Movers & Thinkers

Without a doubt, romantic love is a driving force in our culture — with countless movies, songs and books devoted to finding it, losing it or making it last. Falling in (or out of) love can feel so intense in our own lives, but our fundamental assumptions about what love really is are not always correct.

In this episode of Movers & Thinkers, we talk to three guests who have seen a lot of love, heartbreak and romantic confusion: relationship therapist Jeannie Ingram, divorce attorney Siew-Ling Shea, and Alex Pollack, a writer who muses on modern dating culture.

The show's host and producer is Emily Siner. Its editors are Mack Linebaugh, Anita Bugg and Blake Farmer, and its engineers are Carl Pederson and Cameron Adkins. Music by Blue Dot Sessions courtesy of the Free Music Archive. To find more Nashville Public Radio podcasts, go to podcasts.wpln.org.

More than 50 years ago, Rip Patton's world changed. He started attending nonviolence workshops in Nashville and learned how to endure abuse during the Civil Rights movement without fighting back.

Rip became a Freedom Rider, part of the movement that ended an era of legalized segregation in the South. Now, five decades later, he looks back on his role as a "disrupter" — sitting, standing and singing to make major societal change.

The show's host is Emily Siner. Its editors are Mack Linebaugh, Anita Bugg and Blake Farmer, and its engineers are Carl Pederson and Cameron Adkins. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. To find more Nashville Public Radio podcasts, go to podcasts.wpln.org.

For something as ubiquitous as dying, most of us know surprisingly little about it — not just the big unanswerable questions, like what happens after we die. We also rarely think about how to deal with grief, or what to talk about with your family before you go.

So on this episode of Movers & Thinkers, we're facing our fears (and fascination) by talking to three people who come face-to-face with mortality on a daily basis: hospice physician Sasha Bowers, cemetery historian Fred Zahn and Death & Dying professor Andrea Mills. 

The show's host is Emily Siner. Its editors are Mack Linebaugh, Anita Bugg and Blake Farmer, and its engineers are Carl Pederson and Cameron Adkins. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. To find more Nashville Public Radio podcasts, go to podcasts.wpln.org.

Parents pass on their genes, their values — and sometimes, their careers. These guests have taken on the family business, which has connected them more to their parents but, at times, tested their relationships and created lofty expectations. Featuring third-generation luthier Manuel Delgado, second-generation pastor Amy Mears, and poet Caroline Randall Williams, who has written books with her mother. 

The show's host is Emily Siner. Its editors are Mack Linebaugh, Anita Bugg and Blake Farmer, and its engineers are Carl Pederson and Cameron Adkins. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. To find more Nashville Public Radio podcasts, go to podcasts.wpln.org.

We interview Tiana Clark, a poet from Nashville.

Tiana has been tackling uncomfortable truths for years, ever since she wrote in her diary as a child that she hated her mom (who then discovered the writing). Now, she’s is a nationally lauded poet from Nashville who is the author of Equilibrium, a book of poetry published in 2016. She has a forthcoming poem in The New Yorker.

In our society, what we do often defines how we see ourselves: Our identity is tied up with careers and success. So what happens when we’re forced to start over? These people have grappled with reinvention, realizing that it’s possible to get out of situations that don’t feel right — and figure out how to move forward. Featuring musician Vanessa Carlton, journalist-turned-educator Chris Echegaray and former country music manager Chip Peay.

In honor of #throwbackThursday, it seems fitting to share this Movers & Thinkers anniversary: The first live show of this podcast took place almost exactly two years ago.