Middle Tennessee weather can be unpredictable — and dangerous. When things get iffy, a trio of "suburban dads" keeps the information flowing. But once the watches turn to warnings, they really get serious: That's when they start livestreaming on YouTube, tracking storms in real time and letting their audience know when to shelter and when it's safe to carry on.

Nashville Severe Weather started as a Twitter account to keep locals informed of potential rainouts and worse. It's grown into a high-tech multi-platform operation with hundreds of thousands of followers. Two-thirds of the team joined Demetria to talk about their origins — which go back farther than one might think — and their advice for getting through a nasty weather event.

Guests: Andrew Leeper and Will Minkoff, ⁠Nashville Severe Weather⁠

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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Banner reporters Steven Hale and Lillian Avedian sit down to talk about the coming school year in Nashville and how Lillian approaches covering education. They discuss what Lillian learned from her first year on the beat, how she’s keeping up with schools while school is out of session and what she has her eye on this fall. Steven wonders if later start times will help him get his kids to school on time and they wonder if any teachers assigned The Odyssey for summer reading.

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

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Do you like scary movies? Larry Underwood sure does. He remembers growing up in Nashville watching Frankenstein and Creature From the Black Lagoon movies on television. The way those monster movies were sometimes introduced to the audience, by way of a "horror host" (like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark or Svengoolie) was also a big part of the appeal, setting up the "shock package" of creature features or out-there sci-fi movies.

Nashville has a long lineage of horror hosts, from Dr. Lucifur in the 1950s doing live skits to Sir Cecil Creape, who supposedly lived in the catacombs beneath the WSMV TV studio. Larry joined that pantheon as Dr. Gangrene, a mad scientist of sorts, and he's also written a book about it all, titled Masters of Terrormonies, documenting the characters and behind-the-scenes hijinks that have kept this beloved lo-fi tradition going for decades.

Guest: Larry Underwood, aka Dr. Gangrene, author of Masters of Terrormonies

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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When the other kids wanted to watch Indiana Jones, Willie Steele took a chance on a baseball movie instead. He didn't know it at the time, but watching Field of Dreams by himself in 1989 would alter the trajectory of his life. He would go on to write his master's thesis about Shoeless Joe, the novel the film was based on, and then, in an unlikely turn, write the biography of that book's author, W.P. Kinsella.

These days, Willie is working on a new book about how Major League Baseball reacted to the events of 9/11, from the perspectives of the four teams that were closest to where the planes went down: The Mets, Yankees, Pirates and Orioles. And he's also learning how to throw a knuckleball — with some help from a few former big leaguers.

This episode was first broadcast in February 2025.

Guest: Willie Steele, writer and professor of English at Lipscomb University

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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Banner reporters Steven Hale, Sarah Grace Taylor and Stephen Elliott sit down to talk about primary elections. Steven asks about their formative election-watching memories, and they discuss races for state House, Congress and governor. They also think through the implications of new Republican-drawn congressional maps, which leave one district resembling a kind of snake rainbow that touches Middle Tennessee and Memphis. 

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

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Lamar Alexander once walked more than 1,000 miles from one end of Tennessee to the other, won election as governor as a Republican when Democrats ruled the statehouse, and served in Congress in a period of relative bipartisanship. Throw in time served as U.S. secretary of education and president of the University of Tennessee and you've got the makings of a new memoir: The Education of a Senator.

Those with a longer memory might remember a slimmer volume by the same author: The Little Plaid Book: 311 Rules, Reminders, and Lessons About Running for Office and Making a Difference. Trading on Alexander's signature red-and-black plaid shirt, it's a compendium of truisms and, one might say, homespun wisdom.

Guest: Lamar Alexander, former U.S. senator and Tennessee governor

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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Banner reporters Steven Hale and Stephen Elliott and intern Anna Blubaugh sit down to discuss — what else? — data centers. Anna and Stephen talk about what they saw and heard at this week’s Metro Council meeting, where hundreds of Nashvillians weighed in on legislation about the controversial facilities. Anna shares what she learned from conversations with people getting engaged in local politics for the first time because of the issue and Stephen breaks down the bills and the beef between Mayor Freddie O’Connell and DC Blox. They agree not to use the term “bio break.”

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

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Shane Caldwell got his start on public access television as "kind of a goof," after watching a comedy show and thinking he and his fellow bartender friends could do much better. What they came up with, The Sylvan Brothers, became an underground sensation. That led to a local sketch comedy show called Cuts that aired right after Saturday Night Live. The first musical guest? Vince Gill.

The child of performers, Shane hails from Savannah, Tenn. — fishing worm capital of the world — where some of the off-kilter residents he observed growing up informed the characters he eventually created for his shows. Clips of one of those characters, the indelible "Rehab Guy," still get shared on social media. Since those days, Shane has worked with a long roster of collaborators, including Jeff Foxworthy and professional wrestler Dusty "The American Dream" Rhodes.

This episode was first broadcast in September 2025.

Guest: Shane Caldwell, comedian

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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Former first lady Jill Biden's new book View From the East Wing looks back at her time in the White House and her relationship with former President Joe Biden — including the infamous debate night where, she says, she thought her husband was having a stroke. Dr. Biden discussed her book with the Banner's Demetria Kalodimos in front of a live audience at Vanderbilt University's Langford Auditorium on June 8. This is a lightly edited recording of that conversation.

Special thanks to Elyse Adler at Parnassus Books and Susan Grider at Vanderbilt University.

Guest: Jill Biden, author, View From the East Wing

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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Even if everyone can't agree on what "affordable housing" means, one thing is for sure: Nashville needs more of it. Matt Wiltshire has been working on this problem for years (it was a big part of his campaign for mayor) and while he may not have all the answers, he has been part of one innovative solution: investing in housing that's affordable now and keeping it that way.

The $30 million Pathway Housing Fund that Matt manages recently made a big acquisition: the Mayflower apartments in Hillsboro Village. In making the purchase, Matt discovered a web of personal connections that, in his words, make for "the most Nashville story ever." With his experience in both investment banking and city government, he's hoping that the story of Nashville doesn't begin and end with an economic boom pushing working people out of the city.

Guest: , president, Pathway Housing Fund

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

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