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From railroad stop to global corridor, Chamblee has lived a lot of lives in just over a century. This week, we trace its evolution from land once inhabited by the Muscogee people, to a tiny rail junction, to a booming military town during World War I with the rise of Camp Gordon. Along the way, we uncover the surprising origin of Chamblee’s name, and follow its shifts through dairy farms, aviation history at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, and postwar suburban growth. By the late 20th century, Buford Highway transforms into an international lifeline—making modern Chamblee one of the most diverse and dynamic communities in the Southeast. Huntley Hills Brochure   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

Still recovering from my appendectomy last week and so I am re-releasing my episode about the Dick Lane Velodrome in East Point. We're talking about what a velodrome is, Atlanta’s first velodrome, Dick Lane and the decade long efforts to open this velodrome in East Point.   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

This week, we’re stepping into the pages of the Negro Motorist Green Book. I am sharing my conversation with my good friend, Cynthia Jennings, who has been uncovering the stories behind the places that offered safety, dignity, and community during the era of segregation - but we’re focusing on the women who made those spaces possible. Behind these listings were women entrepreneurs, caretakers, and revolutionaries, who opened their homes, ran businesses, and created networks of survival during a time when they weren’t assured visibility and protection. Cynthia's website Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

This week, we explore the long and winding history behind the creation of a Botanical Garden in Atlanta - a dream that took more than 50 years to become reality. The story begins with Eugene Schofield Heath, who first pushed for a garden in the city in 1918. From ambitious Works Progress Administration projects along the Chattahoochee River to stalled plans caused by World War II, Atlanta repeatedly tried, and failed, to establish a permanent botanical garden. It wasn’t until the 1970s, when civic leaders and garden advocates rallied around a new site in Piedmont Park, that the idea finally took root. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

This week, we trace tennis from its 12th-century French origins to its rise in Atlanta, where elite clubs, segregated courts, and growing public facilities shaped the sport’s local identity. From the founding of ALTA by Bitsy Grant to the 1961 desegregation battle at the Bitsy Grant Tennis Center, Atlanta’s tennis story reflects the city’s broader fights over access and equity. We also look at the Olympic spotlight at Stone Mountain Park in 1996 and how Atlanta grew into one of the country’s largest recreational tennis hubs. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

When people think of sit-ins, they think Greensboro. But the movement didn’t start, or stop, there. This episode looks at how the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins inspired Atlanta’s Black college students to challenge segregation in a city that called itself “too busy to hate.” From An Appeal for Human Rights to coordinated sit-ins across downtown, arrests under newly written laws, and the protests that landed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in jail. Atlanta’s Student Movement reshaped the civil rights fight and even influenced a presidential election. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram   

Atlanta gets nearly an extra hour of evening sunlight compared to cities east of us—and it turns out that’s no accident. In this episode, we unravel how railroads invented time zones, why Georgia was once split between Central and Eastern Time, and how Atlanta spent decades fighting over what time it should be. From business interests and newspaper deadlines to full-page ads promising more sleep for children, the battle over the clock was surprisingly intense. This is a story about power, commerce, civic identity, and a deceptively simple question that once divided a city: what time is it, really?   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

In this episode, we follow the land from rural farmland to an independent city with its own mayor, streetcars, schools, and sharp racial divides. You’ll hear how Bush Mountain became a vital Black community, how segregation shaped education and housing, and why progress so often bypassed certain streets. From Madea’s House to Negro League baseball fields, Klan activity, and environmental justice, this is a story of growth, conflict, and resilience layered into one small corner of the city.   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

Before airplanes and AI, Atlanta once stopped in its tracks to watch a hot air balloon rise into the sky. In this episode, I cover the story of the city’s first balloon flight in 1869. Balloon pioneer Samuel Archer King and the “Dare Devil Dentist” Dr. Albert Hape ascended nearly a mile above Atlanta as thousands watched from below. From spotting Stone Mountain to scaring onlookers and surviving a rough landing, their journey was equal parts spectacle and wonder. Through Hape’s own words, we glimpse how life-changing it was to see Atlanta from above for the very first time.  Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

From ancient superstitions to nuclear submarines, the name Atlanta carries a remarkable legacy across the seas. In this episode, we trace the centuries-old traditions of ship naming, before diving into the history of the vessels called USS Atlanta. You’ll hear how one ship served both the Confederacy and the Union, how others helped usher in America’s “New Navy,” and how the most famous USS Atlanta fought—and was lost—during the brutal battles of World War II at Guadalcanal. We follow the name through Cold War submarines, deep-sea wreck discoveries, and all the way to a newly ordered, multi-billion-dollar nuclear sub still under construction today. Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

Tami Roche was named Miss Burlesque in 1966 and her career took off, performing across the country and on Broadway, before moving to Atlanta in 1969 to headline at the Body Shoppe for a few weeks. Weeks turned into years and she made her way to the Domino Lounge, where she developed her famous champagne glass bath act. She even had Russ Meyer, famous sexplotation film director, write a script for her! We talked about her early childhood, her entry into burlesque, how she chose her stage name, how she became "Tassel Twirling Tami", her move to Atlanta, marriage to the club owner, his sudden death and the battle to keep and run four clubs as a woman in the 1970s. And best of all, the origin story of her famous bathtub act.  https://gofund.me/0e5816385 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsk6V4mXIBM   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram 

A special bonus episode to share my interview with Cliff Norris and David Aurilio to learn about the histories of the Atlanta Freedom Bands, a nonprofit community music organization made up of LGBTQ+ musicians and allies that includes a full concert band, marching band, jazz ensemble, and several small groups, and Voices of Note, the nonprofit organization that oversees Atlanta's LGBTQ+ choral groups, including the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus and the Atlanta Women’s Chorus. We covered the history of how these groups formed in Atlanta, why they were needed and how they fared through the AIDS crisis. In the upcoming weeks, each group has several concerts, including the one that I am hosting on December 20th!  Events: Holidays on Peachtree Street Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus Atlanta Women’s Chorus Other Links: www.voicesofnote.org  www.atlantafreedombands.com  www.oursongatlanta.org  www.outfronttheatre.com  www.outonfilm.org  www.atlantaphilharmonic.org  www.southernfriedqueerpride.com - 

Before Chosewood Park was a neighborhood with winding streets, skyline views, and a curious little road called Climax Street, it was Muscogee land—until Georgia land lotteries, and forced removal reshaped the entire region.  From John Miller Clark Reed’s 600-acre homestead… to the Nolan sisters and the Turmans, whose names still echo through the street grid… to a forgotten cemetery where descendants of Michelle Obama’s ancestor were laid to rest, and we’ll watch the neighborhood transform as the Federal Penitentiary and the Chevrolet plant are built.  The best massage therapist in Atlanta  Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram   

This week, I am sharing an oral history recording I did last year with Matthew Norwood, pastor of Bible Way Ministries. His father developed Norwood Manor, where he still lives, and he shared about his life, calling for the ministry and small congregation in Atlanta grew into a pillar of hope and service.   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram   

From crystal balls to courthouse battles, this episode with Liz Clappin and Cynthia Jennings, dives into the history of fortune telling — from the start of Spiritualism, to Atlanta as a hotspot for spiritualists, mediums, and prophets, a place where faith, folklore, and hustles collided. We talk about Queen Kulu, Nancy Kendell, and Tobie Grant - and mysterious male fortune teller who exposed secrets and then left town.    Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: [email protected] Facebook | Instagram