Ask the mayor: taxes, racing, childcare and you

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.

We started the year with a strong roster of profile episodes, each featuring an outstanding guest with a story that’s made a local impact.But six of them stood out to us, and we want to give listeners a recap. In today's episode we feature an Olympic Gold Medalist, a public school teacher who performs drag, one of the few Black artists to ever crack the Billboard country charts and more. So you can see why we had to make a profile playlist to recap the last couple of months. We cast a wide net when we search for profile candidates. And we had quite the catch.This episode was produced by Josh Deepan and Blake Farmer. 

Unemployment rates are still quite low. But they don’t tell the whole story. The face of joblessness has changed in recent years. Mid-career professionals, six-figure family breadwinners, are finding themselves laid off or downsized and seeing far fewer options than they expected. We’ll talk with some of them. Get some career coaching. And check in with a labor economist to understand what’s going on here.  This episode was produced by Blake Farmer.Guests: Brett Kling, human resources information systems professional and job seeker Steve Jones, marketing and communications and job seeker Lynise Harris, professional executive coach and lead career coach at UpRise Nashville Lauren Kiproff-Downer, organizational development consultant at Perpara Organizational Development and facilitator of the career transitions group for Middle Tennessee SHRM Celeste Carruthers, professor and labor economist, University of Tennessee — Knoxville

Today we travel along with Music Citizens to go inside the highest stakes job in the industry – A&R.Through the lens and life of A&R lifer Kim Buie, we get to see that this glamorous job is mostly about losing: missing out on artists who become superstars (her near-miss tale of N.W.A. is amazing), knowing that the majority of albums you help shepherd into the world will flop, and being the person who has to say no to a musician’s lifelong dream.Buie, and guests Stevo Robertson and Anay Richardson, explain what keeps them going, what shapes their tastes and how their approach to the job differs. It is the TikTok era after all.Guests Kim Buie, A&R veteran Anay Richardson, A&R coordinator, Prescription Songs Steve Robertson, Label founder & Co-president, Severance Records Music Citizens is a podcast series by WNXP and Nashville Public Radio about the people who make music work. Each episode will explore what it takes to do the jobs that keep the music business moving and introduce you to the characters who are often well known within their worlds but whose vital work goes largely uncelebrated. Listen to all episodes at wnxp.org.