Unemployment rates are still quite low. But they don’t tell the whole story. The face of joblessness has changed in recent years. Mid-career professionals, six-figure family breadwinners, are finding themselves laid off or downsized and seeing far fewer options than they expected. We’ll talk with some of them. Get some career coaching. And check in with a labor economist to understand what’s going on here.  

This episode was produced by Blake Farmer.

Guests:

Today we travel along with Music Citizens to go inside the highest stakes job in the industry – A&R.

Through the lens and life of A&R lifer Kim Buie, we get to see that this glamorous job is mostly about losing: missing out on artists who become superstars (her near-miss tale of N.W.A. is amazing), knowing that the majority of albums you help shepherd into the world will flop, and being the person who has to say no to a musician’s lifelong dream.

Buie, and guests Stevo Robertson and Anay Richardson, explain what keeps them going, what shapes their tastes and how their approach to the job differs. It is the TikTok era after all.

Guests

Music Citizens is a podcast series by WNXP and Nashville Public Radio about the people who make music work. Each episode will explore what it takes to do the jobs that keep the music business moving and introduce you to the characters who are often well known within their worlds but whose vital work goes largely uncelebrated. Listen to all episodes at wnxp.org.

Alex and Eiman Jahangir are brothers, doctors, and two of Nashville’s most remarkable public servants.

Both are physicians at Vanderbilt. Alex is an orthopedic surgeon who led the city’s COVID-19 task force. Eiman is a cardiologist and lifelong space enthusiast who eventually got the chance to travel to space.

The sons of Iranian immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as preschoolers, the brothers once believed they’d never return to Nashville after leaving for college and medical school together. But life had other plans. Today, the Jahangir brothers are deeply woven into the fabric of the city.

It’s time for our weekly Roundabout where our panel with an assortment of viewpoints take on the headlines of the week. 

If you’re wondering why there’s so much talk about property taxes in Nashville, it’s partly because 2025 taxes were due last week and a lot of homeowners and businesses simply can’t afford it. It’s hard to complain about the value of your property doubling or tripling in the last decade — but selling isn’t a simple solution. There’s new movement from local businesses pushing back, and the state legislature is advancing a cap on future increases. 

Today we dive deep into local issues including this considerable increase in property taxes, the risk of sinkholes from the tunnel construction and the proposed six-lane boulevard that’s part of the East Bank development project.

And we hear from you! Call 615-760-2000 with your question or comment during the show. Or, you can chime in on our live YouTube stream.

Guests

This may be a healthcare town but, even here, figuring our way around the system – affordably – is a real challenge. And it's becoming a greater challenge for many people who've dropped coverage because the Affordable Care Act Marketplace has become anything but affordable. In this episode, we tour our federally-qualified health centers (FQHCs) and community clinics, get some help for anyone without insurance who finds out they're pregnant, and learn the value of HealthQ.

Guests: 

This episode was produced by Blake Farmer.

A glistening mane flowing over disproportionately top-heavy muscles, bulging under hairless and perfectly-tanned skin. This zeus of a man holds the tiniest of women, also top heavy and surely breathless. No shade on Fabio, but what about the rest of us? The romance genre is seeing a new era. Still every bit as fun — and hot — authors and readers are steering away from "inspiration porn" and towards experiences they understand. From swiftly expanding queer options, to body size and ability, to...merfolk...we've got your happily ever after.

From romance book stores to dedicated book clubs to a genre-expanding author, this episode sheds light on why we're no longer hiding the covers of what we're reading, even in the traditionally conservative South.

Guests

• Tonya Pineda, owner, Slow Burn
• Katie Garaby, coordinator, Between the Covers Romance Book Club
• Caleb Haynes, romance novel enthusiast
• Tracy Crum, newly self-published author of "On The Outside", a love story where disability isn't the tragedy

It started with one request to speak to a group of risk analysts. Former Vanderbilt nurse RaDonda Vaught reluctantly told her story on a stage for the first time — she was still on probation from her felony conviction.

"It was emotionally overwhelming and a little cathartic, but I'm gonna tell you, you could have heard a pin drop," Vaught tells This Is Nashville.

She's gotten used to recounting the incident and the courtroom saga that followed, but she still chokes back tears when talking about the family of Charlene Murphey, the 75-year-old patient who died. Vaught's medication error, which involved overriding a safety system, resulted in losing her nursing license and being convicted of a felony.

"There won't ever be a day that goes by that I won't think of this. My life will never be the same," she says in a wide-ranging interview on her sheep farm in Sumner County.

This episode was produced by Blake Farmer.

It’s time for our weekly Roundabout, where our panel representing views across the political spectrum dives into the biggest headlines of the week. 

We take a deep look at new details surrounding immigration enforcement in Middle Tennessee, including an investigation by a media collaborative including Nashville Banner, as well as challenges to marriage equality and gender-affirming surgeries. We also discuss the latest developments with the underground Tesla loop. And we hear from you! Call 615-760-2000 with your question of comment. You can also chime in on our live YouTube stream.

Guests

Mayor Freddie O’Connell is back for another edition of Ask the Mayor.

We’ve been through a lot since he was on the show last month. Today we start with questions about the ongoing ice storm recovery and the official review of the city’s response. Plus, property taxes, a change in leadership at NDOT, park recovery and debris removal.

What are you wondering besides where on earth all the tree detritus is going? You can call in during the live show at 615-760-2000 or pop into chat on our YouTube stream.

We end the hour with Curious Nashville and a mysterious bunker-looking structure at the edge of the international airport. What is it? We get some answers.

Guests

Independent theater could turn any one of us from a spectator into an on-stage participant.

It provides a spotlight for people of all ages to share important human stories, build confidence and work as a team to create something that can touch us all. But theater — even on a shoestring — still takes space. And good luck finding an empty stage in a room with good acoustics (along with free parking). We’re putting independent theater in center stage.

Guests