A legend in the music business, musician and producer Don Was has made records for and performed alongside greats like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bob Weir, Iggy Pop, Bonnie Raitt, John Mayer, Willie Nelson and the B52s. In addition to winning six Grammys, including for Album of the Year in 1989 and Producer of the Year in 1994, Was spent decades crafting sonic landscapes for himself and others. He has also been a steadfast voice for the power of artistic vision and individuality. “The thing that makes you different isn’t a marketing problem,” he says. “It’s an artist’s superpower.” Was brings his talents to the First Coast with his newest project, the jazz/soul sounds of Don Was and the Pan Detroit Ensemble, for a local performance as part of the Fort Mose Jazz Blues Series. We listen to some of the classics he helped shape and ask about his process when working with the industry's most iconic musicians.

Guest: Don Was, Grammy-winning producer, musician and president of Blue Note Records

Protecting Black history

Museums have the power — and sometimes the obligation — to preserve and shape the stories that define us. That job has gotten far more complicated in an age of DEI backlash, as elected officials try to reshape or even whitewash those stories. The challenge is no different for the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, which was established in 1991 at the Lorraine Motel, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Dr. Russ Wigginton, the museum’s current president, noted in a September 2025 op-ed that Black history museums around the country face challenges due to “sweeping federal oversight.” He writes: “This isn’t just a polarized disagreement. It’s a calculated campaign to rewrite, repress and reframe America’s racial history into what some might consider a more comfortable or easier-to-digest narrative.” Wigginton explains how his museum is responding to bureaucratic challenges and shares his own family's history with racial activism ahead of his presentation at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.

Guest: Dr. Russ Wigginton, president, National Civil Rights Museum