Were remains of ancient Mississippian people found during construction of the Brentwood Library? We got this question from one of our Curious Nashville audience members.
The answer is yes. In the late 1990s, despite protests, remains were relocated and artifacts collected from the site.
In revisiting what happened, WPLN’s Cynthia Abrams also finds the property was the site of an archaeological dig — described by some as a "plundering" — in the 1880s.
Flash forward to today, and the repatriation movement is still pushing for museums and universities to return items to the tribes. You can learn more at curious.wpln.org.
Tap link in bio for Curious Nashville and more.
✍️ and 📹 : Cynthia Abrams & Tony Gonzalez, WPLN News
🗣️: Tom Kunesh, Tennessee Ancient Sites Conservancy
📸: ProPublica, Newspapers.com, TDEC
Despite years of chronic underfunding by the state and past fiscal missteps, Tennessee State University is making a financial turnaround. The university’s president, Dwayne Tucker, is exploring new revenue options for long-term sustainability.
TSU was in dire financial straits when Tucker became interim president in December 2024.
This came on the heels of Gov. Bill Lee removing the school’s board of trustees and a scathing financial audit showing administrative issues that left students without promised scholarships and freshmen in hotels. WPLN’s podcast special, The Debt, highlighted how these issues were compounded by decades of the state underfunding the university by millions, perhaps billions, of dollars.
As a followup to our podcast, Education Reporter Camellia Burris talked one-on-one with Tucker to learn more about his five-year turnaround plan for TSU and what he’ll do convince the state to pay the school what it owes.
Last Friday at @wnxpnashville, Chuquimamani-Condori announced a new booklet and songs from Los Thuthanaka that will released April 3. They also played unreleased tracks on WNXP.
The booklet, “Waq’a,” is about the birth of the sun or the birth of the “mundo en policia” (policed world). Chuquimamani-Condori and brother Joshua Chuquimia Crampton make up Los Thuthanaka and are Aymara, the indigenous people of the Andes. The story comes from old oral histories and traditional Aymara ceremonies. “I grew up hearing it and our version is an assemblage of every version we could find,” they said.
“It’s like a humming. And the song gets louder and louder and it generates heat and color and it generates so much heat that by accident the star is born,” said Chuquimamani-Condori.
Tap link in bio for the full story from Music and Culture reporter @justinbarney.
Photos: Noah Torralba
Thousands of people marched the streets of downtown Nashville, seemingly similar showings to the last protest in October.
Nearby in Ashland City, a town with about 5,600 residents, a much smaller crowd of dozens of people gathered on Saturday. Caroline Eggers went to Ashland City to talk to some of the demonstrators.
“Congress has laid down and quit, so what do you do? You come out here and you protest,” said Carl “Vip” Vipperman, who lives in Kingston Springs.
“Grocery prices and gas prices are affecting me. It’s affecting everyone,” said Mike Kobrick, who lives in Pleasant View near Ashland City. He attended the rally on Saturday partially to help encourage folks to help influence change by voting in the upcoming midterm elections.
Nancy Dorman, who has lived in Ashland City for the past three decades, is also concerned about military activity.
“It impacts the people who are least able to care for themselves all over the world,” Dorman said.
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Photos:: Caroline Eggers
Education — it`s critical for thriving as a community and as a state. It plays a role in our democracy. It`s key for our job market. It`s important for growing, attracting and retaining talent.
How do you stay informed about education here in Nashville?
Reporter Camellia Burris covers education in Nashville and the state, and her drive and hard work mean that we can keep you up-to-date on education issues, developments, policy, and legislation. From undocumented kids in schools, to the voucher program, to the complicated, dynamic financial situation at TSU, Camellia is on the ground asking questions, combing through public records, and attending legislative sessions.
None of this could happen without your support. We are grateful for every donation, every gift that allows us to continue our service to the public. For the price of one latte per month you can become a member of Nashville Public Radio. Such a small investment that brings dividends to you and your community.
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About one in three Americans live within 50 miles of a nuclear waste storage site today.
But as Caroline Eggers reports, that could soon change. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy requested proposals from states to host a consolidated, national site for nuclear waste from the power industry.
“This is a significant opportunity to generate billions of private dollars in Tennessee and create thousands of jobs statewide,” said state Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston.
Yager sponsored a resolution that pledges the state legislature to taking any action to ensure Tennessee is selected as the host location.
Tennessee is rapidly becoming a central figure in the nation’s next generation of nuclear development. The Tennessee Valley Authority is building a new reactor, while companies are setting up factories for uranium processing, nuclear waste recycling and the manufacture of portable nuclear generators.
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Photo Credits: 1 - Energy Fuels Inc, 2 - Tennessee Valley Authority
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🐣 💐 Which baby animal are you based on your sign?
Spring is in the air, bringing about powerful changes in the heavens (bye-bye Mercury retrograde!) and at Nashville Public Radio (hello, Spring fund drive!)
Swipe to see which adorable critter best represents you. Whether you’re a community-minded trash panda or peace-protecting baby skunk, supporting Nashville Public Radio is very much in season.
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Curious Nashville Returns!
Back by popular demand, the WPLN fan favorite series Curious Nashville is here to investigate oddities, share local history, tell stories of interesting people, and explain how local institutions operate.
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