The thorny issues that remain: Immigration, vouchers and a $58B budget

The White House is experimenting with state-level immigration laws in Tennessee, but most of those proposals have hit resistance, and it's now do-or-die time for any bills. An expansion of private school vouchers is also far from a done deal with some Republicans objecting to doubling the program without performance data available. And the state’s $58 billion budget has lobbyists in a frenzy to make sure their project is included. It’s the biggest business that remains for the Tennessee legislature with members of the state house press corps as our guide.Guests: Marianna Bacallao, power & equity reporter, WPLN News Melissa Brown, bureau chief, Chalkbeat Tennessee Sarah Grace Taylor, reporter, Nashville Banner Erik Schelzig, editor, The Tennessee Journal Mandy Spears, executive vice president, Sycamore Institute

Knuckleball pitchers are a small fraternity, and R.A. Dickey is one of its most notable members.R.A. Dickey learned the unpredictable knuckleball pitch as a last-ditch effort to save his major league baseball career. Once he mastered its spin-free magic, it transformed his game. But for Nashville’s own knuckleball king, that journey paralleled something deeper: an epiphany that reshaped his personal life.Once a risk-taker on and off the field, Dickey now takes his biggest risks in relationships, opening up about past trauma he once feared would push people away. In this episode, we slow down with Dickey to talk about working to end human trafficking, becoming an open book and, of course, the craziest pitch in baseball.This episode was produced by Mary Mancini.

WNXP is the music discovery go-to in Nashville.On 91.1, listeners get exposed to all kinds of songs not in their regular feed. But it doesn't stop there. They do more than tune in. Listeners play an active role in how playlists are curated, making the station an interactive, communal space for sonic lovers. In this episode, folks who have been with the station since the beginning share their strategies on how they bring their own knowledge base to the work and bust the online algorithms to bring you just the right song.This episode was produced by Josh Deepan. Guests  Celia Gregory, WNXP Morning Host Marquis Munson, WNXP Music Director Jason Moon Wilkins, WNXP Program Director Further inWNXP Sonic Cathedral Live Sessions

Each month, Mayor Freddie O’Connell joins us live in the studio to take your questions –– and nothing is off the table.We're asking about the latest on budgets and property taxes, updates on fairground racing, and a proposal to expand childcare access in Nashville. But as always, the most important questions are yours.So what’s been bothering you lately? Are you still dealing with lingering issues from the ice storm? Do you have concerns about your neighborhood, city services, or something small that just hasn’t been addressed? No matter how big, this is your chance to ask the man directly. 

Much of Middle Tennessee’s important Native American history has been disturbed by development.This has prompted listeners like Kelly Cannon to wonder what’s been lost. She asked Curious Nashville about something she’d heard about the Brentwood Library:"A colleague recently told me that when the Brentwood Library was built remains were found of ancient Mississippian people, along with evidence of ancient mounds. Is this true? Where were the bodies moved to? Who took responsibility for the remains?"WPLN’s Cynthia Abrams went to find the history of that site and shares the story — and its connections to other local sites, and the national movement for repatriation.We'll also talk to a ProPublica reporter about her reporting for 'The Repatriation Project' and the federal law that requires remains and artifacts to be returned to tribes — as well as the failure of institutions to do so. We also welcome Tom Kunesh, who is working to protect Native American sites across Tennessee.Guests:  Mary Hudetz, Investigative Reporter for ProPublica Tom Kunesh, President of Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy

Holly Kernan still needs Google Maps to get around Nashville and she's fine with that.Nashville Public Radio's new CEO came from Oakland, where she spent most of her career in public radio and where, as a fourth-generation Californian, she's a genuine rarity. Those deep roots didn't stop her from spending her entire young adulthood in Spain, though, lost and entirely at home making historical documentaries in her second language. It's a posture she's carried into every chapter of her life.Just over half a year in, we talk about what brought her to Nashville, what she sees in this city and what she believes public radio is now that federal funding is gone.The moment is hard. She'd also argue it's hopeful. By the end of this interview, you just might believe her.This episode was produced by Liv Lombardi.

We’ve learned a lot this week exploring the nuts and bolts of songwriting — from the creative process to the realities of the business. But we also have more questions.Today, three Nashville songwriters in various stages of their careers join us to tell us their stories and answer any lingering curiosities. Plus, they take your calls. Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter Rivers Rutherford, along with Rhys Rutherford and Joybeth Taylor, are in the studio. If you’ve ever wanted to pick the brain of an award-winning songwriter, this is your chance. This episode was produced by Liv Lombardi and Mary Mancini.Guests Rivers Rutherford, songwriter, The Highwaymen, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton, Montgomery Gentry, Gretchen Wilson, Trace Atkins and Brooks & Dunn Rhys Rutherford, singer/songwriter, Bailey Zimmerman’s “Is This Really Over?,” ERNEST’s “Hangin’ On (feat. Morgan Wallen),” George Pippen’s “Rest of Our Life” Joybeth Taylor, songwriter, “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley reached #1 at Country Radio

The business of songwriting is a full-blown economy of its own — chock full of jargon like “splits,” “P-R-Os,” “plugger” and “mailbox money.”But what does it all mean? Today we follow the money: how writers get paid, what happens when a song gets cut, what the different kinds of publishing deals are, and what the implications are for copyrights now that AI has come to town. It’s day three of songwriting week and we’re talking about the business of songwriting.This episode was produced by Liv Lombardi and Mary Mancini.Guests Lydia Schultz Cahill, Sr. Director of Creative Services, SESAC Performing Rights, Nashville Dr. E. Michael Harrington, Musicologist Olivia Rudeen, singer-songwriter Chandler Nicole Sherrill, Senior Director of Creative, Electric Feel Entertainment

Country music songwriter Harlan Howard famously described country music as “three chords and the truth.”He makes it sound simple, but thousands know it’s much more complicated – and it’s different for everyone. It may start with an idea and then come together from there. Or a note or a phrase may come first and then it’s built word by word and note by note. On day two of songwriter week, Grammy-nominated Luke Dick and Grammy-winning Melody Walker, two songwriters with impressive songwriting credits, join Blake in the studio to start from scratch. Together they’ll share ideas, write lyrics, and sample melodies and explain the choices they make along the way. Will inspiration strike? Will the muse show up? And by the end of the hour, will they have a hit song on their hands?This episode was produced by Liv Lombardi and Mary Mancini.Guests Luke Dick, Grammy-nominated songwriter Melody Walker, Grammy-winning songwriter

She's a subversive storyteller, slipping in sideways with hard-to-swallow truths. Growing up in Motown, Alice Randall was drawn to the sounds coming from Music City. The dream was to invade the “citadel” of country music, elevate progressive ideas and highlight the Black roots of a very white genre. She would become the first Black woman to co-write a number one country hit — Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s.” She got her number one, made it big as a publisher, then got a little burned. So she assumed new roles. Randall has come to be viewed as a "griot" for the way she preserves and promotes the overlooked history of country music as laid out in her 2024 book "My Black Country." From her early days in Nashville learning the craft from Steve Earle to her evolution into a best-selling author and professor at Vanderbilt, she has her own remarkable stories to tell.This episode was produced by Blake Farmer.