When Dr. Britt Stone was growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, her Bahamian mother made her choke down a spoonful of cod liver oil each morning. The daily ritual was part of a “bush medicine” philosophy that incorporated an array of natural supplements and remedies. While training at Meharry Medical College and later specializing in neurology, Stone turned her attention away from herbal medicine. But during the COVID pandemic, she revived her interest in so-called “integrative medicine” to help her patients cope with symptoms.

“We never know what kind of traditional wisdom we have forgotten and then feel like we’ve discovered and then actually we have just remembered again,” Stone tells This Is Nashville. In this interview, she talks about how her “mother was right,” how to separate snake oil from truly beneficial supplements, and how her colleagues at Vanderbilt are also seeing the benefits beyond modern medicine.

This time of year, we like to recommend some of the best podcasts of the year. So we've sprinkled a few recommendations throughout the show today while we let you enjoy our most downloaded episode of the year. It's about the history of the historically Black university that we never knew – Roger Williams University.

Nothing remains of Roger Williams except a couple of historical plaques tucked away on Vanderbilt’s Peabody Campus. Founded in the wake of the Civil War alongside Fisk and Meharry, this historically Black institution once thrived before being destroyed in two suspicious fires in 1905. Today we uncover the forgotten history of Roger Williams, visit the nearby The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy, and meet artists and scholars working to both memorialize the university as well as honor their ancestral heritage through monuments and art.

It became the calling card for trailblazing WSM, the radio station that reached the wider world with old-time hillbilly music. Just five short years after the first commercial radio broadcast, WSM launched with the “WSM Barn Dance,” the precursor to the Opry, and began to attract musicians and fans to the city. And it put Nashville on a national stage. Today, we sift through the archives to highlight the Opry and a century of stories behind the radio station that laid the groundwork for what Music City has become. Join us for the incredible 100-year history of the Opry and WSM.

Guests

Kyle Cantrell, former Opry announcer, founder of banjoradio.com
Craig Havighurst, editorial director, WMOT, author of Air Castle of the South
Jewly Hight, senior music writer, Nashville Public Radio
Eric Marcum, general manager, WSM

As the Grand Ole Opry celebrates its 100th birthday this week, we hear from its longest-serving member.

Whisperin’ Bill Anderson hasn’t just weathered a 65-year music career, he’s thrived through versatility. A six-time Songwriter of the Year winner, he’s a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. His songs have earned Grammy nominations, Dove Awards, the ACM Poets Award, and BMI’s first Country Music Songwriting Icon honor. He’s written for himself and legends like Vince Gill and Brad Paisley. He made it to Hollywood and back. Last year he released his 73rd album. At the center of it all has been the Grand Ole Opry. He joins This Is Nashville to talk about his love and reverence for the institution and all that's going on in "Whisperworld."

It’s Thursday and time for another episode of The Roundabout.

The Roundabout is the news of the week, analyzed by our panelists from points of view that span left, right and center. Joining us today are Maryam Abolfazli, Shaka Mitchell and Pat Nolan.

Today we talk about a tightening 7th congressional district race, political pardons, school voucher expansion, plus a smile story or two and more.

And The Roundabout also welcomes your voice on the big stories of the week. Give us a call at 615-760-2000 to weigh in — or join us live streaming on YouTube at noon and pop your question into chat!

This episode was produced by Mary Mancini.

Guests:

Stream video on YouTube.

Now that tariffs levied by the second Trump administration have taken effect, small businesses in Nashville are beginning to feel the pinch and praying for relief.

Importers of coffee and tea and artisans making apparel and musical instruments join the show to explain how tariffs have challenged their small businesses. Professors from Vanderbilt and MTSU bring global context to the local impact of tariffs in 2025.

This episode was produced by Josh Deepan. 

Guests 

Further listening:

Nashvillager Podcast: A bad year for a major cash crop

Our question today: What is a "Chicago-style gyro," and why are there so many shops with that name in Nashville?

Little did we know that trying to figure this out would take us way beyond Nashville and lead us to uncover the very creation of the gyro as we know it. WPLN reporter Justin Barney is taking you along as he crisscrosses the country, plunges into culinary history, hits the factory floor, and gets face-to-face with the man who elevated a niche menu item into a cultural staple.

You can find more Curious Nashville stories at WPLN.org/Curious and submit a question to our team below.

This episode was produced by Tony Gonzalez and Justin Barney.

Special thanks to Blake Farmer, Tasha A.F. Lemley, Mack Linebaugh and Cynthia Abrams

It might look like anything Mike Curb touches turns to gold. But he says he’s never been great at anything – just passionate. After more than 60 years in the record business, Curb is still looking for the next big hit. He's also looking for a way to preserve the thing that brought him to Nashville and made his career so successful — Music Row. In this career-spanning interview, Curb talks music and business, politics and philanthropy. 

Further Reading:

From a young age, Colby Keegan said he hoped to "affect positive change." He was homeless when he died of an overdose at the age of 23. His mother, Lisa Wysocky, founded Colby's Army in his honor. 

Our In My Place series has taken us through the steps of homelessness to housing and beyond. That’s from the first point of contact between a service provider and someone experiencing homelessness — through all the twists and turns to an apartment — and then sometimes doing it all over again more than once.

In this episode, which is the season finale, we're spending the whole hour with Wysocky, looking through the eyes of family members of people who have experienced homelessness.

Further listening:

In My Place is a special project of WPLN’s This Is Nashville, supported in part by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

It’s now just a matter of time before federal benefits are restored that help nearly 700,000 Tennesseans put food on the table.

 But the government shutdown exposed just how many people struggle to keep their families fed. So we’re putting hunger at the center of our Roundabout episode today. We’ll bring you the latest on SNAP and food distributions. We’re also taking your calls about your own experience as a recipient or a volunteer. That number is 615-760-2000. And if you’ve got a pop-up feeding program, please share. It’s SNAP and hunger in the roundabout. 

This episode was produced by Josh Deepan and Mary Mancini. 

GUESTS

Additional Reading: 

WPLN'S SNAP Coverage