Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South

The Progressive South and Barberian Productions
  • 5.0 (12)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

The American South is much more than Spanish moss and plantation politics. In every city, town and rural county across the region, there are people working for a better future, continuing a centuries-long fight for real freedom, equality and opportunity. In every episode of Headlights, we bring you news, interviews and stories of people working for justice and progressive values all across the South. From community organizers to elected officials to artists and writers, business leaders and scientists, we amplify the voices of those making a difference in our Southern states.

  1. 19h ago

    Ep. 64: FEMA's Failings in North Carolina

    SYNOPSIS: 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 state and local authorities mostly on their own to recover and rebuild. Kromm says it's a warning for any state or city vulnerable to climate-fueled natural disasters. Also: With the midterms a month away, we look at some of the most competitive races in Texas and Florida, as well as Southern Senate contests that could decide control of Congress. Plus: Why the Mullet Festival in Swansboro, N.C., isn't what you might think. SHOW NOTES: 2026 House Races Cook Political Report  "Republican redistricting in Texas and Florida may not turn out as Trump had hoped" ABC News  "This Texas crooner could help Democrats win Congress, one quinceañera at a time" The Washington Post  Swansboro Mullet Festival  CONTACT: Jesse Mayshark jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org (865) 214-7764

  2. Sep 28

    Ep. 63: Memory and Media in Alabama

    SYNOPSIS: 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 to them, as we have so often failed to do. Also: The blowback against racist comments by Texas Republican candidate Bo French, and what it illuminates — or fails to — about the rising wave of explicit white and Christian nationalism among modern conservatives. Plus: The Decatur Book Festival returns to Georgia this weekend. SHOW NOTES: John Archibald AL.com "Dispatches From the Deep South" John Archibald "Meet the Far-Right Nepo Baby Vying to Deregulate Texas's Fossil Fuels" The New Republic "Bo French doubles down on racist post made after UT win against Ohio State" The Texas Tribune "Top Texas Republicans knew Bo French's history of racist comments. They supported him anyway." Houston Public Media "The Trump Administration Is Publishing a Stream of Nazi Propaganda" The Atlantic "How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics" The New Yorker Decatur Book Festival "What happened to the Decatur Book Festival?" Atlanta Magazine CONTACT: Jesse Mayshark jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org (865) 214-7764

  3. Sep 21

    Ep. 62: Fighting Censorship in Arkansas

    SYNOPSIS: 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 Huckabee Sanders has politicized the state's library system, and a new law threatens criminal penalties against librarians. We also take a look at the record-breaking heat that has baked our states throughout the summer and into mid-September. Last week's highly unusual heat dome set temperature records from Dallas to Nashville, and Southerners find themselves increasingly hiding indoors during a season once celebrated for its decadent sticky days. Plus: Artville returns to Nashville, making the case that there's more to the Music City's culture than music. SHOW NOTES: Molly Quinn, the Memeing Librarian (Instagram)  Arkansas Right to Read Project  "Warmest Summer on Record for the Contiguous U.S." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  "The Summer We Love Is Slipping Away" Grist  "Historical U.S. Electricity Rates (1990–2026)" Electric Choice  "Data Center Power Demands Are Contributing to Higher Energy Bills" Environmental and Energy Study Institute  "21 Students Hospitalized, Including 3 in Critical Condition, After Potential Bomb Threat at Tennessee Middle School" People Magazine  "Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  Artville (Nashville)  "Finding Artville in Nashville" Whitehot Magazine  CONTACT:  Jesse Mayshark jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org (865) 214-7764

  4. Sep 14

    Ep. 61: Teaching South Carolina's Real History

    SYNOPSIS: 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. Robert Greene, the school's lead instructor, about what it does — and how you can learn from it. Also: ICE detentions continue to soar across the South; the impact of SNAP cuts on Southern states; and Trump's misbegotten Dallas "convention." Plus, a look at this weekend's Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival. SHOW NOTES: Modjeska Simkins School  'Our New South' Podcast Deportation Data Project UC Berkeley and UCLA  TRAC Reports: Immigration "Mourning Those Who Have Died in ICE Custody" National Immigration Project  "Deaths and Health Care Issues in ICE Detention Centers Under the Second Trump Administration" KFF  "A family seeks answers about a young ICE detainee's untimely death" NBC News  "SNAP Tracker: People Are Losing Food Assistance as the Harmful 2025 Republican Reconciliation Law Is Implemented" Center on Budget and Policy Priorities  "A Plague Has Descended Upon Dallas" Lone Star Left  "Trump Show Day 1: A Poorly-Attended, Culty Snoozefest, And More" Progress Texas  "Texas Latinos Are Turning Against Republican Party" Newsweek Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival  CONTACT: Jesse Mayshark jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org (865) 214-7764

  5. Sep 7

    Ep. 60: The Big Tech Backlash

    SYNOPSIS: 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 centers in the state that has become their epicenter. Also: The bipartisan push to "get the Flock out," and efforts to put some guardrails around AI. And a remembrance of the beloved Kentucky writer, conservationist and farmer Wendell Berry. SHOW NOTES: Sierra Club Virginia Chapter "Unconstrained Demand: Virginia's Data Center Expansion and Its Impacts" Sierra Club Virginia Chapter  U.S. AI Law Tracker Orrick "The IJ Database of ALPR Abuse" Institute for Justice "Texas and Florida Step Back from ALPRs" Electronic Frontier Foundation "Lawmakers added $1 to Texans' car insurance policies. That money paid for thousands of Flock cameras." The Texas Tribune "Cities terminate Flock contracts at record pace in August" ArsTechnica "Data Center Moratoriums by State: Tracker and Statistics" Programs "Kentucky writer, farmer and advocate Wendell Berry dies at 92" Kentucky Lantern "The Peace of Wild Things" Wendell Berry  CONTACT: Jesse Mayshark jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org (865) 214-7764

  6. Aug 31

    Ep. 59: The Southern War on Academic Freedom

    SYNOPSIS: Classes are back in session at colleges and universities across the South, and in many conservative-dominated states students and faculty are returning to increasingly tense cultural war zones. 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. We also look at Tennessee's erosion of academic freedom, a Texas professor denied tenure for no obvious reason except that he studies immigration enforcement, and — in better news — a Florida judge's injunction against Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Stop WOKE Act." Plus: A tribute to the late great Dolly Parton, and what she meant to the LGBTQ community in particular. SHOW NOTES: Texas AAUP "'Positively dystopian': Florida judge blocks DeSantis' anti-woke law for colleges" Politico "Pernell v. Lamb: Opinion Affirming Preliminary Injunction" North Florida U.S. District Judge Mark Walker "New law changes University of Tennessee professors' tenure protections" Knoxville News-Sentinel "'I am very pleased with the outcome' | UT reaches tentative $1.9M settlement with professor fired over Charlie Kirk comments" WBIR TV "Dare to Obey? Censorship and the Attack on Tenure in Texas" Iván Chaar López, PEN America "Dolly Parton as a Gay Icon" Wikipedia CONTACT: Jesse Mayshark jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org (865) 214-7764

  7. Aug 24

    Ep. 58: Blue Ballots in Red States

    SYNOPSIS:  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 group in particular — the Florida-based right-wing activist organization Moms for Liberty. We also take a look at progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon's surprising win in Florida's Democratic primary for state Senate. Plus: The Sidewalk Film Festival returns to Birmingham, Ala. SHOW NOTES: "Ron DeSantis, Moms for Liberty reshaped Sarasota school politics. Voters just gave them the boot" Florida Politics   "Moms for Liberty co-founder faces calls for resignation from school board amid sex scandal" ABC News "The Pendulum Swings: Moms For Liberty Demolished on Primary Night" Equality Florida "Florida voters deliver wins for LGBTQ+ candidates and losses for Moms for Liberty" The Advocate "Orange School Board: Angie Gallo and Democrat-backed candidates have big night" Florida Politics "Headlights Ep. 8: Watering the Roots" The Progressive South   "Democrats flip GOP Jacksonville City Council seat in Special Election, get boost ahead of 2027 elections" Florida Politics "Democrats Flip Knox County School Board" Compass "'They have to come to us now': Democrats flip 4 seats, win majority in County Commission" Clarksville Now "DNC launches effort to gain ground across the South" Gray Media   Sidewalk Film Festival "Take a look inside the new Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema" AL.com

  8. Aug 17

    Announcing Our Newsletter

    Our podcast, Headlights: Voices From the Progressive South has been on a summer hiatus while we've been working on other projects. We will be returning next week, with a look at interesting electoral indicators across the South from the past few months. In the meantime, we are preparing to launch our new newsletter. It will include links and more information about the issues discussed in the podcast, as well as other news and events across the South. You can get ahead of the curve by signing up now to receive it in your inbox. It's free, like all of our content. All you need is an email address. You can find a link to the sign-up form on our website.  Because we are a mission-driven nonprofit, you can rest assured that we will not sell or otherwise use your information for any nefarious purposes except to communicate with you directly. I'll be back with a full episode of Headlights next week. Talk to you then!

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About

The American South is much more than Spanish moss and plantation politics. In every city, town and rural county across the region, there are people working for a better future, continuing a centuries-long fight for real freedom, equality and opportunity. In every episode of Headlights, we bring you news, interviews and stories of people working for justice and progressive values all across the South. From community organizers to elected officials to artists and writers, business leaders and scientists, we amplify the voices of those making a difference in our Southern states.

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