Banner & Company

Banner reporters Steven Hale and Stephen Elliott sit down to talk about the fairgrounds, the property's fascinating role in Nashville politics over the past 15 years and Stephen's story about the latest tensions surrounding its development. They also discuss last week's Metro Council meeting and Oscar-nominated movies.

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Is God really a boy?" That's a question that the Rev. Margie Quinn says she found written in her very first diary. Growing up in Nashville — and eventually taking up Ultimate Frisbee, which she still plays seriously — it took many years before she began to see herself as pastor material. But early questions like this showed her eagerness to wrestle with the messy workings of the world and search for deeper truths within.

Vine Street Christian Church is more than 200 years old. Recently, the congregation voted to call Rev. Quinn to be their senior minister. At 35, she is young for the position, but the vote was unanimous. Being installed as a pastor in her hometown was a moment she once could not have imagined — having fled the South for nonprofit work on the West Coast — but also the kind of homecoming she later came to realize she needed.

Guest: Rev. Margie Quinn, senior minister, Vine Street Christian Church

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporter Steven Hale sits down with statehouse reporter Sarah Grace Taylor to talk about several immigration-related bills currently under debate at the state legislature. They discuss the proposed policies, including one that would require schools and other public entities to track and report immigration status, and how they might play out in the context of the Trump administration's ongoing mass deportation efforts. Sarah Grace explains why she's not sure when the legislative session will end and Steven wonders what the prediction markets would say.

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the beginning, Musica — the massive ring of dancing figures that towers nearly 40 feet above Buddy Killen Circle just off Music Row — was meant to be more than a sculpture: It was also supposed to be a fountain. Few know the original vision for Musica better than Andrée LeQuire, whose husband Alan LeQuire created the piece. Now, she's helping bring that vision to life, finally, with the help of some friends and the city.

A Nashville native who left for five years to explore the world before returning to her hometown, Andrée has worked in real estate and as a gallerist, served on the Planning Commission and, just once modeled for her sculptor husband. Now, she's got designs in hand to turn Musica into the water- and light-filled creation it was always intended to be.

Guest: Andrée LeQuire, gallerist and planner

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In May 2025, Tennessee Highway Patrol teamed up with ICE for a sweeping joint operation that resulted in more than 600 traffic stops, largely in immigrant communities around the city. The Banner reviewed more than 50 hours of body and dashboard camera footage and found that agents routinely profiled people before pulling them over, treated drivers differently once it was clear they were not immigrants, competed with each other for the most people arrested, and both treated and talked about people in demeaning ways once they were in custody. In this special episode, Banner reporters discuss how they analyzed the video and what they observed.

Guests: Araceli Crescencio, Banner multimedia reporter; Stephen Elliott, Banner metro reporter; Sarah Grace Taylor, Banner state government reporter

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Andrea Tudhope

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up with two artistically minded parents, Sai Clayton never wanted for something to fill her time — using her imagination wasn't just encouraged, it was expected. Creativity runs in the family, and it permeated her early life. That included many days spent at the Frist Art Museum, exploring the galleries and, in her childhood years, hanging out in the ArtQuest area.

Life has come full circle for Sai, who was selected as the Frist's inaugural curatorial fellow and now, has co-curated the new exhibit In Her Place, which showcases the works of numerous women artists who have helped shape the art scene in Nashville. For Sai, it's a balancing act, living in her home town as both a curator and a practicing artist, but it's one she wouldn't trade for anything.

Guest: Sai Clayton, artist and curator

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banner reporter Steven Hale sits down with education reporter Lillian Avedian to talk about the education-related bills she's following at the state legislature, from vouchers to curriculum about communism. Lillian explains the policy debates and reflects on her first week on the hill. Steven catches her up on the various romance-related storylines at the Winter Olympics.

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his role as Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk, Lonnell Matthews Jr. sees his share of the kind of youth we have become accustomed to calling "troubled," Often they've come through life without the kind of guidance and support that can keep them on a better path. Lonnell understands all too well what the stakes are, because his own life was profoundly changed by violence: His younger brother was shot and killed in a drug deal gone bad.

It is, as Lonnell tells it, a tale of two brothers — siblings and best friends with identical upbringings but very different outcomes. Continuing the work that has defined his public life, Lonnell was recently named co-chair of a new Community Safety Task Force, bringing together leaders and community members from across the city. He's also working on a book he never expected to write.

Guest: Lonnell Matthews Jr., Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk, co-chair of Community Safety Task Force

Host: Demetria Kalodimos

Producer: Steve Haruch

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Banner's Steven Hale sits down with Metro reporter Stephen Elliott to talk about Tuesday's Metro Council meeting and the various upcoming reviews of Nashville's winter storm response. Stephen talks about an unusually muted night for the council and the issues that came up in the meeting's brief public hearing about the budget, and Steven asks how he and councilmembers interpret the public feedback they receive. Both Stev/phens offer up some television recommendations, and producer Andrea is glad she happened to have a doctor's appointment during the recording, thusly missing the special occasion of having All Four Banner Steves alone in a room.

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Banner’s Steven Hale and Araceli Crescencio talk about Nashville's historic winter storm, power outages and their personal slip-and-fall counts. Araceli shares what she's heard from Spanish-speaking Nashvillians trying to access Metro resources and Steven encourages her to watch Sister Act and Sister Act 2.

Produced by Andrea Tudhope

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices