Tasha A.F. Lemley (she/her/hers) is the newest member of WPLN News. As This Is Nashville‘s Multimedia Producer, Tasha is actively involved in connecting with the community, story scouting, pitching and producing show episodes, features and segments. Get to know her.
1. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a “scientist.” I didn’t really know what that meant other than I wanted to be someone who looked into microscopes. For fun, I would turn over rocks in our foresty backyard and see what I could find. Each flip was mystery and potential. The best days were the ones I found a salamander, toad or small snake.
2. What made you want to work for WPLN News/This Is Nashville?
I’ve really wanted to work with WPLN News for most of a decade and am so grateful for the freelancing I’ve gotten to do for the station along the way. Thanks to Anita, I’ve been able to make connections in the community and learn how to turn quick little tasks and do them well. Thanks to Versify and [Nashville Public Radio Chief Engineer] Cameron [Adkins], my field-recording quality has increased and fear of messing it all up has decreased. And thanks to Emily, Tony, Chas, Blake and Rachel, over the last two years I’ve gotten an amazing education in reporting, writing and producing spots and features. This team has trusted me and has never made me feel stupid. That’s such a huge thing. Every time I’ve tackled something outside of my regular zone, they’ve been there to listen, educate, encourage me, and get the thing done. That’s a team I want to be on, and This is Nashville is a great new project to contribute to and continue growing with.
3. a) Do you consider yourself to be a foodie? b) Any favorite Nashville restaurants so far? c) Any places on your “must try” list?
Yup. I’m weirdly enthusiastic about all things India: religion, culture and food. I stopped eating meat nearly 25 years ago and the vast variety of dishes India feeds me shakes me to my core. I mean it. I know I really love something when I cry after tasting it for the first time. It doesn’t happen often — but it happens. So, I’ve tried all Indian restaurants within at least 50 miles of Nashville — possibly 100 miles, but I’d need to conduct more research to keep myself honest!
Speaking of honest… Honest Indian on Thompson Lane has become our go-to. It’s in that strip mall with a Kroger you can see from the interstate and have no idea how to get to. Now, Honest is a franchise, and the menu is huge — I call it “the Cheesecake Factory of Indian restaurants,” but don’t let that keep you away. My husband, Mark, and I were skeptical at first. Still, we persisted. All the chaat we’ve had is fantastic. Pani Puri with pepper water I drink up afterward, awesome samosa chaat, incredible Honest Special Bhaji Pav, and lean on the Indo-Chinese when you’re craving that Manchurian flavor. Don’t forget the Dosas. Seriously, we’ve loved everything, even the sandwich. The singular exception is the “pizza.” You can skip that.
All of this said, the best part of Honest Indian is the staff: Stuti, Mit, and Shupam. Stuti has become a food guide for us. We’ll order one thing we know we want and have her pick the rest. She has introduced us to Gujarati dishes and fed us stuff we’ve never even heard of like dal vada and — OMG — shrikhand.
This is also the first place ever that I’ve started getting into ordering off menu. Ask for Poha and you’ll probably get it if they’re not too busy. And, when I catch them on the right day, they’re starting to fill my kadhi chawal and upma needs. Now for mattar kachori. A girl can dream.
4. What do you like to do for fun outside the office?
You know, this is something I struggle with.
Fun, for me, is experiences that help me grow. Fun can be crying on a subway from an overflowing heart. Unfamiliar religious traditions are often fun. Fun is experiencing new intimacy and tenderness with a friend. Fun is pushing through anticipatory anxiety. Fun is realizing I’m wrong about something I was previously arrogant about (like “there’s no tea grown in the states”…thanks for setting me right on that one, Nina). And fun is a big meal in a booth and cup of chai.
I do feel a lack of, and need for, lighthearted fun-fun. Fun-fun for me is often avoidance and mind-numbing distraction. I have Twitch gamers on…a lot. Especially when I wake up with those 3am nerves. Otherwise, get me into a Netflix binge or send me to Azeroth for a whole day straight.
Maybe I should take a cue from my kidself and start turning over rocks again.
5. What’s your go-to karaoke song? (Not that we’d ever make you sing it.)
Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam.
BONUS: Where is your dream vacation?
I want to get back to Varanasi. Sit and cry for like a week. Similar to my “fun” answer above, “vacating” is a challenge for me. Traveling is my opportunity to get perspective, see that I’m not the center of it all, work through some stuff, and hopefully come back a little more humble. NYC is a go-to. And, as much as I prefer the dark and cold, there’s something about California beaches that warms even my little gothish heart.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM