Atlanta Is...

Atlanta Is...

From the underground clubs that birthed music that took over the world, to the hustlers who made the city a mecca for filmmaking, and the churches whose pastors influence politics, “Atlanta Is…” tells the stories behind the rise of one of the most important cities on the planet. Featuring interviews with Ludacris, Will Packer, Sen. Raphael Warnock, pastor Jamal Bryant, and many more, this 8-part narrative series is the first of its kind oral history of Atlanta.

Episodes

December 17, 2025 39 mins

How Atlanta artists, from T.I. and Jeezy to Anycia have used mixtapes to define the city’s sound. 

STARRING: DJ Drama, Anycia, Zaytoven

NARRATED BY: Jewel Wicker

SUBJECTS: Music, Atlanta history

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How a dive bar near MLK’s Ebenezer Baptist Church became the center of a dynamic underground scene in the mid 2010s, and how it’s had an outsized influence on today’s hip-hop.

HOSTED BY: Big Rube

STARRING: Key!, Father, Olu and WowGr8 of Earthgang, Steven “Stevo” Dingle, DJ E. Sudd, Maurice Garland

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Raury and Mike Walbert

NARRATED BY: Christina Lee

SUBJECTS: Music, Atlanta history

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December 3, 2025 40 mins

How Atlanta’s reputation as the Mecca for Black business attracts entrepreneurs from around the country, and how conflicting visions of Black entrepreneurship have played out on one street in Castleberry Hill.

HOSTED BY: Big Rube

STARRING: Pastor Troy, Miya Bailey, Alphonzo Cross

NARRATED BY: Maurice Garland

SUBJECTS: Business, Entrepreneurship, Atlanta places, Atlanta history

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How Atlanta’s first international superstars—its clergy—shaped the city’s impact on the world, and how the church became an incubator for entertainers (and vice versa).

HOSTED BY: Big Rube

STARRING: Jamal Bryant, Zaytoven, 1KPhew

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Eric Long

NARRATED BY: Maurice Garland

SUBJECTS: Religion, Atlanta history, Music

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November 19, 2025 39 mins

How two out-of-town creative entrepreneurs hustled their cinematic dreams into existence, and how two locals transformed Atlanta into a moviemaking capital to rival Hollywood and New York.

HOSTED BY: Big Rube

STARRING: Will Packer, Rob Hardy, Jason Weaver, Tina Gordon, Shay Bentley Griffi

NARRATED BY: Jewel Wicker

SUBJECTS: Movies, Atlanta history

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November 12, 2025 40 mins

How a beloved movie got made despite the odds, and how the college that helped inspire it was nearly shuttered just as the film was released.

HOSTED BY: Big Rube

STARRING: Jason Weaver, Charles Stone III, Tina Gordon, Dr. Kevin James, Herman “Skip” Mason, Jr., LaTonya Randolph

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Errin Haines, Edmond Richardson, and Ronda Racha Penrice

NARRATED BY: Christina Lee

SUBJECTS: Movies, Education, Atlanta ...

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November 5, 2025 39 mins

How a tiny club on the city’s West Side birthed Atlanta’s rowdiest cultural export, and how that same spirit became a little too boisterous for the surrounding neighborhood.

HOSTED BY: Big Rube

STARRING: Sleepy Brown, Ray Murray, Bem Joiner, DJ Will, Shakeema Bailey

NARRATED BY: Maurice Garland

SUBJECTS: Music, Atlanta history, Atlanta neighborhoods

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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November 5, 2025 39 mins

How a dedicated group of DJs and radio programmers fought an uphill battle to get rap music played on the airwaves in ‘90s Atlanta, and how one of the city’s most famous homegrown stars went from playing the hits to making them.

HOSTED BY: Big Rube

STARRING: Ludacris, Chaka Zulu, Sleepy Brown, Ray Murray, Jerry Smokin’ B, Daron Fears, Mary Catherine Sneed

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Carol Blackmon, Dee Dee Hibbler, Sonia M...

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October 29, 2025 2 mins

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