I See UC TN

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I See UC TN is a conversation show from Tennessee’s Upper Cumberland — fourteen counties between Nashville and Knoxville that too many people treat as something to drive through. The show is built around the people who make this place what it is: shop owners on the square, families who have been here for generations, newcomers who chose it as home, nurses, teachers, farmers, pastors, coaches, county workers, volunteers, and the folks putting on the festivals, filling the diners, and keeping the lights on in Cookeville, Crossville, Gainesboro, Livingston, Sparta, Smithville, McMinnville, and the communities around them. Hosted by Brandon Korgan, each episode is a good-faith conversation with someone who lives here and does the work. Famous or not does not matter. If you matter here, you matter on this microphone. If you live here, this is a chance to see your neighbors more clearly — the work that holds a town together, and the reasons this region is worth protecting as it changes. If you are passing through, this is a handshake from the Upper Cumberland: what is worth the drive, who is behind it, and why it feels the way it does when you get off the interstate. If you are considering a life in Tennessee, this is not a brochure and not a teardown. You will hear what is already great so it can stay the core — lakes and back roads, courthouse squares and farm stands, waterfalls and wine trails, and the people who make those things more than scenery. Growth done right. An EverScene Studios production. I See UC TN

Episodes

  1. Sep 23

    E3 Bookworms on the Square

    Libraries are a cornerstone in a community — especially a small rural one. Jackson County is that kind of place. So are most of the fourteen counties in the Upper Cumberland. Small roster. Tight budget. A library door that still opens. This hour Brandon Korgan sits down with Nella Hensley of the Friends of the Charles Ralph Holland Memorial Library in Gainesboro. Nella is a Tennessee native and a long time Jackson County resident. She is a charter member and current President of the Friends. They talk about what a Friends group actually is: a 501(c)(3), all volunteer, what Nella calls the arms and the legs of the library. Fundraising and programs — book sales, bake sales, grants, summer reading prizes, library-card sign-up. How local businesses get pulled in, and give back. How Nella got involved in 2019, right before COVID, when the group was still finding its feet. How they sold books from photos on Facebook and met people in the parking lot. How membership went under ten and is now over sixty. On the tape: donated books that restock the shelves before they ever hit a sale table. Book-sale paperbacks for a dollar or two. Summer reading in June, built to keep kids in books without making it feel like school. The bookworm scavenger hunt around the that sent families into businesses they might have driven past. An Imagination Library graduation held at the library during library-card sign-up month. Interlibrary loan, and a librarian who knew a homeschool kid well enough to request the next three books in the series before he walked back in. It is not a full-time job. They meet every other month, and are welcoming new members. If you want the library, or you want the Friends, start here: https://www.crhmlibrary.org/

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

I See UC TN is a conversation show from Tennessee’s Upper Cumberland — fourteen counties between Nashville and Knoxville that too many people treat as something to drive through. The show is built around the people who make this place what it is: shop owners on the square, families who have been here for generations, newcomers who chose it as home, nurses, teachers, farmers, pastors, coaches, county workers, volunteers, and the folks putting on the festivals, filling the diners, and keeping the lights on in Cookeville, Crossville, Gainesboro, Livingston, Sparta, Smithville, McMinnville, and the communities around them. Hosted by Brandon Korgan, each episode is a good-faith conversation with someone who lives here and does the work. Famous or not does not matter. If you matter here, you matter on this microphone. If you live here, this is a chance to see your neighbors more clearly — the work that holds a town together, and the reasons this region is worth protecting as it changes. If you are passing through, this is a handshake from the Upper Cumberland: what is worth the drive, who is behind it, and why it feels the way it does when you get off the interstate. If you are considering a life in Tennessee, this is not a brochure and not a teardown. You will hear what is already great so it can stay the core — lakes and back roads, courthouse squares and farm stands, waterfalls and wine trails, and the people who make those things more than scenery. Growth done right. An EverScene Studios production. I See UC TN