WUOT Podcasts

Dialogue: Stan Brock, Founder of Remote Area Medical

For the last twenty-five years, volunteers with Remote Area Medical have traveled the planet, providing people and animals with medical and dental care, at no charge. The Knoxville-based volunteer corps began by providing service in countries other than the United States... But more of these medical expeditions are being staged here at home as more Americans have trouble affording that care. Stan Brock began Remote Area Medical in 1985. He was once a bush-pilot in the Amazonian basin, and was a co-host and producer of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Now, Brock heads up RAM's medical expeditions, including a recent trip flying medical supplies to Haiti in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. He spoke with Chrissy Keuper...

Victor Ashe

Knoxville native Victor Ashe has spent more than 30 years in public service. In 1968, Ashe was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives. In 1987, he won the office of Knoxville City Mayor and served for 16 years. Then in 2004, Ashe was sworn in as US Ambassador to Poland. The former ambassador has recently returned home to his native Knoxville. Chrissy Keuper spoke to Ashe about his time in Poland...

Dialogue: 106th General Assembly Preview

Next week, the gavel falls on the second session of Tennessee's 106th General Assembly. If the past is any indication, the roughly six month session will feature plenty of back-biting, grand-standing and power-grabbing. The fact that it's an election year-- and a census year --- means there will be enough chaos to satisfy even the most discerning cynic. But somewhere in all that political bedlam, some very tough decisions will have to be made. And they may affect all of us in ways we can’t yet imagine. On this segment of Dialogue, WUOT's Ann Lloyd speaks with Joe White, State Capitol Reporter for WPLN Nashville Public Radio...

Perigord Black Truffles

One of the most elusive gastronomic treats in the world can now be found in East Tennessee--- the famed, rare Perigord Black Truffle. The nubby, round, aromatic fungus is worth hundreds of dollars a pound and grows wild in France. But it has stubbornly resisted commercial production in the New World. Yet, a Greene County, Tennessee man has succeeded where many others have failed. At the start of last truffle season, Dr. Tom Michaels carefully considered a request by WUOT's Ann Lloyd. She wanted to tour his orchard. And he eventually agreed...

Matt Morelock of Morelock Music

Downtown Knoxville has undergone something of a renaissance in the last decade, and in the economic climate of the last couple of years, some would say that the success of new businesses downtown is something of a surprise. Now another small-business-owner is braving the recession to cater to a large contingent of Knoxville's population: Musicians. Chrissy Keuper speaks with Matt Morelock, owner of Morelock Music on Gay Street...

The Scraggly Root

Ginseng root has long been used in folk medicine in the United States and Asia. But now, it's big business, appearing in pills, energy drinks and even cosmetics. The manufacturers of these products buy ginseng from a seller. The seller buys it from a network of buyers. And those buyers purchase it from those who dig it out of the ground. So before all the glitzy packaging and promises, the main ingredient in your energy drink may have started in North Springs, Tennessee with Ward Kemp. As part of WUOT's Next Wave Radio Project, Kelsey Willis reports on how a scraggly root became the centerpiece of her grandfather's career...

December Dialogue: Tim Adams, Executive Director of Knoxville's Young-Williams Animal Center

www.knoxpets.org
Toll-free Spay/Neuter Hotline 1-866-907-SPAY (7729)

Americans love their pets... but the Humane Society reports that more than eight million cats and dogs find their way into US animal shelters every year. More than half of them are euthanized and many of those animals are the offspring of family pets who simply haven't been spayed or neutered. In addition to an overpopulation problem, a tough economic atmosphere is forcing many pet owners to surrender their pets to shelters. In this episode of Dialogue, Chrissy Keuper speaks with Tim Adams, the Executive Director of Knoxville's Young-Williams Animal Center...

I-40 Rockslide- NPR

AAA predicts more than 33,000,000 Americans will hit the highway this Thanksgiving weekend. In Western North Carolina, a major interstate has been closed since last month because of a huge rockslide. Travelers moving on I-40 near the Tennessee state line will have to add at least another hour to their trip. In this report, Matt Shafer Powell of WUOT takes a look at how the rockslide is changing the area's landscape---and economy...

April Verch

April Verch is an acclaimed Canadian-born musician. She's a fiddler, singer and step dancer. She recently stopped by the WUOT Studios to speak with WUOT's Ann Lloyd. She was joined by guitarist Clay Ross and bassist Cody Walters, with whom she is currently touring. The trio specializes in traditional Canadian folk music--- with a modern twist...

November Dialogue: Dave Mitchell, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and the Director of the Tennessee Office of Homeland Security

www.state.tn.us/homelandsecurity

Eleven days after the events of September 11th, 2001, then President George W. Bush announced the creation of a Federal Office of Homeland Security. The words "Homeland Security" have been mentioned often in the news: as a department of law enforcement with a voice in drafting legislation and rules... and as a philosophy and a psychology of securing the nation's borders and transportation hubs, and of protecting US citizens. Dave Mitchell is the Commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Safety and the Director of the state's Office of Homeland Security. Mitchell has had a lifelong career in law enforcement. In this episode of Dialogue, Chrissy Keuper speaks with Commissioner Mitchell about his career and about Homeland Security in Tennessee...

Knoxville's Family Justice Center: Executive Director Amy Dilworth and Domestic Abuse Survivor "Ann"

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month but all year, Knoxville's Family Justice Center helps and counsels the abused through the tragic consequences of that violence. Their website is: http://fjcknoxville.com/ and the 24-hour hotline number is: 865.521.6336.

Amy Dilworth is the Center's Executive Director. She and Ann, a survivor of domestic violence, spoke with Chrissy Keuper. Ann is now happily married with two stepchildren... but before that, she was in a violent and abusive marriage. Ann is not her real name...

Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Rheta Grimsley Johnson is one of the best-known modern Southern writers. She writes a syndicated newspaper column and is the author of the new book "Poor Man's Provence". For several years, Johnson and her late husband divided their time between their home in Mississippi and a smal house in Cajun Louisiana. Johnson tells WUOT's Ann Lloyd she borrowed the title for her new book from another author's successful travel journals about France...

Memories of the S&W

From 1937 to 1981, the S&W Cafeteria was an important part of life on Knoxville's Gay Street. Built as one of the area's first cafeteria-style restaurants, the S&W offered downtown patrons inexpensive food, dinner music, a friendly and familiar wait staff and an innovative art-deco design. After laying empty and abandoned for years, the restaurant will re-open this week as the S&W Grand. To mark this occasion, WUOT-FM and the Knoxville News Sentinel asked some former S&W employees and customers to recount their memories of this cultural landmark. This story was co-produced by WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell and Carly Harrington of the Knoxville News Sentinel and features Avon Rollins Sr., Anna Turner "Blondie" Johnson, David Watson, Dorothy Burchfield "Mother" Blackburn, John Craig and Von Garrett...