In this episode, I talk to west coast journalist Allison Arieff (@aarieff). Allison is the new Director of Communications for urban tech platform Replica. Allison is a former contributing writer at The New York Times, former editor at The City Journal, and former lecturer at the Berklee College of Environmental Design.

In this interview, we talk about an article of her’s in The New Statesman entitled ‘What Ford’s new headquarters tells us about the future of transport’ on how legendary automobile manufacturer Ford was adapting its headquarters for a future where no one owns a car. We also talk about NIMBYism, the San Francisco school reopening controversy, and more!

This interview can also be heard here on Substack but is also available on Apple Podcasts, also Spotify, and SoundCloud as well.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

Media Monday’s

Today is the first of Media Monday’s where I talk about an aspect of media. For today’s first entry, I talk to a friend of mine, Kyle Stapleton. Kyle is 1/2 of the duo of the Tune Dig podcast. Tune Dig is a music-based podcast breaking down music theory, music history, and cultural context on selected albums.

Kyle is also a superstar at WarnerMedia’s Kyle Stapleton and has some of the best insights on the world of multimedia. Some of you remember my podcast episode last year with Kyle that occurred one week before all of the protests last summer. We come back to talk about the latest season of his podcast TuneDig as well as a lot of hot takes on music. We also talk HBO Max, in addition, speak on the elephant in the room being the impending merger of WarnerMedia with Discovery Communications after being spun-off from parent company AT&T who acquired in 2018.

You can listen to our original 2020 interview as well. It’s available on YouTube, on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on SoundCloud.

The interview starts at 3:00

4:55 - Rihanna’s Anti (vs Beyonce’s Lemonade and Solange’s A Seat at the Table)

7:44 - Beyonce and Radiohead releasing at ‘right place, right time’

10:10 - “My daughter will be as far away from Nirvana as Chuck Berry was to me”

12:10 - Kyle’s Tune Dig podcast modus operandi

22:50 - Streaming music as ‘content’

28:12 - Hip Hop is Atlanta’s biggest cultural export

39:00 - Rapid fire questions (Is Drake done?…Is Taylor Swift the last traditional music star?…Thoughts on The Weeknd’s After Hours success…Bruno Mars…Ron Isley on Verzuz)

47:30 - Ron Isley (of The Isley Bros.) on Verzuz and the impact of the group’s 50-year legacy

51:30 - Kyle's thoughts on HBO Max

59:00 - ‘The Synder Cut’, the Harley Quinn series, & thoughts on why Batman influences everything

1:01:45 - My mom’s taste in film

1:04:26 - Kyle’s excellent thoughts on human nature

1:05:26 -The rise of fringe and extremism in the (digital) media business

1:12:00 - What does it mean to be ‘political’ in corporate media?

1:18:00 - Mental health

1:20:00 - What aspect of your life has improved because of the pandemic?

1:23:05 - What is something about Kyle that people misconstrue?

1:25:20 - Being a new parent

1:27:40 - What's making Kyle happy?

-KJW

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I talk to former Atlanta Magazine editor and current University of Georgia professor Rebecca Burns. In this interview, we talk about Atlanta’s own racial massacre, the 1906 Atlanta Racial Massacre. Rebecca is the author of Rage in the Gate City, a book on the 1906 Atlanta Racial Massacre, that covers not only this incident of racial violence in Atlanta’s history. Her book covers why the combination of economic uncertainty, white resentment, and false news manipulation during a very contentious 1906 Georgia governor’s election led to the worst incident of racial violence in the city’s history.

We also talk about why Atlanta’s 1906 racial incident — like so many others, was swept under the rug and removed from history. We also talk about the rise in prominence of white mob violence and false news reports in relation to the January 6th US Capitol insurrection as well as its historic parallel to Atlanta in 1906.

This interview can also be heard here on Substack but is also available on Apple Podcasts, also Spotify, and SoundCloud as well.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

This was a conversation on June 6th with our Socially Distanced Book Club and author Rebecca Burns on her book Rage in the Gate City. In this conversation, Rebecca talks to our club on her book, the connections of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot to the January 6th insurrection, the role of the 1906 Georgia Governor’s Race, and fields questions from the club!

If you haven’t joined, our next meeting will be both in-person and online on July 11th, concluding with a walk-around tour tentatively scheduled for July 18th!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I talk to Stephen Owens (@StephenOwens_) of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute(GBPI). Stephen is a senior policy analyst at GBPI, his focus is primarily on state policies and research that affects public K-12 education in Georgia. In this interview, we talk about how Georgia has defunded public education over $10 billion over as a result of a decade-plus effort. We also talk about this current FY2022 state budget and what this most recent legislative session means for Georgians.

This interview can also be heard here on Substack but is also available on Apple Podcasts, also Spotify, and SoundCloud as well.

-KJW

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

New Podcast Alert: Law professor and Supreme Court expert Jim Oleski

In today’s interview, I spoke to law professor and Supreme Court expert Jim Oleske of the Lewis and Clark School of Law. In this interview, we talk about a recent religious liberty case regarding covid-19, which has an impact on the entire US, as well as Additionally, we talk about the recent attacks on voting rights, court-packing /court stacking, the types of law, and the rule of first nations.

I suggest that you also read my article from last fall entitled: New Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the end of American democracy as we know it as a companion piece to this interview.

This interview is also here on Substack but is also available on Apple Podcasts, also Spotify, and SoundCloud as well.

You can also follow Jim on Twitter at @JimOleske.

-KJW

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

In this emergency episode of The Neighborhood Watch Podcast, I sit down with political strategist Fred Hicks of HEG Consulting.

We held a midnight conversation talk about the surprising announcement that Atlanta's 60th Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will not be seeking re-election as mayor of Atlanta. In this interview, we talk about many of the prevailing narratives of the mayor including crime, leadership, "white Atlanta", Mary Norwood, and the lack of accountability for police. In this interview, the two also talk about what happens if former Mayor Kasim Reed does or not enter the race. The two also talk about a potential shakeup in the Atlanta City Council races as well as address some online narratives that have been forming.

This interview is also available on Apple Podcasts, also Spotify, and SoundCloud as well.

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You can reach out to Fred Hicks on Twitter https://twitter.com/hicksreport, his website fredhicks.com, and read more about him being declared the #1 political strategist by Rolling Out Magazine here.

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This podcast is brought to you by GoLoco+ Atlanta's official video streaming service, you can learn more by visiting golocoplus.com.

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If you enjoyed this podcast please donate to the Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iamkingwilliams.

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If you want to read more on this topic, visit King Williams newsletter, iamkingwilliams.substack.com.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

On yesterday, our socially distanced book club had a special session with Hannah Palmer, the author of our first spring book her memoir Flight Path: A Search for Roots Beneath the World's Busiest Airport.

In this conversation, we talked about her reasons for writing Flight Path, her thoughts on all of the neighborhoods that were cleared to make the airport, and her latest projects. We also talk to Hannah about her work in water conservation in Atlanta, which includes locating the Flint River, a river that runs from College Park and goes underneath the Atlanta Airport still today.

If you would like to join the book club we meet on Sundays at 2pm! Our next book will be journalist and UGA professor Rebecca Burns’s Rage in the Gate City: The Story of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. We will also be having a special book club session on June 6th to talk to Rebecca about her book as well!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

In this interview of The Neighborhood Watch Podcast, I talk to Editor Beth McKibben of Eater Atlanta. Eater is the popular food and lifestyle website from Vox Media, the home of the very popular websites Curbed (rip Curbed Atlanta), SB Nation, as well as new owners of the iconic New York Magazine.

You can take a listen here on Substack, as well as on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on SoundCloud.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe

In this interview of The Neighborhood Watch Podcast, I sit down with Quianah Upton, the founder of Nourish Botanica. Nourish Botanica is a Black-owned greenhouse eatery in Atlanta.

Nourish Botanica was looking to be the first concept to open in Atlanta until a more popular restaurant, LadyBird, opened a very similar concept in December. Ladybird is a White-owned business located on the most prominent portion of the Atlanta Beltline, in one of the busiest intersections of Atlanta. According to Quianah, LadyBird was well aware of her concept prior to opening on their own. In this interview, we get Quianah's side of the story and see what is the status of Nourish Botanica.

* If you would like to know more about Nourish Botanica, you can visit their website.

* If you would like to donate, you can visit their GoFundme.

You can take a listen here on Substack, as well as on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify,and on SoundCloud.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iamkingwilliams.substack.com/subscribe