WUOT Podcasts

Dialogue- Our coal-fueled legacy

Even before the Revolutionary War, miners had discovered coal buried deep in the Appalachian Mountains. But with the advent of the Industrial and Electrical ages, the coal found in the Appalachians became a critical cog in the gears that moved America forward. Today, more than 90 percent of the coal mined in the United States is used to generate electricity. We live in a society dominated by the convenience of coal-fired power. But it's come at a cost-- from the countless miners who have gone to their early graves, to the rivers, streams, mountains and communities that have experienced first-hand the environmental decimation that coal drags in its wake. On this episode of Dialogue, Dr. Mark Banker joins host Matt Shafer Powell to discuss the economic, cultural and environmental legacy of coal in the Southern Appalachians...

VL Stonecipher, Anderson County Schools

Anderson County students, teachers and administrators are saying goodbye this summer to a man who has helped shape their school system. VL Stonecipher was inspired by his own teachers while growing up in Anderson County, and he began teaching in the county in 1966. In his 43 years as an educator and administrator, Stonecipher has taught and led children of all ages. Chrissy Keuper spoke with him about some of the changes he's seen and his hopes for the future of education...

Antje and Lizanne

This evening at the Grove Theatre in Oak Ridge, two up and coming singer-songwriters perform. Antje Duvekot and Lizanne Knott both say they work in the "acoustic folk" style, but don't consider themselves traditional folk musicians. Even though Duvekot and Knott have known each other for years, they're currently on separate tours. Duvekot says she's pleased to meet up with her friend again, before heading off in different directions...

The Millionaires

The new novel The Millionaires provides an alternate universe to Knoxville, Tennessee in the 1970's and 80's. It's the story of two wealthy, brash brothers who wrangle the World's Fair to a mid-sized Southern town. Author Inman Majors spent much of his youth living in Knoxville. Ann Lloyd speaks with Inman, who says he wasn't interested in writing about the legendary Butcher Brothers or the real town they controlled...

UT/USGS Black Bear Study

Researchers with the University of Tennessee and the US Geological Survey are continuing work on the longest-running study of bears in the world. It began in 1968, when black bear populations all over the US were declining. Now, their numbers and territory are increasing, bringing them into contact with humans more often. Chrissy Keuper has this report...

Comment Boxes

Comment boxes are those open forums that appear below an on-line news article. Readers can comment about the article, the people in the article or just about anything they want. Some readers say the boxes reveal the worst of humanity and can compromise a news organization's credibility. But others say the news media have a responsibility to provide a forum for free speech. It's a difficult dilemma for cash-strapped newspapers who want to remain relevant in a web-dominated world. WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell reports...

Wezoogajam

Just a week after the massive Bonnaroo music festival in Middle Tennessee, a new, more intimate gathering gets underway in East Tennessee. Wezoogajam is this Friday through Sunday in Hancock County. The festival features more than two dozen regional and local bands and is affiliated with a world-wide Summer Solstice celebration. Organizer and musician Wesley Teregan says all the bands are friends he's played with at other festivals around the country. Teregan tells WUOT's Ann Lloyd an important part of Wezoogajam is allowing the audience to make music, too...

TDOT SmartFix 40 Downtown

One of the most massive road projects in state history comes to fruition today, June 12, 2009. In July of 2005, the Tennessee Department of Transportation began work on SmartFix 40 and this afternoon, Interstate 40 through downtown Knoxville will open to traffic once again. WUOT's Chrissy Keuper speaks with Travis Brickey, TDOT's Communications Director...

GM Retirees in Tellico Village

Recent developments at General Motors are being watched closely in the East Tennessee community of Tellico Village. Tellico Village is home to hundreds of retired auto industry employees--- many from the Detroit area. And while members of Tellico's GM Club admit it's difficult to watch the company's troubles, their loyalty to GM remains unshaken. WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell has this story...

Dialogue- Greghri Love

Greghri Love's memoir "There is an Urgency" is a raw, agonizing view of childhood abuse from the perspective of the man who lived it. In startling detail, Love documents the cruelty and neglect he suffered in an apartment he shared with his brother, his heroin-addicted mother and her violent, unpredictable pimp. On this segment of Dialogue, WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell speaks with Greghri Love about how he rose from the ashes of his tortuous childhood to become a candidate for Tennessee Teacher of the Year. And we'll discuss the ways he uses his own life as a guiding force in dealing with students at his alternative school...

Taeda

The traditional Irish band Taeda is on a two-week tour of the United States and stopped by the WUOT studios before their performance at Oak Ridge's Grove Theatre. This tour features Patsy O'Brien on guitar, Oisin Mac Diarmada on fiddle, Damien Stenson on flute and Tristan Rosenstock on bohdran. WUOT's Ann Lloyd asked if they could demonstrate the difference between a "jig" and a "reel"...

Agee Crash Bash

The Checkered Flag Sports Bar is on an almost lonely stretch of Clinton Highway in Powell. At another time, it might have been described as a speakeasy, or a workingman's tavern. But on Monday night, the Checkered Flag became a hangout for Knoxville's literary elite and the scene for the tenth anniversary "Agee Crash Bash." A capacity crowd of about 30 writers, musicians, professors and local historians gathered there. Ninety-three years ago, James Agee's father died in a single-car accident. It was the event that spawned Agee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "A Death in the Family". Knoxville historian Jack Neely lead the group in a memorial to the elder Agee and WUOT's Ann Lloyd was there....

Literacy Surge- NPR

Millions of people have lost their jobs since the recession began a year and a half ago. Now, the unemployed are filling up adult literacy programs. As Matt Shafer Powell of WUOT reports, it is a particularly desperate time for people with only basic language and math skills...

Dr. Dolly

Dolly Parton is a Sevier County native and entertainment icon around the world. Parton is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has been honored for her public service by the Smithsonian Institution, received seven Grammy Awards, been nominated for two Academy Awards and just last week her new Broadway show "Nine to Five" was nominated for four Tony awards. Today, she received an honorary doctorate of Humane and Musical Letters from the University of Tennessee. It's only the second such honorary degree bestowed by UT in its long history. Parton tells WUOT's Ann Lloyd she's very grateful...

Dialogue: Greg Button on the Impact of Environmental Disaster

On December 22nd, Roane County residents awoke to an environmental disaster... overnight, more than a billion gallons of coal fly ash had spilled from the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant, covering hundreds of acres of land and fouling the Emory River. The effects of the spill on Roane County are still being assessed. Chrissy Keuper hosts May's Dialogue with Greg Button, an Anthropologist at the University of Tennessee. His research focuses on environmental disasters and the impact of those events on people and communities...