Last month’s announcement of an investment in Tennessee zinc operations is big for the state and big for the nation. Plus the local news for January 6, 2026 and the complex music history of Muscle Shoals.

Credits: 

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio

Host/producer: Nina Cardona

Editor: LaTonya Turner

Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez and the staff of WPLN and WNXP

In the aftermath of World War I, a Nashville man with unbelievable self-confidence sparked a diplomatic incident that reads like fiction. Plus the local news for January 5, 2025 and where to find low cost health care

Credits: 

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio

Host/producer: Nina Cardona

Editor: Megan Jones

Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, LaTonya Turner and the staff of WPLN and WNXP

A newly filed bill in Tennessee’s General Assembly cites lots of scripture and asks lawmakers to take an explicitly pro-Israel stance. Plus the local news for December 31, 2025 and the trade war comes for Tennessee soybeans.

Credits: 

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio

Host/producer: Nina Cardona

Editor: Alexis Marshall

Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez and the staff of WPLN and WNXP

Why aren’t there more dinosaur bones in Tennessee? There are some Cretaceous Period remains in the Volunteer State, but it was the Ice Age that left much richer deposits here.

Plus, the local news for Dec. 30, 2025 and red tape that could save lives.

Credits: 

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio.

Host/producer: Nina Cardona

Editor: Tony Gonzalez

Every President and First Lady does something to make the nation’s executive mansion their home. For the Polks, it was almost puritan customs, a key bit of redecoration, and an undercurrent of slavery. Plus the local news for December 29, 2025 and a big year for Nashville transit.

Credits: 

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio

Host/producer: Nina Cardona

Editor: LaTonya Turner

Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Megan Jones and the staff of WPLN and WNXP

For the holiday episodes, we’re doing a look back at our colleague’s best work. This one by WPLN’s Catherine Sweeney features criminal justice reporter Paige Pfleger’s story on how a blind spot in Tennessee’s probation system leaves domestic violence victims in danger. 

Credits:  

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio  

Host/producer: Catherine Sweeney  

Editor: LaTonya Turner  

Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, and the staff of WPLN and WNXP  

During this holiday week, the NashVillager Podcast takes a moment to share some of the best local reporting of the year — as chosen by WPLN staffers. Today, reporter Rose Gilbert highlights her colleague Mary Mancini’s story about a local elephant sanctuary.  

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio  

Host/producer: Rose Gilbert 

Editor: LaTonya Turner  

Additional support: Mack Linebaugh, Nina Cardona, Tony Gonzalez, Megan Jones and the staff of WPLN and WNXP  

Remember when we used to burn CDs?

A lot of music made it around the world without being properly published in those early days of file sharing. So the “Lostwave community” steps in to hunt down the origins of unidentified music. In this case, music that was made in Boston and heard in Seattle required the help of a data geek in the Middle East to figure out that the originator lives right here among us in Nashville.  

This is a production of Nashville Public Radio. 

Host/producer: Blake Farmer 

Editor: Tony Gonzalez 

How are Tennessee Christians using the Bible to form beliefs about immigration?  

How can a WPLN music story transport you somewhere new?

During this holiday week, the NashVillager Podcast takes a moment to share some of the best local reporting of the year — as chosen by WPLN staffers. Today, music reporter Justin Barney shows how his colleague Jewly Hight goes far beyond typical artists interviews to capture the local music scene.