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Banner managing editor Andrea Tudhope sits down with reporters Steven Hale and Mikeie Honda Reiland to talk about the nightmare that unfolded at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution this week. Christa Pike was set to be executed Wednesday for the brutal 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer. After an eleventh hour stay was vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state proceeded with the execution. The 14-hour day ended with Pike surviving two doses of the lethal injection drug meant to kill her, and being taken to a hospital in an ambulance. We walk listeners through an unprecedented day in history for the state and the nation. Produced by Andrea Tudhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Formerly the U.S. special enjoy to Northern Ireland and U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district, Joe Kennedy III has had an impressive public career, befitting a person with his surname. (He swears there is no required skillset that comes with it, though.) It was on a trip to Ireland that Joe met Demetria, and on a recent trip to Nashville, he found a spare hour to sit down for a conversation. No surprise, Joe is not a fan of people trying to tear down the Kennedy name, literally or figuratively. These days his focus is on the organization he founded, Groundwork Project, which invests in "hyperlocal efforts that create sustainable civic infrastructure, engage and educate voters, and build power for the underrepresented and disenfranchised." They're not active in Tennessee, at least not yet. Guest: Joe Kennedy III, former U.S. representative and diplomat, founder of Groundwork Project Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tamara Saviano has worked in radio, been a publicist — Kris Kristofferson was a client — served as president of the Americana Music Association (the first woman to do so), and produced albums and award shows at the Ryman Auditorium. All of this has given her an inside view of the Americana scene from the very start. If that sounds like a singularly winding career path, you can now read about it in her new memoir. This week, Tamara sits down with Demetria to talk about that book, as well as her path from Wisconsin to Music City, what she loves about working with musicians, and what it's been like wearing so many hats over the years while staying true to herself along the way. This episode was first broadcast in September 2025. Guest: Tamara Saviano, writer, author, Poets and Dreamers: My Life in Americana Music. Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producers: Shauna Reynolds and Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporters Steven Hale, Stephen Elliott and Eden Turner sit down to talk about new data on how many refugees have likely ended up in Nashville in recent years and the dwindling resources available to them now due to policy changes and funding cuts under the second Trump administration. Stephen tells the story of a mother fleeing threats of violence and political persecution in Venezuela, and Eden shares what she’s heard from advocacy organizations still trying to do their work. Plus, Eden decides to move into a new apartment when Tennessee is the hottest place on the planet, and Steven suddenly develops a knee injury, like Andrea, so he cannot help. Produced by Andrea Tudhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like many musicians before him, Jay McDowell came to Nashville with a guitar and a dream. And then, as he was trying to help his friends find an upright bass player, with little luck they finally asked him: Why not you? And to his surprise, he said yes. The band was BR549, a group of throwback country rockers who played on Lower Broadway in an era when there were no celebrity bars and few tourists — or much of anyone after dark — and rose to fame on the back of their raucous live shows. He's been known as "Smilin' Jay" since he was a little kid growing up in Indiana. He says he's just always been optimistic — even in the face of a serious birth defect. For much of his childhood, he underwent surgery every year around Christmas, as doctors worked to reconnect his ribs. But childhood wasn't all hardship. His dad got him his first acoustic guitar when he was 8, and he was a quick study, banging out Buddy Holly and Little Richard songs, preparing himself for a life of music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporters Steven Hale and Stephen Elliott go deep into the weeds of an unfolding scandal involving a top official in one of the Metro government’s largest departments. Stephen explains the exclusive reporting he’s done on former Metro Water Services official John Honeysucker, Nashville businessmen Roy Dale and Mack McClung, all three of whom are under federal investigation. While we don’t know what the feds are looking into specifically, Stephen walks us through what public records reveal about the men’s business dealings and the questions they raise. Also Andrea gets a mic and Stephen plays hurt with a coffee burn on his leg. Produced by Andrea Tudhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every Southerner knows the importance of a good biscuit. But not everyone knows how deeply important self-rising flour has been to the development of the South. In their new book Self-Rising: The Magic Rise Behind Biscuit and Cornbread Culture, Mindy Merrell and R.B. Quinn look at this underestimated ingredient, which not only helped provide inexpensive meals for hard-working people but became a vehicle for culture as well. From the Martha White test kitchen to "Hot Rize" and the biscuit jingle that became a bluegrass hit for Flatt and Scruggs, the influence of self-rising flour on the musical and cultural landscape of Nashville is undeniable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporters Steven Hale and Sarah Grace Taylor put on their tinfoil hats and chat about why it feels like somebody or something is watching them. Sarah Grace brings us into her reporting process for her recent story on Waymos idling and recording in residential areas around Nashville. They discuss why it’s worth reporting on questions of privacy in an era when many people assume they are being surveilled and note a few developments about license plate readers. Also internet cookies.  Produced by Andrea Tudhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not too many people can say they got to sing with Dolly Parton. But Brian Hull can. Over the years, he wrote and directed numerous multimedia performances for Dollywood, the late singer and songwriter's eponymous theme park, and in recording sessions would often sing along with Dolly on parts that would later be performed live onstage. Her death this week hit him particularly hard. "She was there for you all the time," Brian recalls. "It's like a force of nature was moving. That's what she was." Outside of his work with Dolly Parton, including with her Imagination Library, Brian has had an extensive career as an actor, singer, director and puppeteer — including programs at the Nashville Public Library and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum where, yes, there is a Dolly puppet. Guest: Brian Hull Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Storey Lee was recruited to play basketball for Vanderbilt University, and halfway through the drive from Alabama, she changed her mind. She begged her dad to turn the truck around. But he stayed the course. That was 30 years ago, and since making it to West End, she has not looked back, though she admits she never thought she'd stay at Vanderbilt this long. Three degrees later — bachelor's, master's and doctorate — she's the director of athletics at Vanderbilt, oversees about 425 student athletes and a $150 million budget. Head football coach Clark Lea called her the best leader he's ever worked for, and she's leading the school's sports program as some of its most high-profile teams, including football, are surging. She says the best is still to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporters Steven Hale and Stephen Elliott get together to talk about the Metro Council. First thing’s first, Steven asks Stephen to weigh in on the Titans rebranded raccoon mascot T-Rac. Stephen carefully explains the situation with the Music City Center refinancing and expansion plans. Then they discuss police drones and the start of the vice mayoral race. Both reminisce on their blogging days of yore. Produced by Andrea Tudhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A connector, mentor and start-up whisperer, Michael Burcham is one of the most influential figures in Nashville's business ecosystem. The founding president and CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, he's a serial entrepreneur himself, starting three successful investor-backed businesses. He teaches business and healthcare innovation at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management. Growing up in rural Mississippi, Michael was raised by his grandparents in a town with a Piggly Wiggly, a Sonic Drive-in and little else. He credits a teacher named Barbara Beard with helping him become a serious student, which eventually led him to medicine. But it was the business side that really fascinated him. The rest is Nashville business history — not that he's slowing down any time soon. Guest: Michael Burcham, entrepreneur Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporter Steven Hale sits down with Steve Cavendish and Mikeie Honda Reiland to talk about Thursday’s execution of Anthony Darrell Hines for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins. They discuss the details of the case and the recent court fights surrounding it. Steven shares his history with Hines’ defense team, Mikeie explains what he saw outside the prison and Steve details his experience as a media witness. Produced by Andrea Tudhope Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kimmie Christian has been jumping Double Dutch for as long as she can remember. “It's kind of like a passage, right?” she said. “When you're born, you just, everyone just jumps Double Dutch. My mom jumped Double Dutch. My aunts jumped Double Dutch. My sisters jumped Double Dutch. It's just kind of what the girls did in the neighborhood.” She brought that longstanding tradition from her upbringing in Chicago to Nashville, where she started the local chapter of the 40+ Double Dutch Subclub. Around 40 women gather every Saturday morning to jump rope at the Southeast Community Center. Some who come to the meetups are first-timers who get to learn from the best. Two women turn the ropes and one jumps, as the other women in the room chant and clap. For Christian, it’s about finding time to play. But it’s also about making relationships and finding community. “We’re there for each other during grieving, deaths… We celebrate each other’s accomplishments, news jobs,” she said. “But overall we’re all one. We’re all sisters.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporter Steven Hale is joined by Steve Cavendish and Sarah Grace Taylor to talk about all of Thursday night’s primary election results, from Marsha Blackburn’s victory to Andy Ogles’ upset defeat. Sarah Grace details her time crisscrossing the state with the Blackburn campaign in a private plane before the three breakdown what to (and not) take away from who won and lost. Produced by Andrea Tudhope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices