Filmmaker Jason Orr returns to his 2011 documentary "Diary of a Decade" with AI-assisted restoration tools that didn't exist when he first captured the early years of Atlanta's FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival. The festival, which ran for three decades without ever announcing its lineup, featured emerging artists like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Janelle Monáe alongside cultural voices including Cornel West, Dick Gregory, and Jamie Foxx. Orr explains why he used AI to enhance decades-old analog footage, what the technology means for independent filmmakers, and how preservation serves Atlanta's creative legacy.

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South Arts — the nine-state regional arts organization based in Atlanta — has named outgoing Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman as its next President and CEO. Shipman joins WABE Arts to explain why he’s returning to cultural leadership, what the South needs as federal arts funding shifts, and how he plans to support artists across the Southeast in South Arts’ 50th year.

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🎧 Atlanta entrepreneur Ryan Wilson — co-founder and CEO of The Gathering Spot — joins Season 5 of REVOLT’s “Bet on Black,” where nine HBCU student founders pitch real companies on national TV. WABE Arts Editor Sherri Daye Scott speaks with Wilson about why “Bet on Black”’s focus on young Black innovators matters, how lived experience shaped his role as a mentor and judge, and why visibility can expand what feels possible. He also shares how one student he worked with continues to influence his work beyond the show.

🎭 Stream the full story at wabe.org/arts.

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🎭 Two Atlanta holiday traditions return with renewed energy. 
At the Alliance Theatre, director Amanda Watkins leads this year’s “A Christmas Carol,” bringing fresh perspective, expanded casting, and a deeper focus on community connections. Then Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre shares its one-hour “Nutcracker Suite,” created for families and first-time ballet-goers, at Serenbe. Artistic and executive director John Welker explains how the company blends classical technique with immersive staging to welcome new audiences. 🎧 

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🎤 Comedian Donnell Rawlings — known for his roles on “Chappelle’s Show,” and appearances on the “Kill Tony” podcast and decades of stand-up — returns to Atlanta for a weekend at the Atlanta Comedy Theater.

Rawlings talks with WABE’s Kenny Murry about how he went from club heckler to headliner, why staying funny matters more than labels, and what it takes to evolve across generations of comedy fans. He also shares the Atlanta staple he always seeks out: crispy, all-flats lemon pepper wings.

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Six-time Grammy-nominated folk musician John McCutcheon headlines A Song for Ukraine at the Lawrenceville Arts Center. The benefit concert, organized by Atlanta-area Ukrainian community members and HelpingUkraine.US, raises funds for art therapy, education, and creative spaces supporting children displaced by the war. McCutcheon reflects on solidarity, his earliest union performances, and writing the song “Ukrainian Now,” which reached Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. Then, a look at how community-driven arts projects in metro Atlanta continue to respond to global conflicts through creativity, storytelling, and collective action.

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The Atlanta Opera reimagines “La Belle et la Bête,” Philip Glass’s hypnotic fusion of live performance and Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film—where music and image merge into one dreamlike experience. Then, a once-banned Black cinema classic returns to the big screen: “The Spook Who Sat by the Door, newly restored in 4K, with insight from Nomathandé Dixon and Natiki Hope Pressley, daughters of the film’s director and screenwriter.

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Episode Description): 🎧 WABE’s beloved Lois Reitzes sits down with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus Director Norman Mackenzie to explore Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 — its revolutionary design, emotional depth, and lasting message of joy. Together, they reflect on the influence of Robert Shaw and how Music Director Natalie Stutzman is guiding a new era of sound at Symphony Hall. Listen as two voices of Atlanta’s cultural scene unpack why “Ode to Joy” still unites audiences nearly 200 years later. 🎶

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🎧 Two creative journeys converge in metro Atlanta. As IrishFest Atlanta returns Nov. 7–9, founder Teresa Finley and musician Kieran O’Hare share how music and community keep Irish tradition alive. Then pop icon Debbie Gibson joins WABE Arts to discuss her memoir “Eternally Electric,” the message behind her music, and her upcoming author talk at the MJCCA Book Festival.

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Two Atlanta stages, two perspectives on power and legacy. CNN anchor Abby Phillip talks about her new book “A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power” ahead of her conversation with Ambassador Andrew Young at the Atlanta History Center. Then comedian Roy Wood Jr. shares what inspired his “The Man of Many Fathers” book and tour and why Atlanta will always be home.

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