It's back to school time for millions of kids in America. We want to highlight local issues on parents' minds now — and hear from you. We're talking education-related issues including vouchers, safety, bus driver shortages and AI. Something specific on your mind? Give us a call and we will include you on the show. That number is 615-760-2000. You can also watch live and chime in on YouTube. This episode was produced by Josh Deepan.  Guests: Camellia Burris, WPLN Education Reporter Maryam Abolfazli, Rise and Shine TN Walter Blanks Jr., founder, The Legacy Society

The storied history and cultural significance of the Cheekwood estate is beyond dispute. But as the home, gardens and galleries continue to attract more and more visitors, it has created a feud with neighbors that the nonprofit says is threatening its future. It’s been said that to fully understand the history of Cheekwood, you have to begin with Leslie Cheek and Mabel Wood. After marrying in 1896 and securing a fortune from the sale of Maxwell House Coffee Company, they built the house as a family estate. Donated in 1960 to the newly established non-profit, Tennessee Botanical Gardens and Fine Arts Center (now known as Cheekwood Estate & Gardens) by the Cheek’s daughter, Hulda, and her husband, Walter Sharp, the attraction has since grown in size and popularity. Today we explore Cheekwood’s history, the genealogy of the Cheek family as well as their latest chapter – a dispute with Belle Meade neighbors who argue, among other things, that traffic to the property already exceeds recommended volumes for neighborhood streets. Guests: Joe Altman, Resident, Belle Meade Highlands Charles Birnbaum, President, The Cultural Landscape Foundation Austin Hornbostel, Metro Reporter, Tennessean Jane O. MacLeod, President & CEO, Cheekwood Correction: Cheekwood's MOU with Metro requires visitor parking to move off parks land by December 2027, not 2026.

The headlines: WPLN's Marianna Bacallao and Chloe Akers of The Best of Tennessee talk about the governor's rase, surprisingly high turnout and the overlooked importance of voting in Tennessee primaries. The newsmaker: Assistant federal defender Kit Thomas discusses the scheduled execution of Darrell Hines August 13 and how a botched lethal injection from May has informed the legal strategy for his last days. The tastemaker: Restaurateur Chen Chen explains how his Asian-inspired Nashville Hot Chicken took off in Toronto and then made its way back to his hometown.

In this episode, we bring together a titan of the Nashville business community and an oracle of the city’s nonprofits. And it was pretty easy because they’re married. Hal Cato and Michael Burcham are one of Nashville’s power couples. Hal is the big-hearted optimist. Michael is the stop-at-nothing-to-reach-his-goal entrepreneur. They join Blake to share their love story, beautifully complimentary careers, insights on lending their talents to our community and how their own outsider stories shaped their lives and careers.

We’ve learned a lot this week exploring the nuts and bolts of songwriting — from the creative process to the realities of the business. But we also have more questions. Today, three Nashville songwriters in various stages of their careers join us to tell us their stories and answer any lingering curiosities. Plus, they take your calls. Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter Rivers Rutherford, along with Rhys Rutherford and Joybeth Taylor, are in the studio. If you’ve ever wanted to pick the brain of an award-winning songwriter, this is your chance. Call 615-760-2000 during the live show to join the conversation or pop into chat on our YouTube stream! This episode was produced by Liv Lombardi and Mary Mancini. Guests Rivers Rutherford, songwriter, The Highwaymen, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton, Montgomery Gentry, Gretchen Wilson, Trace Atkins and Brooks & Dunn Rhys Rutherford, singer/songwriter, Bailey Zimmerman’s “Is This Really Over?,” ERNEST’s “Hangin’ On (feat. Morgan Wallen),” George Pippen’s “Rest of Our Life” Joybeth Taylor, songwriter, “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley reached #1 at Country Radio

The business of songwriting is a full-blown economy of its own — chock full of jargon like “splits,” “P-R-Os,” “plugger” and “mailbox money.” But what does it all mean? Today we follow the money: how writers get paid, what happens when a song gets cut, what the different kinds of publishing deals are, and what the implications are for copyrights now that AI has come to town. It’s day three of songwriting week and we’re talking about the business of songwriting. This episode was produced by Liv Lombardi and Mary Mancini. Guests Lydia Schultz Cahill, Sr. Director of Creative Services, SESAC Performing Rights, Nashville Dr. E. Michael Harrington, Musicologist Olivia Rudeen, singer-songwriter Chandler Nicole Sherrill, Senior Director of Creative, Electric Feel Entertainment

Country music songwriter Harlan Howard famously described country music as “three chords and the truth.” He makes it sound simple, but thousands know it’s much more complicated – and it’s different for everyone. It may start with an idea and then come together from there. Or a note or a phrase may come first and then it’s built word by word and note by note. On day two of songwriter week, Grammy-nominated Luke Dick and Grammy-winning Melody Walker, two songwriters with impressive songwriting credits, join Blake in the studio to start from scratch. Together they’ll share ideas, write lyrics, and sample melodies and explain the choices they make along the way. Will inspiration strike? Will the muse show up? And by the end of the hour, will they have a hit song on their hands? This episode was produced by Liv Lombardi and Mary Mancini. Guests Luke Dick, Grammy-nominated songwriter Melody Walker, Grammy-winning songwriter

She's a subversive storyteller, slipping in sideways with hard-to-swallow truths.  Growing up in Motown, Alice Randall was drawn to the sounds coming from Music City. The dream was to invade the “citadel” of country music, elevate progressive ideas and highlight the Black roots of a very white genre. She would become the first Black woman to co-write a number one country hit — Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s.” She got her number one, made it big as a publisher, then got a little burned. So she assumed new roles. Randall has come to be viewed as a "griot" for the way she preserves and promotes the overlooked history of country music as laid out in her 2024 book "My Black Country." From her early days in Nashville learning the craft from Steve Earle to her evolution into a best-selling author and professor at Vanderbilt, she has her own remarkable stories to tell. This episode was produced by Blake Farmer.

Today we bring sexy back with highlights from NextAge season 2 — our series on intimacy and aging. From vibrator jokes with the Jugg Sisters to the late-in-life realization that you've been intimate with another person for the last time, this series has no shortage of spicy, poignant, and revelatory moments. Series editor LaTonya Turner joins host Blake Farmer to revisit his most blush-worthy moments, along with a few surprising and poignant ones. This episode was produced by Blake Farmer. NextAge is a special series about growing older in the 21st century — and how Middle Tennesseans are reframing aging. Listen now to all episodes. This season of NextAge is made possible by a grant from the West End Home Foundation — Advancing Aging with Dignity and Strengthening Communities — and by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

As he does each month, Mayor Freddie O’Connell is here to take your questions and to hear your comments. It’s been a busy summer. Today we jump in with the latest on data center regulation, police surveillance tech, Cheekwood tension and the Boring tunnel. There are points of tension we will ask about. But so much flies under the radar. This is your moment to make Nashville’s leader aware of what’s going on. Or get a question answered. Plus, This is Curious Nashville takes up a question about the ubiquitous kudzu — an aggressive, invasive vine that grows so prominently in our region. WUOT reporter and host Jacqui Sieber and WPLN editor and Curious Nashville host Tony Gonzalez answer, hoe did kudzu first get introduced to the area?  Guests: Freddie O'Connell, mayor, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County