Nashville under the microscope

This Is Nashville · Jun 16, 2026 · 50m

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 "The Volundeer State." With a 'd.'

"And I saw that and I was like, 'Huh? That's funny,' " Barocas says. "How'd that happen?"

Among the theories:

It's a genuine mistake.

It's an intentional security…