WUOT Podcasts

From Kudzu to Ethanol

Biofuels are a hot topic. Making ethanol out of food crops or sowing fields with switchgrass has been the main focus. But now an East Tennessee company called Agro-Gas Industries, L.L.C. has a different idea. It's ready to produce ethanol from currently useless crop waste like corn stalks and soybean leaves. And Agro-Gas owner, Tom Monahan, tells WUOT's Ann Lloyd his company can make ethanol out of the most useless, noxious and fastest growing plant in the South--- Kudzu...

UT's ELI Hosts South American Students

The University of Tennessee opened the English Language Institute in 1978. It was founded for students learning English as a foreign language and it offers programs that focus on linguistics and American culture. Students come from all over the world to participate in these programs. This summer, the Institute is hosting several groups, including one from Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Geraldine Alvarez is a student at the Universidad Catolica in Caracas, Venezuela and Jim Hamrick is the Director of the Institute...

Maestro Lucas Richman

Maestro Lucas Richman is a familiar name in Knoxville. He's been Music Director with the Knoxville Symphony for six seasons and just renewed his contract for another three. But Maestro Richman also conducts music for film. He's conducted the music for films such as The Village, As Good As It Gets, Seven, and for the film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Maestro Richman also teaches an annual workshop in Los Angeles called "Conducting for the Film Composer". Chrissy Keuper sat down with the Maestro for this interview...

Dialogue- Health of our National Parks

It's summertime again, the traditional time for millions of people from around the country and around the world to visit the US National Parks. The National Park System in the US is the first of its kind in the world. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act. The move created the National Park Service, which would regulate the federal lands set up as parks, monuments and reservations. Our guest for Dialogue is Don Barger. He's the Southeast Regional Director for the National Parks Conservation Association, a non-profit organization that serves as an advocate for the National Park Service and for the lands that the Service protects. Chrissy Keuper hosts...

Helm's Ferry

If you travel northeast from Knoxville, through Maynardville and into the rolling pastureland of Union County, you may just stumble upon something that takes you back to another time. It's the Helm's ferry boat and it's one of the last working car ferries in Tennessee. The Union County Road Department has operated the ferry for more than 20 years at no cost to its riders. WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell recently spent some time on the ferry with one of its captains...

Cicadian Rhythms

Residents of some East Tennessee communities will bid goodbye this week to some rather loud--and some say obnoxious--visitors. Three species of the 17-year cicada have spent the last month or so eating leaves, flying around, mating, and making a general racket. This week, most of these cicadas will die off. And we won't see them again until the year 2025. WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell recently joined a cicada expert on a trip to one noisy Oak Ridge neighborhood..

Disabled at Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo is the largest rock music festival in the world. The bands, comedy club, shopping bazaar and specialty shows attract fans from all over the globe. But for the disabled, it can present a real challenge. The 700 acre farm is riddled with ruts and holes. When it rains, the ground fills with sticky mud and boggy swaths. This past weekend WUOT's Ann Lloyd attempted to look at Bonnaroo through the eyes of the disabled...

Arts Organizations Plead for Funding

Today, Knox County Commissioners decide how to divide nearly two million dollars in Community Grant Funds. Volunteer citizen panels were recruited to review over 100 non-profit group grant applications. Their recommendations include slashing or removing county support for a number of arts and cultural organizations. But commissioners may toss out those decisions and start the process over. WUOT's Ann Lloyd has more...

Sport 4 Peace

Ashleigh Huffman and Sarah Hillyer study Sport Sociology at the University of Tennessee. That's how sport influences society and culture. Sarah and Ashleigh founded Sport 4 Peace, an organization working toward sport opportunities for girls and women around the world. Sarah tells WUOT's Chrissy Keuper it came about in 2005 when they were in Israel developing the national women's softball team...

Dialogue- Jamie Satterfield

If you've read an intriguing story about a crime or a trial in East Tennessee over the past few years, chances are good that Jamie Satterfield wrote it. Jamie has been the crime and courts reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel for fourteen years. In that time, she's seen it all--- from the absurd to the horrifying. Jamie Satterfield is Matt Shafer Powell's guest on this segment of Dialogue...

Terrorism and the Food Chain

What if a major US food or livestock supplier was attacked by terrorists? That's the subject on Live Response, a broadcast from the National Terrorism Prevention Institute. Sharon Thompson is a guest on today's program. She directs the Center for Agricultural and Food Security and Preparedness at UT's College of Veterinary Medicine. Under a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, Thompson helped develop a training course on assessing vulnerabilities in Agriculture and Food production facilities...

Paul House

Paul House has been on Tennessee's Death Row for 22 years. He filed several appeals and his case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It was determined House did not receive a fair trial for the murder of a Union County woman. Yet the state of Tennessee continued to pursue the case. in April, a federal judge ordered House to be released from prison. He's scheduled to be freed tomorrow. Steven Kissinger represents House in his federal death penalty case. He tells WUOT's Ann Lloyd he believes House will finally see justice...

Vegetable Seeds Snapped Up (NPR)

As the economy has slowed, the price of food has soared. Milk, eggs and bread are all more expensive. Fruits and vegetables also cost a lot more. As Matt Shafer Powell reports from member station WUOT, that's forced some people to get creative...

Remembering Jim Riner

In 2003, WUOT listeners were introduced to an event called the "Prom of the Stars". It's an annual, formal dance in East Tennessee for developmentally disabled teenagers and adults. The popular event was conceived and organized locally by a man named Jim Riner. Last week, Riner died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 53. Riner was an Elder at Farragut Christian Church. The church's Senior Minister Jason Warden says the Prom is a great example of all that Riner did for and was to the community...

Dialogue- US Energy Policy

At the beginning of 2007, the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy created the Energy Fellow position. It's a partnership with the TVA and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The program's goals include stimulating discussion of our nation's energy policy, engaging international experts in the program and proposing solutions to current energy concerns. On this segment of Dialogue, host Chrissy Keuper speaks with Jerry Paul, the man appointed to that position...