Thanksgiving is going to look a lot different this year. But one thing that will most certainly stay the same? The familiar dulcet tones of our favorite podcasting hosts.
That’s right — even a pandemic can’t stop your friendly local public radio personalities from consuming a whole lot of longform audio and then telling you about it. So heat up your take-out turkey, mute your Zoom call with relatives (they really don’t want to hear you eating anyway) and turn on some episodes that will make you feel, think and live a better life in 2021.
And, if you want the deep cuts of Nashville Public Radio’s favorite podcasts, check out our lists from 2019 and 2018.
Nashville Public Radio shows
Classically Speaking, “Bespoke Music Making with Jennifer Higdon”
The featured interview was recorded in that brief moment in between the Nashville area suffering a devastating tornado and the world shutting down due to the pandemic. Jennifer Higdon has known loss in her life, and while the first half of the interview reflects her brilliance as a composer, her reflection on grief in the second half proved to be unexpectedly timely. — Colleen Phelps
Curious Nashville, “How Black Political Power Changed In Nashville After Metro Consolidation”
This story capitalizes on a simple question to explore local history and civics. It starts with an observation about the small cities that chose, in the late 1950s, not to be part of the consolidated Nashville-Davidson County government. From there, it examines changing demographics, political power and local government services. And it shows how our listeners propel our beat reporters into unexpected places. — Tony Gonzalez
Deadly Force, “Action Beats Reaction”
This summer, nationwide protests against police brutality resurfaced long-standing questions about how officers are trained to use force. In this episode of Deadly Force, WPLN News enters into the mind of a police officer in the moment he decides to shoot. To better understand his thought process, we requested more than 1,000 pages of Metro Nashville Police Department training materials, visited the academy and interviewed officers who have been on both sides of the gunfire. Listen through to the end for an unexpected twist. — Samantha Max
Movers & Thinkers, “Stranger Than Fiction”
Ruta Sepetys’ writing is a reminder that real life is just as astounding as the dystopian worlds some authors create. Her latest novel, Fountains of Silence, takes place in Franco-era Spain, when a national police force could make people disappear and babies went missing from anti-government families. But after Franco died, Spain signed a “pact of forgetting” that encouraged people to move on quickly. In my interview with Ruta, we talk about why she’s obsessed with unearthing forgotten histories, even — especially — when the excavation is difficult. — Emily Siner
The Promise, “The Nashville Way”
To understand how our schools came to be where they are today — divided along race and economics — you must understand and give credit to those who first fought to dismantle segregated schools. Nashville’s Black families who put their children on the front lines of jeering crowds and racist city officials deserve a ruthless examination of this history. In this episode, I traveled to the National Archives in Georgia, sifted through thousands of pages of court records, tracked down the family who filed Nashville’s landmark desegregation lawsuit and correct the revisionist history this city has claimed for decades. Nashville fought school desegregation at every turn. — Meribah Knight
The Tri-Star State, “An Exclusive Look At Gov. Lee’s Coronavirus Response In Tennessee”
In a year that has felt like seven years, there’s been a lot to talk about on The Tri-Star State. But the reason this my favorite episode is because it gives the listener an exclusive, behind-the-scene look at how Gov. Bill Lee was tackling the pandemic in April. So much has changed. But so much is still the same. — Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
Versify, “Freedom Summer: Pitfalls, Prison Terms and Conquests”
The legacy of Black resistance is living history. The forces that shaped the forms of its expression — the laws, policies, and politicians that structured the hierarchies of this country — still influence our lives today. In this episode, we hear the intimate testimony of Dr. Allen Cason Jr., a Nashville Freedom Rider who shaped the circuit of his life around combating racial prejudices. Allen survived a Klan hit, a bus terminal ambush and a sanctuary under siege, and he hid the truth of his experience for years. On this episode, you’ll find out what our often-undervalued liberties actually cost. — Joshua Moore
Our favorites from outside the building
1619, “The Birth Of American Music”
There are pieces of culture that we can so easily allow to only exist at the surface level, and this episode pulls together a reflection of the story of American music along with the notes themselves in a way that cannot be denied. — Colleen Phelps
Ear Hustle, “Myths and Monikers”
I love Ear Hustle because the podcast turns tough issues into simple conversations. The hosts are particularly good at weaving through a wide range of voices with unique perspectives. This episode is one of the best examples of that. It takes topics as simple as myths and nicknames and uses them to take listeners into a world of curiosity. — Damon Mitchell
This American Life, “How To Be Alone”
Maybe, like me, you live alone. Or maybe, like a lot of us, COVID-19 has you feeling a little isolated and distant. This episode of This American Life doesn’t shy from those uncomfortable feelings or try to sugarcoat them. Instead, it lays them bear through stories that will make you both laugh and cry (or, at least, I did). And by the end, I hope, you too will feel a little bit less alone. — Samantha Max
Short Wave, “Honeybees Need Your Help, Honey”
The pandemic has sucked the fun out of a lot of things this year, but not Short Wave. This science podcast draws you in with a sense of wonder and makes topics like physics and entomology accessible. Hosts let their curiosity guide interviews, and whether the subject is something virus-related or ranking the best moons in the solar system (yes, that’s a real episode), I always come away feeling comforted and a little bit smarter. — Alexis Marshall
You’re Wrong About, “The D.C. Snipers, Parts 1-4”
OK, so this isn’t so much one episode as it is four. But it’s worth it, I swear. You’re Wrong About revisits cultural history and news events of the past that we’re guaranteed to have the wrong idea about — both as a society and as individuals. It’s part Mystery Science Theater, part Dateline, part college psychology class, part internet rabbit hole. And I frickin’ love it. The four episodes that revisit and dissect the 2002 D.C. Sniper case are spellbinding, illuminating, heartbreaking and at times darkly funny. — Meribah Knight
Scene On Radio, “More Truth”
Nerd alert! I’m recommending a piece of journalism about journalism. The Black Lives Matter protests this summer prompted some serious soul-searching about how reporters cover, well, everything. The notion of “objectivity” is having a fall from grace. But I’m not sure I fully understood what that meant and why it mattered until I heard this podcast episode. It makes a compelling case for why clinging to objectivity has led journalists astray from their real mission: serving the public and telling the truth. — Emily Siner
Word Matters, “In Defense Of ‘Like’ “
The lexicographer hosts of Word Matters take delight in the way language grows, adapts and shifts. In this episode, they take the opposite tack from that teacher who tried to stop you from overusing “like.” Instead of simply labelling it an empty placeholder, they examine and celebrate its many shades of possible meaning. If “like” is your pet peeve, perhaps you’ll find vocabulary for registering your complaint in another of their episodes: “A Collection Of Obscure Words For People Who Annoy You.” — Nina Cardona
Song Exploder, “Semisonic — Closing Time”
I love binging Song Exploder on long drives. The episode on Semisonic’s “Closing Time” stands out from my last road trip. This podcast deconstructs songs. Some episodes focus on production and mixing. Others feature the songwriting process. High-school Blake Farmer loved Semisonic — but not the worn-out single “Closing Time.” But I have new appreciation after learning that lead singer Dan Wilson always uses multiple meanings, and the metaphor with the last call at a bar and the birth of a child. — Blake Farmer
The Promise, “The Final Exam”
It is a rare pleasure to work alongside storytellers whose artistry drives you further into love with your craft. When I finished the final episode of The Promise Season 2, I stood in my kitchen sobbing for 20 minutes. The season is exceptional not only for the scope of its undertaking or the tenderness of its subject but for the diligence of its storyteller. Meribah Knight is a disciplined journalist whose commitment to the lives and labor of the families, students and educators she interviews is evident in every decibel of this series. — Joshua Moore
Louder Than A Riot, “Lyrics On Trial”
I’m coming off working on my first longform audio piece, so I really admired the use of sound, language and storytelling to tell a complex story. I know that our criminal justice system is flawed and criminalizes Blackness. But I was absolutely stunned at how rap lyrics were misconstrued to put Mac Phipps behind bars. I love how they brought in an expert who compared how people judge rap and country lyrics differently. — Ambriehl Crutchfield
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