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Curious Nashville

Listener-powered investigations
We investigate oddities, share local history, tell stories of interesting people, and explain how local institutions operate. You ask the questions, and we answer them.

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Curious Nashville: How A Populist Political Movement Named One Nashville Neighborhood

By Olivia Rhee

September 23, 2018

Listen Nestled in the Haynes-Trinity area of Nashville is Free Silver Road. Though it appears to be one simple street, North Nashvillians often tell stories about the old Free Silver, which is said to have been a large neighborhood with a rich history.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: David Ewing, North Nashville

Curious Nashville: How One Man Created A Peace Sign Visible From The Sky

By Tony Gonzalez

August 19, 2018

From the proper vantage point it materializes unmistakably: A gigantic peace sign, cut into roughly 3 acres of forest next to the Nashville International Airport.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville

100 Years Later, Nashville Remembers The Deadly Train Crash At Dutchman’s Curve

By Blake Farmer

July 6, 2018

Listen There was a head-on collision of two trains at a site called Dutchman’s Curve in West Nashville 100 years ago Monday, July 9. It remains the deadliest train crash in American history. But the tragedy has largely faded from the city’s collective memory.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville

Curious Nashville: One Last Batch Of Transit Plan Answers

By Tony Gonzalez

April 27, 2018

Still undecided on Nashville’s transit plan? Planning to spend the weekend studying up before Election Day on Tuesday? Your questions have informed much of WPLN’s coverage —  wpln.org/transit — and a final set of answers to your submitted questions follows below.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville, Nashville transit referendum

Curious Nashville: Glimpses Of The Forgotten Zoo In Suburban Green Hills

By Sara Ernst

April 25, 2018

  Listen In the decades before serene family homes occupied the Glendale neighborhood of South Nashville, exotic animals, lush vegetation and summertime whimsy filled the area. The Glendale Park Zoo sat seven miles outside of downtown, a place where animals roamed and children screamed at the drop of the wooden roller coaster ride.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville, South Nashville

Curious Nashville Answers Your Transit Referendum Questions

By Tony Gonzalez

April 2, 2018

We’ve asked you for your questions about the pending vote on Nashville’s mass transit plan. Now, we’re trying to answer them.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville, Nashville transit referendum

Curious Nashville: What We’ve Learned In Two Years Of Answering Your Questions

By Tony Gonzalez

March 16, 2018

Piranhas, tombstones, tunnels, and trains. Questions about Nashville road names. And even a query about how much it rains here. (The answer: Nashville does receive more annual rainfall than stereotypically soggy Seattle.) These subjects, and many more, have made for a lively 2 years for Curious Nashville.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville, TDOT

Curious Nashville: The Story Behind A Pink Elephant On Charlotte Pike

By Sara Ernst

March 9, 2018

Towering over Charlotte Pike in West Nashville, a life-sized pink elephant stands guard over the University Motors car dealership. The bubblegum-colored pachyderm sports a pair of black wayfarer sunglasses.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville

Curious Nashville: Why Did Opryland USA Go Away?

By Jason Moon Wilkins

January 5, 2018

Listen

Twenty years ago, Nashville had a theme park. Opryland USA sat in a curve of the Cumberland River now home to a giant mall. It had roller coasters, Southern-themed restaurants and live country music revues. Memories of rides like the Screamin’ Delta Demon are still traded like gold among longtime Nashvillians — as are the […]

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville

Curious Nashville: How An Urban Legend About Piranhas In Nashville Came To Be

By Chris St. Clair

December 20, 2017

Listen There were rumors about sharks swimming in city waters after Hurricane Harvey, and urban legends about alligators in New York City sewers have been around for years. But listener Sarah Stephenson has a question about another predator that allegedly lives in Music City: “I have heard that during the 2010 floods, the Aquarium restaurant […]

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, WPLN News Tagged With: Curious Nashville

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