It started with one request to speak to a group of risk analysts. Former Vanderbilt nurse RaDonda Vaught reluctantly told her story on a stage for the first time — she was still on probation from her felony conviction. “It was emotionally overwhelming and a little cathartic, but I’m gonna tell you, you could have […]
Rissi Palmer on the Black Barbie evolution of country music and other ‘Perspectives’
People come to Nashville from all over the world to make country music. Rissi Palmer is one of the many. But she’s also one of the few — one of the few to ever crack the Billboard country charts, and fewer still to do it as a Black woman.
Chef Ericka Fizer on defying the odds
Chef Ericka Fizer made it her life’s work to take care of others even as she endured her own hardships — starting with feeding her siblings when she was growing up. Her mother was frequently absent, battling addiction. Fizer overcame her own challenges but never saw herself as a victim of her circumstances. Then on […]
Live with Maestro Leonard Slatkin
We bring Leonard Slatkin to our podium on the eve of his first performance in this new era at the helm of the Nashville Symphony. He’s one of the most prominent American conductors of our time, and he’s back in town 20 years after serving a similar interim period between permanent conductors. We get reacquainted, […]
Facing the new year with Buddhist teacher and punk rocker Mikey Noechel
Our guest this hour is the frontman of the punk rock trio The RIP Taylors. Their latest album – Negativity Bias – has songs with titles like “I still don’t believe in you,” “I gotta bad attitude,” and “I’m not like…ya know…whatever.” It’s the passion project of Mikey Noechel, who thinks a lot about our […]
Our most fascinating interviews from 2025
A songwriter who climbed out of the shadow of her first song, a nonprofit leader who refuses to see his own disability, a restaurateur with a hot take on tourism, a humorist who leaned into her heritage, a forward-thinking physician who rediscovered her mom’s remedies, and the sentimental saint of the Opry. It’s the best […]
Marie Williams on bringing heart to Tennessee’s bureaucracy
Marie Williams is the kind of state official who will get choked up on stage talking about the passion of her team. She came up through homeless services in Memphis and found her way to the state agency that oversees mental health and substance abuse services when Gov. Bill Haslam appointed her to lead the […]
Vandy neurologist Britt Stone on coming back around to ‘bush medicine’
When Dr. Britt Stone was growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, her Bahamian mother made her choke down a spoonful of cod liver oil each morning. That daily ritual was part of a “bush medicine” philosophy incorporating an array of natural supplements and remedies. While training at Meharry Medical College, and later specializing in neurology, Stone […]
Whisperin’ Bill Anderson, the Grand Ole Opry’s longest serving legend
As the Grand Ole Opry celebrates its 100th birthday this week, we hear from its longest-serving member.
Music City’s benevolent mogul, Mike Curb
It might look like anything Mike Curb touches turns to gold. But he says he’s never been great at anything – just passionate. After more than 60 years in the record business, Curb is still looking for the next big hit. He’s also looking for a way to preserve the thing that brought him to […]
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM