Podcast

Our second episode brings us to our first road trip: Richmond, Va., where Jesse talks to local organizer Quinton Robbins (pictured) with the grassroots progressive group Richmond For All. They have had success both electing candidates to local office and pushing back against big-dollar development plans that threatened local communities.

Our weekly news roundup from across the South looks at a fight over library books in Arkansas; the rocky tenure of Louisiana’s top environmental official; and an attempt to block undocumented children from Tennessee public schools.

In the arts and culture segment, Jesse checks in on the first-ever Biscuits & Banjos Festival in North Carolina, organized by musician and scholar Rhiannon Giddens.

Welcome to Headlights! In our first episode, Jesse Mayshark — the founder and publisher of The Progressive South — introduces the podcast and project. What do we mean by “progressive”? What do we mean by “South”? And who are we, anyway? Then he takes to the streets of Knoxville, Tennessee, to hear from some of the thousands who came out earlier this month to protest the actions of the billionaires at the top of the federal government — including a Navy veteran, health care workers, union members and more. And in an arts & culture segment, he notes a milestone for Florida native Ethel Cain — the first openly transgender artist to hit the top 10 of Billboard’s album chart.