Roots cling to boulders along Honey Creek Loop in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Oneida, Tenn. (Photo by Jesse Fox Mayshark)


Welcome to the Progressive South! We are a nonprofit media platform for progressive voices and values in the Southern U.S. We aim to provide news about goings-on in these states and amplify the important work of people and organizations across the region. You can find more information at the “About” tab, and check out our always-growing list of useful links at “Resources.” Our first project is our podcast:

A weekly program featuring a regional news roundup and interviews with people doing good work across the South. Plus, a little arts and culture. Available here as well as on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. Subscribe, like and share!


  • Headlights Ep. 58: Blue Ballots in Red States

    Headlights Ep. 58: Blue Ballots in Red States

    We return from our summer hiatus with a look at some fascinating local and state races in recent weeks in Florida and Tennessee. Democrats in both states flipped multiple seats at local levels across both states this month, and took control of some major school boards. It’s been a bad set of results for one…

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More From Headlights

  • Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

    We will soon be rolling out our brand new weekly newsletter. And you can sign up now.

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  • Headlights Ep. 57: Covering Queer Kentucky

    Headlights Ep. 57: Covering Queer Kentucky

    All states have queer people, but not all states have a statewide news outlet dedicated to telling their stories. That makes QueerKentucky stand out. The nonprofit LGBTQ newsroom covers state politics and issues, as well as culture and health. This week’s conversation is with Executive Director Missy Spears, who talks about trying to reach and…

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  • Headlights Ep. 56: Pride in Arkansas

    Headlights Ep. 56: Pride in Arkansas

    This week we talk to Dolores Wilk of Central Arkansas Pride about their advocacy for the state’s queer population, and the importance of visibility — including a Pride celebration right in front of the state Capitol Building. 

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  • Headlights Ep. 55: The Young, Gifted and Green

    Headlights Ep. 55: The Young, Gifted and Green

    LaTricea Adams learned about environmental racism first-hand, growing up in Memphis and seeing the differences between Black and white neighborhoods. She now leads Young, Gifted and Green, a nonprofit that trains young people in organizing and environmental justice.

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  • Headlights Ep. 54: The Leftists of Texas

    Headlights Ep. 54: The Leftists of Texas

    Texas conservatives like to cultivate an image of the state as a frontier of rugged individualism and unbridled capitalism. But it is also the land of the Cowboy Strike and the Texas People’s Party, a contested terrain with an often overlooked history of radical politics. That’s what writer and Austin native David Griscom brings to…

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  • The Memphis Massacre

    Carving up its congressional district is just Tennessee’s latest assault on its largest Black-majority city.

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