When the Catholic Biblical Association reached out this year to see if Amy-Jill Levine would be interested in serving as its president, she wrote someone else on the nominating committee to ask: is this a joke? Because Levine is not Catholic. She’s Jewish. While not a Christian, the Vanderbilt professor emerita is one of the […]
Zack Slingsby’s bet on scripted comedy from Nashville
Audio and video will be added to this post after the broadcast at noon. You could count Zack Slingsby as one of Nashville’s Covid-era transplants. He moved his family – now with five kids – from New Jersey to Franklin. After years of building a company that makes videos for big brands, he’s branched out […]
Alberto Gonzales on retirement, loyalty and the law
Where do you go after reaching the pinnacle of your profession? What if you were forced out of that job? For former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, his second act steered him to academia. In 2014, he moved to Middle Tennessee to become dean of a law school that was just getting off the ground […]
Allison Russell, ‘In the Hour of Chaos’
A quote got back to Allison Russell from her daughter talking to the daughter of another artist: My mommy “just sings sad songs about her sad past.” She did win a GRAMMY for a song she describes as an open letter to her adopted father — a white supremacist — who abused her throughout her […]
Jim Palmer on deconstruction and what’s next
Jim Palmer was a crusader for Christianity.
Biochemist Billy Hudson on his awards, his Aspirnauts and his own self-care
At 84, biochemist Billy Hudson is still at it, researching collagen and kidney function. He’s been named as a 2026 medal of honor recipient by the Ellis Island Honors Society. An unlikely pioneer in the field of nephrology, Hudson endured poverty and abuse in rural Arkansas, not even finishing high school before he found himself […]
Former Titan Kevin Dyson still has something to prove in education
Kevin Dyson was part of the biggest play during the biggest season the Tennessee Titans have had to date. He saw the highs of the Music City Miracle and the bitter lows of being one yard short at Super Bowl XXXIV. And before long, he found his injury-prone career cut short in 2005. He wanted […]
Finding simplicity on 21 strings with guzheng master Wu Fei
Today we meet Wu Fei, a master of the 21-string Chinese zither known as the guzheng. A classically-trained composer and singer, Wu Fei was educated in China’s conservatory system before continuing her studies at Mills College in the United States. She eventually made her home in Nashville, where her sound has evolved through collaborations with […]
R.A. Dickey on redemption, purpose and the unpredictable pitch that changed everything
Knuckleball pitchers are a small fraternity, and R.A. Dickey is one of its most notable members.
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