Humanities in Action: Building a Better Future

Humanities Tennessee

Humanities in Action: Building a Better Future is a podcast about the work being done today to create a more empathetic and connected future. Through interviews and researched stories, we'll share Tennesseans' visions for the future and the programs, decisions, and choices they are making today to bring those futures to life.

  1. Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with John Ashworth

    6D AGO · BONUS

    Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with John Ashworth

    In this short bonus episode, John Ashworth, the President of the Dunbar-Carver Museum Association in Brownsville, Tennessee, shares an artifact that he believes the Founding Fathers wouldn't have imagined. This episode is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

    8 min
  2. Curating Tennessee with John Ashworth

    FEB 10

    Curating Tennessee with John Ashworth

    Welcome to the seventh episode of our special series Curating Tennessee: 1776-2076! We're speaking with John Ashworth, the President of the Dunbar-Carver Museum Association in Brownsville, Tennessee. You'll hear John discuss the museum's collection of Haywood-Fayette newsletters, the museum's ongoing oral history projects, and what he imagines they might collect from future organizations that form to move past partisan divides. This episode is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

    19 min
  3. Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with Rachel Helvering

    JAN 27 · BONUS

    Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with Rachel Helvering

    In this short bonus episode, Rachel Helvering, the Executive Director of the James K. Polk Home & Museum in Columbia, Tennessee, shares an artifact that she thinks the Founding Fathers couldn't have envisioned. This episode is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

    7 min
  4. Curating Tennessee with Rachel Helvering

    JAN 13

    Curating Tennessee with Rachel Helvering

    Welcome to the sixth episode of our special series Curating Tennessee: 1776-2076! We're speaking with Rachel Helvering, the Executive Director of the President James K. Polk Home and Museum in Columbia, Tennessee. You'll hear Rachel discuss a portrait that represents President Polk's ideas about creating a more perfect union, and we'll imagine what type of future artifact could show Polk's legacy in the future. This episode is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

    21 min
  5. Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with Adam Velk

    12/30/2025

    Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with Adam Velk

    In this bonus episode, Adam Velk speculates about artifacts that he thinks may have been inconceivable to some of America's Founding Fathers. This episode is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

    8 min
  6. Curating Tennessee with Adam Velk

    12/16/2025

    Curating Tennessee with Adam Velk

    For the fifth episode of our special series Curating Tennessee, 1776-2076, we're speaking with Adam Velk, the Museum Director of the Green-McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton, Tennessee. You'll hear Adam talk about two artifacts related to school desegregation in Anderson County, discuss plans for a new exhibit about the history of school integration around the county, and imagine what future statistics around teacher hiring could be. This episode is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

    29 min
  7. Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with Wayne Dowdy

    12/04/2025 · BONUS

    Bonus Episode: Curating Tennessee with Wayne Dowdy

    In this bonus episode, Wayne Dowdy shares an artifact that he believes would have been inconceivable to America's Founding Fathers. He also talks about the fragility and strength of democracy.

    7 min
  8. Curating Tennessee with Wayne Dowdy

    11/13/2025

    Curating Tennessee with Wayne Dowdy

    For the fourth episode of our special series Curating Tennessee, 1776-2076, we're speaking with Wayne Dowdy, the Senior Manager of the Memphis Public Libraries History Department. You'll hear about a document that speak to the ongoing process of creating a more perfect union, the importance of creating oral histories that speaks to our current moment, and what Wayne can imagine archiving in the future.

    29 min
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About

Humanities in Action: Building a Better Future is a podcast about the work being done today to create a more empathetic and connected future. Through interviews and researched stories, we'll share Tennesseans' visions for the future and the programs, decisions, and choices they are making today to bring those futures to life.

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