Each Friday morning, WUOT and the Knoxville News Sentinel bring you a feature called PolitiFact Tennessee. PolitiFact is a national Pulitzer-Prize-winning movement weighing the truth in the news... And Tennessee is the tenth state to join. WUOT's Chrissy Keuper speaks weekly with a News Sentinel reporter who's working to uncover the truth in what we hear from our elected officials. This week, Chrissy spoke with Tom Humphrey, Nashville Bureau Chief for the News Sentinel, about what's becoming quite a scandal for a state representative...

(Photo Credit: Matthew Dixon, TN Journalist)

Tennessee's sunshine law reads in part: "The General Assembly hereby declares it to be the policy of this State that the formation of public policy and decisions is public business and shall not be conducted in secret."

On January 31st, 2007 that law, and all it stands for, was summarily dismissed as the Knox County Commission staged a brazen one-day scramble for power. On this episode of Dialogue, WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell joins former commissioner Mark Harmon and retired News Sentinel reporter Rebecca Ferrar as they look back on the day we now call "Black Wednesday".

It's been just over two years since a powerful earthquake hit the country of Haiti. Among the many efforts to rebuild the country, University of Tennessee architecture professor John McRae and former graduate-student Wyn Miller are working in an area called Fond des Blancs, about 70 miles from capital city Port au Prince. WUOT's Chrissy Keuper speaks with McRae and Miller, who are working with UT students to help improve the area's infrastructure. On the drawing board: a major road and bridge project, water quality improvements, and a school, under construction and scheduled to open in September...

Wyn Miller on Haiti's charcoal industry and its effect on the country:

From 1941 to 1978, the husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames changed the course of American art and design, from their sleek molded plywood furniture to remarkable exhibitions and educational films. Today, the duo is widely held as the most influential designers of the 20th Century.

The Eameses and their work were the subject of a lecture January 31 in Knoxville. Max Underwood delivered that lecture. He worked with the Eameses in the 1970s. Today, he is a professor of architecture at Arizona State University, and he joined WUOT All Things Considered host Brandon Hollingsworth to talk about the Eameses, their work and his role in helping create unforgettable images.

VIDEO

Charles and Ray Eames make their TV debut on NBC's Home with Arlene Francis.

A 2011 documentary on the Eameses, Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter

The Eameses' 1977 film Powers of Ten.

The Eames Office is still active, dedicated to preserving the work of Charles and Ray.

Each Friday morning, WUOT and the Knoxville News Sentinel will bring you a new feature called PolitiFact Tennessee. PolitiFact is a national Pulitzer-Prize-winning movement to weigh the truth in the news... And Tennessee is the tenth state to join. Each week, WUOT's Chrissy Keuper will speak with a reporter from the News Sentinel who's working to uncover the truth behind the things we hear from our elected officials. This week, Chrissy spoke with Michael Collins, Washington DC Reporter for the News Sentinel and a member of the PolitiFact Tennessee team...

This year, East Tennessee PBS is broadcasting a series about the history of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. Ray Smith has worked at Y-12 for more than 40 years. He began in maintenance and at one time or another was responsible for every building on the site. But Y-12 administrators developed a new job for him: Smith became the facility's first historian, a now permanent position at the facility. WUOT's Chrissy Keuper spoke with him about what actually goes on at one of the most mysterious places in the nation...

Each Friday morning, WUOT and the Knoxville News Sentinel will bring you a new feature called PolitiFact Tennessee. PolitiFact is a national Pulitzer-Prize-winning movement to weigh the truth in the news... And Tennessee is the tenth state to join. Each week, WUOT's Chrissy Keuper will speak with a reporter from the News Sentinel who's working to uncover the truth behind the things we hear from our elected officials. Today, Tom Humphrey in Nashville, whose first item has to do with one of Tennessee's federal representatives...

Broadcast Version:

Extended Version:

Two Tennessee newspapers are joining forces to get to the facts behind political statements. PolitiFact Tennessee launched this week, as reporters from the Knoxville News Sentinel and Memphis Commercial Appeal search for the truth behind claims made by elected officials and pundits. The results will be shared in a series of weekly conversations on WUOT.

In this extended version of their January 19 interview, News Sentinel editor Jack McElroy talked with WUOT All Things Considered host Brandon Hollingsworth about what PolitiFact Tennessee will do, how the team will verify their information and the role of fact-checking in journalism.

The Tennessee General Assembly is getting ready to approve a brand-new map that could change the political lay of the land at both Congressional and local levels. The practice is called redistricting, and WUOT All Things Considered host Brandon Hollingsworth reports the process may start on paper, but it could end up in a courtroom.

LINKS
House GOP plans for redistricting: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/committees/redistricting.html
Senate GOP plans for redistricting: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Senate/redist/redistricting.html

In January's Dialogue, WUOT's Brandon Hollingsworth is joined by economist Matt Murray of the Tennessee Center for Business and Economic Research, and Joe White, legislative correspondent for WPLN Nashville Public Radio.

Some East Tennessee teenagers might be hoping to find an iPad or a new Smartphone under the Christmas tree this year. But WUOT's Christine Jessel of the Southern Education Desk found some teens who are looking for something a little more practical this year ... and lasting.

(Photo credit: knoxnews.com)

The situation surrounding former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner is complex. It almost takes a lawyer just to understand it all. So we called one. Former federal prosecutor Hugh Ward joins WUOT All Things Considered host Brandon Hollingsworth to talk about Baumgartner's case.

(Photo Credit: knoxnews.com)

On December 17th, 2011, Madeline Rogero will be sworn into office as the next Mayor of Knoxville. Rogero is a long-time community activist, former Knox County Commissioner and served in the administration of former Mayor Bill Haslam. She recently sat down with WUOT's Chrissy Keuper to discuss her plans and the significance of being the first woman to serve as Knoxville's Mayor...