Shows / This Is Nashville
This Is Nashville
This Is Nashville is a live one-hour daily show driven by community, for community. This flagship program of WPLN News will become your one-stop-shop for news in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, as we continue to show up each day.
Episodes
- This Is Nashville
Meet the pagans and Wiccans of Middle Tennessee
Nashville is known as the Buckle on the Bible Belt. However, the city is home to a diversity of religions and traditions, including paganism. In today’s…
- This Is Nashville
Filmmaking in Nashville
Film festival season is underway in Nashville. The International Black Film Festival wrapped up on Sunday while the Nashville Film Festival is slated to run…
- This Is Nashville
The future of cycling in Nashville
Anyone who lives in Nashville can tell you how hard it is to get around town without a car. But, trying to bike to work or school can be dangerous or downright…
- This Is Nashville
Exploring what it means to be ‘Nashville nice’
When it comes to manners and etiquette, every city has its local quirks. So we explore the question: What is “Nashville Nice”? This is the South, so you’re…
- This Is Nashville
Nashville marching bands — their legacy and future
Nashville is home to one of the nation’s most prominent HBCU marching bands: The Aristocrat of Bands (AOB) at Tennessee State University. The band is revered…
- This Is Nashville
What housing is ‘affordable’ for you?
Housing is affordable — meaning you are not cost burdened — if it takes up 30% or less of your gross income, according to national housing guidelines. But we…
- This Is Nashville
Growing diversity in Nashville’s tech scene
With a mix of homegrown startups and big players moving in, Nashville’s tech scene is booming, and it shows no signs of slowing down. It’s good news for the…
- This Is Nashville
Sitting in with Nashville’s hardworking session musicians
When you think of Music City, you probably think of the big-name musicians who got their start here. But session musicians, studio musicians, and backing…
- This Is Nashville
Bisexuality in Nashville
Bisexual people make up the largest proportion of the LGBTQ community but are also sometimes the least visible. So, we take a look at the lives and journeys of…
- This Is Nashville
Nashville neighborhood associations — their successes and struggles
Their work can be subtle and unseen, but neighborhood associations often play a key role in building connections among neighbors and setting the vision for a…
- This Is Nashville
Dr. Alex Jahangir on leading Nashville's pandemic response and beyond
Dr. Alex Jahangir served as head of Metro Nashville’s COVID-19 Task Force for the two years it was in existence. It was a role he never expected to fill, but…
- This Is Nashville
How Mesa Komal brings together food and community
Earlier this month, Mesa Komal Cafe opened at Belmont University. The cafe is a unique partnership between Belmont, the hospitality company Sodexo and Conexión…
- This Is Nashville
Exploring Americana
Americana is a unique genre of music. Straight away, its name lets you know that it is a self-aware exploration of national identity and culture, something…
- This Is Nashville
Remembering Dr. Paul Kwami, music director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers
Dr. Paul Kwami, longtime music director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, passed away this weekend. He was 70. Under his direction, the group garnered a Grammy, a…
- This Is Nashville
How Nashville’s small businesses are rebounding from pandemic disruptions
How are Nashville’s small businesses rebounding from the pandemic? The report card is mixed. Metro recently handed out $9 million in federal funds from the…
- This Is Nashville
Understanding monkeypox in Middle Tennessee
It feels like just as we’ve started to get a grip on COVID-19, a new highly-contagious disease has emerged: monkeypox. We’re sitting down with people in the…
- This Is Nashville
Checking in with Warner Elementary, two years after ‘The Promise’
On Monday, Warner Elementary Arts Magnet School in East Nashville was named a reward school. This makes it one of the top-performing schools in all of Metro…
- This Is Nashville
What does it take to make it as a songwriter in Music City?
Songwriters are at the heart of Music City’s namesake industry, from big-name performers to veteran hitmakers to those just starting out. In this episode…
- This Is Nashville
From Kurdistan to Nashville
Many Nashvillians are vaguely aware that the city is home to “Little Kurdistan,” which is the largest Kurdish community in America. However, it’s easy to know…
- This Is Nashville
How the federal student loan forgiveness program will impact Middle Tennessee
Thousands of Tennesseans could have their student loans reduced or wiped clean under a new program by the Biden administration. Student loan forgiveness is on…
- This Is Nashville
Rosetta Miller-Perry, Tennessee Tribune publisher, on Nashville, civil rights and the Black press
Rosetta Miller-Perry is at the helm of the longest running African-American newspaper in Nashville, the Tennessee Tribune, which she started in 1991. Otherwise…
- This Is Nashville
Rebroadcast: Baristas lead union push in Middle Tennessee
This episode originally aired on July 7, 2022. Unions have historically been associated with factory workers and those in the automotive industry. In…
- This Is Nashville
Getting a taste of Nashville's wing scene
This Friday, we're talking chicken wings! What's the restaurant scene like here in Music City? What makes a good wing? And is there a quintessential…
- This Is Nashville
Teacher diversity in Tennessee
According to a 2018 report, only 13% of teachers in the state are people of color, even though 37% of students are. Last month, the Tennessee Education…
- This Is Nashville
Navigating birth control in Tennessee’s post-Roe world
In the wake of the Roe v. Wade decision, a lot of people were left wondering: What does this mean for access to birth control and emergency contraception?…
- This Is Nashville
Angela Tucker on adoption, race and centering adoptee voices
Angela Tucker wants to change the conversation about adoption. She is an adoptee advocate and mentor, host of the podcast The Adoptee Next Door and author of…
- This Is Nashville
Exploring the past, present and future of the Tennessee State Fair
The Tennessee State Fair has taken place for over a century, with only a couple of interruptions: WWII and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. There have…
- This Is Nashville
Rebroadcast: Making a living as a musician in Nashville
This episode originally aired on April 25, 2022. Nashville is known as Music City, but as the cost of living continues to rise in Nashville, it’s putting…
- This Is Nashville
The Nashville Summer Shakespeare Festival celebrates its 34th year
This year marks the 34th anniversary of the Nashville Summer Shakespeare Festival, which puts on free, outdoor performances of The Bard and other playwrights’…
- This Is Nashville
Practicing vegetarianism for health, environment, community and spirit
Having a meal with family and friends can be an experience of deep connectedness — or a table full of landmines. We’re jugging not only sensitive topics, but…
- This Is Nashville
Rebroadcast: Thrifters, vintage stores give old clothes new life in Nashville
Note: This episode originally aired on March 14. Scouring the racks at a secondhand store is a time-honored way to score stylish clothes on the cheap in Middle…
- This Is Nashville
The power of peer support
Peer support is a term you might hear in mental health, disease, and addiction recovery work. The idea is really what it sounds like: support provided by…
- This Is Nashville
Celebrating the tomato and East Nashville’s Tomato Art Fest
Thousands of revelers crowded East Nashville’s Five Points area over the weekend for the annual Tomato Art Fest. It’s also peak tomato season in Tennessee…
- This Is Nashville
The past, present and future of women in baseball
Baseball is traditionally a male-dominated sport. However, throughout the history of the game there have been women players, coaches, managers and journalists…
- This Is Nashville
How culture, community and history shape textile arts in Nashville
In every part of the world, across cultures and throughout history, textiles have been used to make and share art. It’s flexible and able to take the form of…
- This Is Nashville
Sexual assault prevention and resources for survivors in a post-Roe world
Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, there’s been a major uptick in public discussion about sexual assault and how the Supreme Court decision will impact…
- This Is Nashville
Barbershops: A second sanctuary, or the segregated picture of America?
A “second sanctuary” — that’s how one of our guests describes her barbershop because these places are about much more than cutting hair. They’re about…
- This Is Nashville
Looking back at Robert Altman’s 1975 movie ‘Nashville’
Director Robert Altman’s Nashville premiered in Nashville on August 8, 1975. The film was already doing well in New York and elsewhere, but even before then…
- This Is Nashville
Back to school with Nashville's teachers
It’s back-to-school season! Big box stores have put out special school supplies displays, and the airwaves are full of commercials for backpacks, clothes and…
- This Is Nashville
Adventures in Nashville home shopping with first-time buyers
From getting lucky at first bid to being priced out over and over again … well, first-time homebuyers are in for an adventure in Middle Tennessee. In this…
- This Is Nashville
Navigating Nashville’s nightlife scene while sober
Nashville is a party city, full of honky-tonks, cherished bars and good old Tennessee whiskey. Pedal taverns and party buses fill the streets, while music…
- This Is Nashville
Living at risk of Huntington’s Disease
Huntington’s disease is a rare genetic neurological disorder that can impact everything from a person’s ability to move to their memory and can cause…
- This Is Nashville
Browsing Nashville’s bookstore scene, past and present
Bookstores are exactly what their name implies, but they’re so much more than that. They are vital spaces where people go not only to find and buy books, but…
- This Is Nashville
Meet the people who make Nashville laugh
What makes Nashville laugh? Where are the best places in town to catch a comedy show? What is it like to be a comedian in Music City? To answer these questions…
- This Is Nashville
Our bread and butter: Nashville’s changing food landscape
We’ve all been hearing significant chatter about the landmark restaurants we’ve lost in the last few years. What exactly makes a “landmark” restaurant, and are…
- This Is Nashville
Conserving Tennessee's rare and endangered plants
A healthy ecosystem is a diverse one, and plants are critical to maintaining that diversity. For rare and endangered plants in Middle Tennessee, conservation…
- This Is Nashville
How gun laws and gun violence impact Middle Tennessee
It is just a reality of living in this country, that not a day goes by without a shooting. Recently mass shootings have dominated the news: a grocery store in…
- This Is Nashville
Here’s the scoop on Nashville’s ice cream scene
National Ice Cream Day was this past Sunday, and if this unrelenting heat is good for one thing, it’s creating the perfect backdrop for a cold treat. This hour…
- This Is Nashville
What to know about the Aug. 4 election in Davidson County
Early voting is currently underway in Davidson County for the Aug. 4 state and federal primary election, and the county general election. Local officials are…
- This Is Nashville
It’s for the birds!
With the drama and attention around the gigantic purple martin roost at the symphony over the last two years, more of our eyes are on the sky and on our…
- This Is Nashville
Growing your own food in Nashville
Among cultures around the world, it’s traditional to grow your own food. But with the rise of supermarkets and grocery stores, gardening in the United States…
- This Is Nashville
The mental health variable in police interactions
Even on our best days, for most of us, police interactions carry at least a small element of strain. We want to get it right and are aware of the power…
- This Is Nashville
Looking at the state of pipelines in Tennessee
On June 29, a pipeline ruptured in West Tennessee, spilling approximately 200,000 gallons of crude oil. It was the second-largest spill in state history. But…
- This Is Nashville
Nashville's growing need for affordable housing
Nashville has an ongoing lack of affordable housing. What exactly is "affordable housing"? Who defines it? And what does it mean to get subsidized housing? In…
- This Is Nashville
The state of adoption in Tennessee
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, some supporters of the ruling presented adoption as an alternative solution to unwanted pregnancies. A photo…
- This Is Nashville
Where the sidewalk ends in Metro Nashville
Nashville is growing fast, but as a city largely designed around cars, its pedestrian infrastructure is seriously lagging. Only about 19 percent of Nashville…
- This Is Nashville
Drinking in the history and culture of Tennessee moonshine
White lightning. Firewater. Mountain dew. There are a lot of names for moonshine, but what is it? Strictly speaking, it’s any illegal homemade spirit, and can…
- This Is Nashville
Baristas lead union push in Middle Tennessee
Unions have historically been associated with factory workers and those in the automotive industry. In Tennessee, food service employees – particularly…
- This Is Nashville
Hoofing It: Getting around Nashville without a car
Nashville is not a city known for robust public transportation — and it seems that nearly everyone has an opinion on what needs to improve. There’s an…
- This Is Nashville
White supremacy and the state of hate in Tennessee
Tennessee has a long history with hate groups and white nationalism. The state is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan, but more recently, a "White Lives Matter"…