Nathan's Neighborhood

Little did 12 year-old Jonathan Coleman know at the time, but a photo he would take at his sister's softball game would be the spark for a career in photography and media, one that would eventually lead to him becoming the the PR director at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jonathan would take his love of journalism and storytelling with him to school at Chapel Hill, professionally at local newspapers, and today representing North Carolina's grandest racing track.

Jonathan joins host Nathan Arledge to talk about how journalism is all about connection. Jonathan talks about how the essence of journalism is sparked by personal interest, and is an opportunity to build community. Jonathan also speaks about how the platform of journalism can be used for both good and bad.

Good Day Charlotte host Anne Wyatt Little joins host Nathan Arledge on today's episode of Nathan's Neighborhood. Anne talks about her background in journalism from school at Southern Methodist University in Texas to Fox46 here in Charlotte. Nathan and Anne also talk about how news stories are chosen, how she deals with grief on the job, and what stories she's covered have been most impactful to her.

As the Black Lives Matter protests raged on during the summer of 2020, countless images of the protests flooded our social media feeds. In Charlotte, it was almost impossible to miss the images coming from Queen City Nerve, a local alt-weekly. It was thanks to the tireless effort of Justin LaFrancois, the paper's publisher and business manager, that many of those images hit home.

Justin joins Nathan for a conversation about journalism's role as a social tool, an instrument of activism. Justin (who never trained to be a journalist), believes journalism is community involvement in many ways. Part of a journalist's purpose is to get people involved, teach people about their community, and get them to care. Justin also talks about how focusing on the often underrepresented voices instead of the "view from the helicopter" makes QC Nerve's coverage unique.

Fred Clasen-Kelly is an investigative reporter with USA Today, who has spent many years covering the same kinds of neighborhoods that he grew up in in Saginaw, Michigan. As a low-income area, Saginaw helped Fred understand the power and impact of community at a young age.

Today, Fred tells the stories of those impacted most by discriminatory housing practices, employment and immigration issues, and government accountability. In his work, he sees the same stories of resilience he saw in his youth.

Fred talks to Nathan about growing up in Saginaw, seeing the effects of poverty and racism first hand, and what it means to have to make the "best" bad choice you can.

Molly Grantham is a two-time Emmy-award winning journalist who has been named TV News Reporter of the Year for both Carolinas, one of Mecklenburg County’s “50 Most Influential Women” and most recently, Charlottean of the Year in 2020 by Charlotte Magazine. She published her second book last year in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, is a leader in social media, and is heavily involved in the Charlotte community.

Molly does all this while juggling the demands of being a mother. In today's episode of Nathan's Neighborhood, host Nathan Arledge talks to Molly about the concept of juggling. Both in terms of being the best news anchor she can be while also being the best parent she can be, but also balance in terms of how she does her job and how she delivers the news to her community. Molly also speaks to Nathan about being in the public spotlight, how she receives feedback and the unique scrutiny women in her position face.

Find out more about Molly on her website, mollygrantham.com.

Host Nathan Arledge brings it back home by talking to James and Lisa Howell. James is the senior pastor at Myers Park United Methodist Church, and his wife Lisa works diligently with the community as an activist and a photographer.

Nathan, James and Lisa join together for a cozy conversation on the Howell's patio. They discuss how to stay rooted when history is torn down around us, how communities change forever when residents get uprooted, and the natural wonder and beauty of diversity as evidenced across cultures and the lessons we can learn from it.

Host Nathan Arledge has made countless trips to the US/Mexico border and several other areas in Central America to help serve the immigrant community, welcoming our new neighbors. He can't do this work on his own, however, and today's guest has accompanied Nathan on many of the trips he's made.

Angelica Garnett (or 'Lica as her friends call her) is originally from Bogotá, Colombia and immigrated to the US when her father moved the family to Miami when she was in high school. Her first-hand experiences with the discomfort many Americans have towards immigrants has informed her world view and fueled the work she does today.

Nathan and Angelica talk about the underground networks that migrants often are forced to rely upon for support, the abundance of God, and the dreams we have for ourselves and others.

Today's guest, Rosie Molinary, is a living example of how these different worlds exist together. Born in Germany to parents in the Army, she was raised in South Carolina but followed her family around the world. She's built a life from those experiences that have led her to become a published author and a professor at UNC Charlotte.

Rosie speaks to Nathan about how we grapple with making ways for ourselves but don't make way for others, how not relating to others diminishes everyone's experience, and how education allows us to be aware and empathetic. 

A big part of shifting the collective mindset towards one of a more humane acceptance of immigrants is to remind ourselves of the lives and families that are at stake here. For those of us who are comfortable in our daily American lives, immigration can often feel removed, more of a policy choice than a hard-hitting reality.

Today's guest is David Rodriguez, Executive Director of Faith Ministry, a series of mutual aid stations in both Mexico and Texas near the border. David helps pool resources to families who are navigating the often daunting immigration process.

David and Nathan sit down to talk about what it's like to be on the front lines, what he sees as the obstacles many immigrants face, and how social capital and meeting people on their level is the best thing people can give their new neighbors.

It's no secret one of Nathan's biggest passions is bringing the stories of the less fortunate the attention and humanity they deserve. On today's episode of Nathan's Neighborhood, Nathan talks to Guadalupe, who tells him about her journey across the border from Central America.

Through a translator, Guadalupe shares stories with Nathan about how the violence and corruption in her home country left her with no choice but to try to flee to America. She talks about the dangers she faced along the way, including getting thrown from a moving truck. Guadalupe also sheds light on how poor she and many of her fellow migrants were, but despite that, were still able to band together to support each other.