Banner & Company

In some ways, his upbringing helped prepare Tyler Mahan Coe for creating the breakout country music history podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones. After all, his father is David Allan Coe, and Tyler spent more than a decade touring with him as a member of his band. He also has childhood memories of stars like George Jones, thanks to a connection with producer Billy Sherrill.

But even that kind of proximity to country music doesn't guarantee a gift for storytelling, or Tyler's maximalist approach to taking the genre's many crisscrossing storylines and turning them into wide-ranging, richly contextualized episodes. The podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones is the work of a true obsessive who not only cares deeply about the subject matter but also how it connects to other currents of history and culture. Tyler has adapted Season Two of the show into a new book focusing on George Jones and Tammy Wynette, with illustrations by former Nashvillian Wayne White.

Guest: Tyler Mahan Coe, host of Cocaine & Rhinestones and author of Cocaine & Rhinestones: A History of George Jones and Tammy Wynette

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch

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A few days before Christmas in 2008, a six-story tall, 84-acre mound of coal ash — a byproduct of burning coal — collapsed at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tenn. The toxic sludge burst through a retaining embankment, knocked houses of their foundations and tossed cars around like toys. All in all, a billion gallons of toxic sludge filled the Emory River and 300 acres of the surrounding community of Kingston.

In his new book Valley So Low, writer Jared Sullivan examines the spill, the years long cleanup and its aftermath. Although TVA officials told the public the coal ash was not toxic, many of the workers who toiled to remove the waste from the area eventually became sick. The book focuses on one small-time attorney and the legal battle that ensued over whether TVA and Jacobs Engineering, the company it contracted to remediate the site, should be held responsible.

Guest: Jared Sullivan, writer and author of Valley So Low: One Lawyer's Fight for Justice in the Wake of America's Great Coal Catastrophe

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Steve Haruch and Andrea Tudhope

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For Nashville native Anne Byrn, baking is an art, and everyone who mixes, measures and bakes is an artist in their own right — whether that means following a beloved recipe to the letter, or improvising to get the taste just right. Her own mother was an excellent home cook who only had to read a recipe to know what it would taste like. And she was an early influence on Anne, who is now a bestselling cookbook author.

Her latest book, Baking in the American South, is much more than a cookbook; it's also a story anthology, tracing the history of 200 recipes — everything from creamed chicken on egg bread to cantaloupe cream pie — through the diverse cultures and foodways of the region. For Anne, a former food editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (and onetime Banner intern), sometimes the story is just as sweet as the food.

Guest: Anne Byrn, cookbook author

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Steve Haruch and Andrea Tudhope

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With no budget and no blueprint, Hazel Joyner-Smith programmed her first film festival in just two weeks. It was a whirlwind experience, but she got it done. And she hasn't looked back since. The International Black Film Festival has been going strong here in Nashville for two decades, and this year's edition, which begins this week, showcases a range of films from features to shorts to documentaries — many of them produced in Tennessee.

Hazel grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina, and credits her father for instilling a tireless and exacting work ethic, which came in handy during her years as a classroom teacher and later as an educator at Fisk University. Through it all, she's maintained a sense of curiosity and desire for excellence that have made her a pillar of the city's film community.

Guest: Hazel Joyner-Smith, founder and CEO, International Black Film Festival

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Steve Haruch and Andrea Tudhope

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With his brightly colored designs — everything from ears of corn to New York City skyscrapers — painter Myles Maillie has made a name for himself in Nashville's art scene. There's a good chance you've seen someone wearing one of his hand-painted shirts or aprons. The bold, pop-art style is hard to miss, as is Myles himself, whose flair for color extends to his wardrobe.

For decades, Myles kept at it, using inexpensive materials to create bold, joyful pieces — some wearable, some not. Though he's been compared to fellow Nashvillian (and fellow Hillsboro High alum) Red Grooms, Myles has an irrepressible style all his own, one that has lasted through many stages of his life, and of this city's.

Guest: Myles Maillie, painter and visual artist

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Steve Haruch and Andrea Tudhope

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Sept. 9, 1957 was MaryAnne MacKenzie's first day teaching sixth grade at Hattie Cotton School in East Nashville. It was also the first day of Nashville's desegregation of public schools. One Black girl showed up for class at Hattie Cotton that day, and for the anti-integration crowd, one Black student was one too many. In the dead of night, 99 someone detonated 99 sticks of dynamite, blowing apart the east end of the building and knocking it off its foundation. No one was hurt, but the culprits have never been caught.

Today, MaryAnne MacKenzie is the last living teacher who was working at Hattie Cotton at the time. Her husband, Stephen MacKenzie, has written a book describing the events of 1957 from her perspective, titled Hattie Cotton School: The last teacher's first-hand experiences of the 1957 bombing and aftermath. As you'll hear in this interview, the memories of that day, and what came afterward, are very much still with her.

Guest: MaryAnne MacKenzie, the last living teacher working at Hattie Cotton school when it was bombed in 1957

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch

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North Nashville is an important, historic area and home to some of the city's most significant institutions. But it's also a place that has seen disruption, unrest and neglect. Decades ago, the interstate cut the community in half — literally — displacing residents and shuttering businesses. But for those who have chosen to stay, North Nashville has always been a place that is more than the sum of its parts. That's why one resident has dedicated herself to lifting up the stories of people who live there.

This week, we're bringing you a special presentation of the independent podcast We Are North Nashville. It's about the lives of nine elders who call North Nashville home, and it tells their stories of this place. The podcast is part of a larger storytelling project led by artist and community organizer M. Simone Boyd, who also co-hosts. Before they started working at the Banner, audio producers Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch had already begun this project. (Note: The Banner is an in-kind partner.) To learn more, visit the project website.

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When Smyrna native Gerold Oliver takes the stage, he has a way of winning over audiences. He's currently playing the role of Orlando in the Nashville Shakespeare Festival's production of As You Like It — which features plenty of music and Gerold on guitar. And soon, he'll also be starring in The Best School Year Ever at the Nashville Children's Theater, where he's artist in residence.

Gerold keeps busy, both because he loves acting and because he has a young son at home to support. (Yes, he and his son run lines together sometimes — even Shakespeare.) Although there's always the lure of the coastal entertainment hubs, where there might be more chances to find film roles, he's found a way to make it work here in Nashville, and our theater scene is all the better for it.

Guest: Gerold Oliver

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch

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Five-star recruit Morgan Price made headlines in 2022 when she decided to de-commit from an SEC program in order to join Fisk University's brand-new gymnastics team — a first for a historically Black university or college. It was a fortuitous decision for the Lebanon, Tenn., native, who not only moved closer to her hometown after years pursuing the sport in Texas, but also fulfilled a lifelong wish to attend an HBCU.

In her second year, Morgan became the first gymnast from an HBCU to win a national collegiate all-around championship. It was a full-circle moment for her coach, Corrinne Tarver, who was the first African American woman to win an NCAA gymnastics all-around title. This year, expectations are high for the Fisk Gymdogs, but Morgan and the team are taking it all in stride, and in this episode she talks about her background, handling the pressure and how to come back from the twisties.

Guest: Morgan Price, Fisk University gymnast, first HBCU student to win a national title

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch

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As a journalist and author, Amanda Little has written about the environment, energy, technology and the future of food production — traveling to far-flung locations, meeting people around the world and eating lab-created meat out of a bioreactor. As a professor, she's worked to pass along the skills she's learned along the way, by trial and error, of reporting and storytelling.

Her newest endeavor, a multi-media engagement platform called Kidizenship, began with a question from her daughter: "What does democracy look like?" That question has turned into a treasure trove of kid-created flags, anthems and presidential speeches, to name just a few of the contests that Kidizenship has run — with cash prizes — to get young people interested in civics.

Guest: Amanda Little

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producers: Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch

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