to have a direct conversation with the mayor. Later in the hour, we'll revisit some of our favorite shotgun episodes — and hear a sneak peek of a shotgun with producer Elizabeth Burton. This episode was produced by our host, Khalil Ekulona. Guests: M...
Oct 19, 2023•51 min
This episode originally aired on Oct. 20, 2022. It’s fall, and that means it’s a great time to forage and preserve foods. As trees and plants prepare for winter themselves, there are nuts, berries and roots abound for foraging — as long as you do it responsibly. Because it’s harvest time, it’s also the perfect time to preserve foods to help get through the winter — as long as you do it safely. So, what’s out there to forage? How can we keep our harvest usable for the coming months? We talk with ...
Oct 18, 2023•50 min
On Sept. 13, a pet German Shepherd named Duke was shot and killed at Percy Warner Park. Nashvillians are concerned for what this says about animal rights, gun rights, and safety. Just over a month after the fatal shooting, many Nashvillians are still feeling shocked and confused about how something like this could happen, particularly in a dog-friendly, public place. Our city's laws require all dogs to be leashed (unless hunting or herding), and Duke was off-leash but under control of an electro...
Oct 17, 2023•51 min
Verna Wyatt and Valerie Craig share a two decade history working as survivor advocates. Verna came into this work from a place of pain and loss after her sister-in-law was murdered. She says she wanted perpetrators of crime to stay incarcerated and feel the pain that they'd caused. Years later, she and Valerie find themselves advocating for those very same prisoners. In this episode, we hear the backstories that brought these two together, how they majorly pivoted along the way, and what their p...
Oct 16, 2023•51 min
If you are an everyday, working class Nashvillian, you probably do not have time to go to every single Metro Council meeting. You definitely don't have the bandwidth to pore over the meeting minutes, and then turn around quippy tweets about what happened. Unless, of course, you are Nicole Williams a.k.a @startleseasily on X f.k.a Twitter. Starting with this episode, Nicole joins our host Khalil Ekulona for a somewhat serious, somewhat satirical recap of what on earth happened in the most recent ...
Oct 12, 2023•50 min
Nashville is experiencing an unprecedented housing boom. Building technology and materials have changed significantly since Nashville saw growth from streetcar neighborhoods or after World War II. What are the advantages and drawbacks of using these new materials, plans and methods for building housing? And how do we ensure that the quality of what we're building is keeping pace with the quantity we need? Today, we talk to professionals in the building field to talk about how we're building the ...
Oct 11, 2023•51 min
We're 10 days into spooky season, and it's time to listen to some of the creepiest, scariest stories of Middle Tennessee. We'll hear the familiar tale of the Bell Witch, hear howls echo through the halls of the Ryman Auditorium, and more. This re-air episode was produced by Rose Gilbert. Our storytellers: Pat Fitzhugh, author of The Bell Witch: The Full Account and “The Bell Witch Site” Jeff Sellers, director of public programs at the Tennessee State Museum Judy “Butterfly” Farlow, storyteller J...
Oct 10, 2023•49 min
Most people remember seeing photos in our history books of the crowds outside Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, taunting and threatening nine Black students as they tried to get to class. But the small town of Clinton in East Tennessee has its own story of integration that's largely forgotten. After a federal court order, twelve Black students enrolled in Clinton's high school in 1956, a year before the Little Rock Nine. Rachel Louise Martin's new book, A Most Tolerant Little Town , ...
Oct 09, 2023•51 min
Fall is here and the weather is perfect for getting outside and exploring the parks, trails and greenways of Middle Tennessee. In today’s episode, we’re joined by outdoors educators to learn more about just what kinds of hiking experiences and resources the Nashville area has to offer. Then, a pair of experienced hikers will talk about equipment, safety, community and the Appalachian trail. We'll close out the hour with an interview with Chef Star Maye, who was recently on the hit tv show CHOPPE...
Oct 05, 2023•51 min
