Every week, we round up news and talk to interesting people doing important things across the Southern U.S.
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Headlights Ep. 68: Clearing the Air in Louisiana
What can low-income communities living in the shadow of giant petrochemical plants do about toxins in the air they breath? For the last quarter-century, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade has been empowering residents of Cancer Alley to conduct their own research and wage legal battles to protect themselves. This week, we talk to its founder and…
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Headlights Ep. 67: Confronting White Christian Nationalism
White supremacy and Christian nationalism have long been part of the American political landscape, but in the Trump era they have gained more prominence. This week, we talk to Nashville investigative reporter Phil Williams about his work to uncover and raise alarms about the political mainstreaming of these forces.
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Headlights Ep. 66: Busting the Confederacy Myth
Did the Confederate States of America ever really exist as a nation? In “The Confederacy Myth,” historian Connor Williams argues that it didn’t. His book reframes the Confederacy as it actually was — a failed insurrection that never governed much of anything and had the support of only about 1/6th of the population of the…
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Headlights Ep. 65: The Moral Catastrophe of Lethal Injection
This week, we talk to University of Richmond Law Professor Corinna Barrett Lain — one of the nation’s leading death penalty scholars — about the fallacies and misconceptions surrounding the allegedly “humane” use of lethal injection.
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Headlights Ep. 64: FEMA’s Failings in North Carolina
In his first weeks in office in 2025, President Donald Trump visited Western North Carolina and promised to help the mountain communities still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Helene. The help never came. This week we talk to Chris Kromm of Facing South about his investigation of the administration’s failures to follow through, leaving…
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Headlights Ep. 63: Memory and Media in Alabama
Pulitzer-winning reporter John Archibald grew up in Alabama and has spent his career as a journalist immersed in the state’s tangled and troubled past and present. In an illuminating conversation, he talks about the persistent problem of “white silence” in the face of the state’s injustices — and the responsibility of journalists to face up…
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Headlights Ep. 62: Fighting Censorship in Arkansas
The United States is in the midst of one of the strongest waves of censorship and book-banning in our history. And nowhere is it stronger than across the South. This week, we talk to Fayetteville librarian and First Amendment advocate Molly Quinn about the fight to preserve the right to read in Arkansas. Gov. Sarah…
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Headlights Ep. 61: Teaching South Carolina’s Real History
With the teaching of American history — particularly its racial history — under assault from the Trump administration and conservative state governments across the South, the Modjeska Simkins School in South Carolina is a community-based model for carrying that work forward outside the bounds of state-controlled curriculums. This week, we talk to history professor Dr.…
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Headlights Ep. 60: The Big Tech Backlash
Something remarkable has happened over the past 18 months across the U.S. and especially across the South: a mounting backlash against the explosion of data centers, surveillance cameras, and so-called artificial intelligence. This week, we talk to Tim Cywinski of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, who has been leading the fight against data…
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Headlights Ep. 59: The Southern War on Academic Freedom
This week, we talk to Teresa Klein, president of the Texas chapter of the American Association of University Professors. The group has filed lawsuits against two Texas public university systems over restrictions on what can be taught and how. “People are afraid,” Klein says.
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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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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…