December 22, 2025 • 23 mins
On this special episode of The Middle, we chat with journalists from around the country as they share their biggest local stories of the past year, as well as some of the reasons they're hopeful for the coming year. Jeremy is joined by Blake Farmer, host of “This is Nashville" on Nashville Public Radio, Kate Archer Kent, who hosts “Wisconsin Today” on Wisconsin Public Radio and Mary Sanchez, a Kansas City-based Columnist for the Tribune Content Agency. #2025 #2026 #newyears #holidays #news #optimism #hopeful #positive #boringcompany #datacenters #artificialintelligence #redistricting
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, It's Jeremy Hobson and this is a special bonus
episode of The Middle to close out twenty twenty five
and to welcome twenty twenty six. Now, there has been
a lot of bad news in the news lately, and
we're going to try and find some slices of good
because you deserve it. Before we get to that, I
(00:22):
want to get some quick updates about The Middle. We're
going to start the year with more than four hundred
and eighty public radio stations carrying The Middle, which is
just incredible because we have been on the air only
for about two years, and there are shows that have
been on for forty years that don't have that many stations,
so we're very excited about that. We also just moved
our weekly newsletter over to substack, and if you haven't
subscribed yet, please go over and do that. You can
do that at listen Toothmiddle dot com. We're going to
(00:44):
be launching some new exciting content in the new year.
And also, I know I say this in every show,
but please write us a review. Wherever you listen to
this as a podcast, it makes a difference. And if
you can make a year end tax deductible contribution at
Listen to the middle dot com. Those listening donations are
very important in helping out continue to do this work
as an independent production. And thank you so much if
you already have. Okay, so we've got three special guests
(01:07):
with us right now from three different cities in this country.
First off, Blake Farmer, host of This is Nashville on
Nashville Public Radio. Blake, it is great to have you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
And also joining us is Kate Archer Kent, who hosts
Wisconsin Today on Wisconsin Public Radio. Kate, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Thank you, Hi, Jeremy Hi.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
And Mary Sanchez, our old friend, Kansas City based commonist
for the Tribune Content Agency and a frequent guest on
our show. Mary, great to have you on as well.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
All right, So we've asked each of you to bring
us an important story from twenty twenty five where you live,
and also something that makes you optimistic going into twenty
twenty six. We're going to get to that after the break,
so we make sure that people stay with us for
the entire podcast. Kate, I'm going to start with you
in Wisconsin. What's a story that you're paying attention to there.
(01:55):
You think we ought to be everywhere else.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Well, Wisconsin is experiencing a real big data center boom.
Data center construction is going up everywhere. You know, dozens
of these sites happening around the state, and that's of
course bringing in billions of dollars in construction. You've got
then the ripple effects of that with highway projects and
(02:20):
energy plants have to open to be able to sustain
these data centers for all those AI needs. But we're
also seen seeing some of the opposition there. I mean
recently we saw in Port Washington near Milwaukee, where there's
a fifteen billion dollar data center underway there. Jeremy and
local residents have just filed paperwork to recall their mayor.
(02:44):
They don't like that there hasn't been enough transparency and
how these deals get done. We've also seen you know,
protests at city council meetings all over in other communities
around Wisconsin. And so you know, you see some really
big support for these centers because we're going to see
that they will bring in construction jobs, union jobs, but
(03:07):
you're also seeing some pretty fierce opposition to these projects.
So that data centers big story in Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, and in a lot of other places. But I wonder, kay,
is the opposition basically because people are worried that their
electricity rates are going to go up because the data
centers are going to be taking so much of the energy,
which we're already seeing happening in some places.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That is one piece of it. Certainly energy costs. Also,
they're concerned about water and how these data centers will
be cooled, whether that will impact, you know, whether they
will need water for cooling. So they're looking at those
environmental costs. They're also looking at well, once these data
centers are up and running, how many people will actually
(03:52):
be needed. Will they be an economic boom for these
communities or will it just be that initial construction boom.
So those are some of the ten playing out here right.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
It's interesting, you know, all the jobs, and we've talked
about this, all the jobs that are probably going to
go away because of artificial intelligence. But at the same time,
what I discover anecdotally in my conversations with people is
almost everybody is using AI at this point. Do you
find that, Kate, we're in Wisconsin, even among people who
are against the data.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Centers, it certainly attention point AI in use of course
in so many industries, and we talk about that on
Wisconsin today as well. So, but there's also a lot
of the tensions around, you know, whether it is the
responsible thing to do. So that is playing out here
(04:41):
as well.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Blake, what about you in Nashville? What are you seeing?
What's a big story we should be paying attention to.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
You know, we've had we do have some data center
hiccups every once in a while. But the big thing
when I look back at this year, that's just like
this story that keeps on giving. Not to say it's
it's entirely consequential in a lot of ways, but it's
about the boring company, as in Elon Musk's company, the
Tunnels Underground. Yes it's boring. It's a great name for
(05:14):
a company, I mean, it really is. But they there
were sort of like rumors about this early in the
year and then they they sort of came out and
indeed announced that they were going to tunnel from downtown
Nashville out to the airport. And this sounds like it
would be, you know, something that Nashville would be excited
(05:35):
about because the city has had all kinds of trouble
getting public transit going and getting it paid for, and
this was not going to be government money.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
But it like went over like a lead balloon.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
I mean, the city of Nashville itself was not really
brought in.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It was. It was one of these situations.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
You've got a state here in Tennessee that's that's run
by Republican supermajorities and the legislature and the governor and
the city that's run by Democrats, and it's like they
kind of went around the city to announce this plan
that very much is a Nashville thing, and like the
mayor was barely in on it, the city council was
hardly in on it, and so they had all.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Sorts of question.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
Of course, it involves Elon Musk's company, and he was,
especially when it was announced, a very controversial figure in
the news every day, you know. And we've learned since
then that they're you know, they've already started tunneling, and
they've announced that it's going to be a bigger project
than they even first announced that we would go under
our river, the Cumberland River, over to the Titans Stadium,
(06:35):
and they planned to connect, you know, build it out
all over the place. Again, this is a place that's
had a lot of issues trying to figure out how
to how to do some sort of mass transit. But
you know, not been very welcoming of this for any
number of reasons.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
But they've actually started tunneling. They're doing it.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Oh, it's their holes in the ground. It's going.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
You know, it's interesting because I feel like we've been
hearing about his tunneling projects for so long and they
haven't really been happening the way you were supposed to.
I think, be able to go from Los Angeles to
Las Vegas at this point in a tunnel, and that's
not even happening. But also, you know, you look at
a place like London and they built the Elizabeth Line
on the Tube, a new line under the entire city
(07:15):
of London, which think about how much you know, old
stuff is under there and how difficult it must be
to tunnel. They did that by tunneling, not by whatever
it's called dig in dig in tunnel or whatever whatever
it is. Instead of going from the surface, they actually
just did that by tunneling. So it is possible to
do it, and it'd be interesting to see if they
can actually make it happen in Nashville.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Well, and they certainly can dig tunnels. But it was
interesting from the very beginning the hit the leaders of
the boring company, the way they were talking about it.
They said, well, we know Tennessee is a very hard
you know, got this very hard rock and a tough
place to dig, and people who knew anything about our geology, like,
that's not the issue. The issue is that it's kind
(07:55):
of soft and it's this limestone.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
We have sinkholes. Karst is the issue.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
Which I won't even try to explain the geology because
I'll get in trouble. But like, the point is it's
hard to dig here for other reasons, not because the
rock is hard. So it just felt to a lot
of people who you know, had a lot of questions
in the first place, that homework had not even really
been done on the front end.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Anyway, it's an ongoing saga.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
All right, Mary Sanchez, You're in Kansas City where they
have a beautiful new airport but no tunnel that takes
you directly into the city. But what are you looking
at this year as a big story we should be
focusing on.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Okay, Well, I was thinking about the redistricting. But I
will say what's so interesting even what we've already covered,
we have some of those same issues with transportation. We
extend streetcar here and the data centers. It's like everything
is so entwined in the US, which is so interesting
how you do this? And you know, redistricting obviously is
(08:53):
something that is going to be taking off. On the
Missouri side, it is very much caught up in the courts.
The Republican legislature did redo a map, and this is
outside of the census. Usually after every ten year census,
they look at those numbers and they figure out what
makes sense in terms of, you know, the legality of
(09:13):
this of how do you redistrict. Well, this is an
effort to increase more Republican seats, and so they drew
the map, but it is all caught up in the courts.
The public really pushed back, just like they were doing
on some of these other issues we're discussing. They turned
in more than three hundred thousand signatures. Some of those
have already been thrown out through an issue with Secretary
(09:36):
of State. It's going to be ongoing. And on the
Kansas side, we have the same thing. There's you know,
have been efforts that they're talking about. There there's a
Democrat governor, so there's a little bit more pushback. And
I think what's happened in Indiana where they didn't go through.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
The Republican Senate said no to Donald Trump, we're not
going to do that new map right now.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Yeah, and that costs some hiccups among some in Kansas,
some of the legislators who said, well, maybe, you know,
maybe we don't have enough force to get this done.
So I think that's something that's going to continue. There's
also a little sliver in Saint Louis. I'm on the
western side of the state of Missouri, but in Saint
Louis there's a little sliver that it could play out
(10:22):
with the Voting Rights, how the Voting Rights Act, how
the Supreme Court takes up that case.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
The interesting thing, and we've covered this redistricting fight on
the middle, is that Number one, a lot of members
of Congress don't want it to happen because it makes
them have to have new voters and they have to
figure out how they're going to win their new district,
even if it's maybe safer for them. And number two,
if the Republicans change the lines and make all the
(10:50):
districts like fifty five forty five read instead of sixty forty.
If there's a way of election, it could totally backfireute.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
That's what people are worried about. And the other thing
about this is once you change those districts, it's really
hard to undo it.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Kate Archer Ken, you as we hear about the politics
there in Missouri and Kansas, what about in Wisconsin, such
a political hotbed of.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
This country, a political hotbed. Indeed, you know, looking back
at the year, Wisconsin and the nation witnessed the most
expensive judicial race in American history, and that was with
the election of liberal Justice Susan Crawford elected to our
state Supreme Court, elected to a ten year term. So
(11:38):
now the court tipped with a liberal majority for years
to come. It's now for three and so we're watching that.
I mean this particular race, you know, it had millions
of dollars in it from Elon Musk, tens of millions
of dollars in supporting Brad Schimmel in that race. And
so now we're very closely watching what the court takes up.
(12:01):
Most recently, we've seen some notable lawsuits challenging our state's
congressional maps, and that could have implications very soon in
the twenty twenty six midterms. So we are certainly watching
what this shake up in the state Supreme Court means
for the cases that they take on, you.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
Know, Jeremy here in Tennessee, I mean, certainly Elon Musk
has been still playing an outsize role even though he
hasn't been here in person. But in terms of the politics,
one of the surprising stories from this year that's been
big is about school vouchers. And I don't know how
many states represented here have school vouchers, and they've been
in place to some degree in Tennessee for a long time,
(12:42):
but our Governor Bill Lee kind of has made it his,
you know, kind of one of his signature things too
before he leaves office, to have a real, a big
school voucher program. And so this was the first year
that launched. Was very controversial. Even a lot of Republicans
had tons of questions. It was a very close vote
ultimately because these were forty thousand school vouchers.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
So for people to be able to go to a
private school with.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Take about eight thousand dollars and they'd be able to
go to a private school, and there was no income
cap on half of those, where it didn't matter how
much money your family made, you could still have one
of these school vouchers. And it will continue to be
an issue into the future because I mean they were
(13:30):
very popular and more people wanted them than could get
them because they were only forty thousand and so going
into the next year, it's going to be a big
issue here in Tennessee because people are like, well, how
much larger should we expand this program?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Right? And the worry, of course, is that you're taking
money out of the public schools. And we did a
show about this in Louisiana at WWNO in New Orleans
when they were considering doing exactly this, and I will say,
as a fellow talk show host Blake, that was one
of the hardest shows we've ever done in terms of
how much research it takes to understand all the nuances
(14:09):
of the school voucher programs. I mean, it is a
very complicated topic and people know it very well, and
if you get something wrong on a show like that,
they will call you out for it.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
I know, I was gonna say one of the things
I found interesting. We do call in shows from time
to time. On This Is Nashville, had a lot of
calls on this topic, but we had some folks on
the show who honestly are against the concept of school vouchers.
They support public schools, is what they would say. However,
if they're available, and since their kid goes to a
(14:41):
private school, they're going to sign up for it, which
I think is so interesting going forward. Kind of like
when people were maybe against lottery scholarships that was going
to help people go to college, people aren't against anymore.
You're just like, hey, the money's available, you might as
well take it. So it'll be interesting to watch going forward.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
We're going to be back in just a moment with
the good news the optimism for twenty twenty six The Middle.
We'll be right back. Welcome back to a special episode
(15:17):
of The Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson. This episode, we're joined
by Kansas City based columnist Mary Sanchez. This Is Nashville
host Blake Farmer from Nashville Public Radio and Wisconsin Today
host Kate Archer Kent from Wisconsin Public Radio. And now
we're going to look ahead to twenty twenty six or
if you are really late on listening to your podcasts.
It's already twenty twenty six and we are now talking
about the things to be optimistic about this year.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Mary.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
You first, we are a World Cup host city here
in Kansas City, and it is just starting to consume
you know, people's just consciousness. It's just even if you
aren't a fan of football, which how are you not?
Is what I would ask, there's something to be excited about.
I mean, it's just going to be amazing. I think,
(16:03):
you know, there's a lot that could go wrong when
you bring in about six hundred and fifty thousand more
people into your area. Transportation, you know, just all sorts
of things, crime, but it's just exciting. We possibly, if
everything plays out right, you know, winners, losers, whatever, we
could end up with Ronaldo and Messi actually playing in
(16:25):
their last matches. That gets into who loses, you know,
when we do have one quarter final match. But it's
just amazing. It's a huge thing for the city. We're
an incredible soccer town. We have the only stadium that
was built for a professional women's soccer club in the
entire world, and it is beautiful. It's right on the
(16:47):
river front, I mean, and people just love it. It's
just a wonderful atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
You know. I'm in Los Angeles, which is also a
World Cup host city this year, and as soon as
they announced like who was playing when or who is
playing home in which city, all of a sudden, Airbnb
sent out alerts I guess to everybody who puts their
house up that said, by the way, get ready to
put your house up now, put your apartment up now,
because you're about to make a lot of money on
(17:12):
these World Cup people coming in. So that's very interesting. Kate.
What about you in Wisconsin? What are you optimistic about
in the coming year.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Well, I'm going to take in following what Mary said.
I mean, in Wisconsin, we have some of the most
elite speed skaters in the country and many of them
have their sites set on the Winter Olympics and they
train at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, which
is famous for being one of only two long track
(17:43):
speed skating ovals in the country. They're hosting the Olympic
trials there, so we'll see who's on that Olympic team
from Wisconsin in the Winter Olympics. And you know, on
Wisconsin today, we hear of so many people around our
state who are trying to make positive impact. A couple
of things that we've heard recently are about these community
(18:06):
fridges that are popping up around our state that are
run by local volunteers and neighbors can just come to
a community fridge. It might be located in a park
or another public place.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Day or night.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
They can just take things from the fridge if they're hungry.
So community fridges are something that's happening around our state.
We've also been hearing about what are called memory choirs
that are opening up in northern Wisconsin, and these are
choirs specifically for people who have dementia or Parkinson's disease.
One choir is called Parkins Song and it really allows
(18:43):
people who are suffering from Parkinson's or dementia to reclaim
their voice and join a choir. So that also has
been a source of optimism.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
That's great, that's really nice, Blake, What about you in Nashville.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
You know, it's less of a single story and more
of something that I feel is in the air, or
at least maybe I am hoping into existence. But on
our show, this is Nashville just like the middle. We
really try to get people on different sides of an
issue not to come scream at each other, but to.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Come, let's talk about where we are.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
You know, a couple of weeks ago, we've had three
executions in Tennessee this year, so executions have been a
big story and there will be more next year. There's
one schedule for a woman to be put to death,
which is very rare. But we had a pro death penalty,
although he wouldn't exactly call himself that, but he's outside
the executions when they occur like here in Tennessee, basically
(19:41):
on the pro side of the fence where they allow
protesters to go, sort of saying in support of the
death penalty. Sit down in our studio that I'm sitting
in right now, sitting across from a Methodist pastor who
pastors people on death row and who is a death
the abolitionists they sat in here. We had to edit
(20:03):
the conversation down quite a bit and talked for three hours,
and it was incredible how much overlap there was, and honestly,
by the end of the conversation you weren't sure who
was against the death penalty, because honestly, the issues, nobody
loved how things were working out, and often we have
(20:23):
when we have episodes where we've got people on left,
right center, there's a conversation after the we go off here,
and people on left and right are exchanging phone numbers,
they're sort of hearing from the other side, and you
just get the sense that there is far less that
divides us than we are made to believe a lot
(20:45):
of times. And I just think, uh, and maybe simply
hope that there's more of that in the new year.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I agree with you one. I think that we discover
that every single week on our show, that people are
interested in finding solutions and talking to each other in
a civil and respectful way, and unfortunately, most of our
media does not prioritize that. And I'm not blaming people necessarily.
The algorithms are a major problem there too, But you know,
(21:17):
I guess I hope we have less social media in
twenty twenty six. That's never gonna happen, but I sort
of hope so, because it really is, it divides us
in a way, and it makes us focus on the
things that make us angry and all of that. And
it's just I always find when I take a break
from it for a couple of weeks. I feel better.
I want to say one nice thing about each of you,
(21:39):
because we're so glad to have you. Kate Archer, Kent,
I just want to tell you we did a bunch
of interviews when we were launching The Middle, and one
of them was with you, and I stole something from you,
and I've used it over and over again, which is
go ahead. I say that to the guests all that
when the phone callers call in, I'm like, hello, you know, Birmingham, Alabama.
Go ahead, and it's like, oh my god, they know.
It's like Okay, let's start talking now.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I'm stealing that. Now, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Good Blake Farmer. By the way, you know, whenever I
eventually have somebody backup for me as a host on
this show, it's never happened before. You're at the top
of my list. I love Blake Farmer. You guys are
all fantastic, but I've known Blake for a very long
time and I just think he's an excellent, excellent host.
People should check out this as Nashville and Mary Sanchez
(22:25):
like our favorite guest from week one. You were on
one of our first pilots, and you've been on more
episodes than almost anybody. I think maybe Philip Bailey has
been on maybe one more than you on the middle
so far, but you're catching up very quickly.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
I'm always happy to be here. I just love the concept.
I absolutely agree with you. I hear so many people
reply and say that they just they enjoy listening because
it is civil, it is interesting, it's different perspectives. I
just think you've hit on a wonderful model that frankly,
the US is hungry for.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Well, thank you so much. That is Kansas City based
columnist Mary Sanchez, who writes for the Tribune Content Agency,
Blake Farmer, who hosts This Is Nashville and Nashville Public Radio,
and Kate Archer Kent, host of Wisconsin Today on Wisconsin
Public Radio. Thanks to all of you, and happy.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
New Year you too.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Happy New Year, Joan you and thanks.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
You for listening. Happy New Year. I will talk to
you soon.
Hi, It's Jeremy Hobson and this is a special bonus
episode of The Middle to close out twenty twenty five
and to welcome twenty twenty six. Now, there has been
a lot of bad news in the news lately, and
we're going to try and find some slices of good
because you deserve it. Before we get to that, I
(00:22):
want to get some quick updates about The Middle. We're
going to start the year with more than four hundred
and eighty public radio stations carrying The Middle, which is
just incredible because we have been on the air only
for about two years, and there are shows that have
been on for forty years that don't have that many stations,
so we're very excited about that. We also just moved
our weekly newsletter over to substack, and if you haven't
subscribed yet, please go over and do that. You can
do that at listen Toothmiddle dot com. We're going to
(00:44):
be launching some new exciting content in the new year.
And also, I know I say this in every show,
but please write us a review. Wherever you listen to
this as a podcast, it makes a difference. And if
you can make a year end tax deductible contribution at
Listen to the middle dot com. Those listening donations are
very important in helping out continue to do this work
as an independent production. And thank you so much if
you already have. Okay, so we've got three special guests
(01:07):
with us right now from three different cities in this country.
First off, Blake Farmer, host of This is Nashville on
Nashville Public Radio. Blake, it is great to have you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
And also joining us is Kate Archer Kent, who hosts
Wisconsin Today on Wisconsin Public Radio. Kate, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Thank you, Hi, Jeremy Hi.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
And Mary Sanchez, our old friend, Kansas City based commonist
for the Tribune Content Agency and a frequent guest on
our show. Mary, great to have you on as well.
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
All right, So we've asked each of you to bring
us an important story from twenty twenty five where you live,
and also something that makes you optimistic going into twenty
twenty six. We're going to get to that after the break,
so we make sure that people stay with us for
the entire podcast. Kate, I'm going to start with you
in Wisconsin. What's a story that you're paying attention to there.
(01:55):
You think we ought to be everywhere else.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Well, Wisconsin is experiencing a real big data center boom.
Data center construction is going up everywhere. You know, dozens
of these sites happening around the state, and that's of
course bringing in billions of dollars in construction. You've got
then the ripple effects of that with highway projects and
(02:20):
energy plants have to open to be able to sustain
these data centers for all those AI needs. But we're
also seen seeing some of the opposition there. I mean
recently we saw in Port Washington near Milwaukee, where there's
a fifteen billion dollar data center underway there. Jeremy and
local residents have just filed paperwork to recall their mayor.
(02:44):
They don't like that there hasn't been enough transparency and
how these deals get done. We've also seen you know,
protests at city council meetings all over in other communities
around Wisconsin. And so you know, you see some really
big support for these centers because we're going to see
that they will bring in construction jobs, union jobs, but
(03:07):
you're also seeing some pretty fierce opposition to these projects.
So that data centers big story in Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, and in a lot of other places. But I wonder, kay,
is the opposition basically because people are worried that their
electricity rates are going to go up because the data
centers are going to be taking so much of the energy,
which we're already seeing happening in some places.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That is one piece of it. Certainly energy costs. Also,
they're concerned about water and how these data centers will
be cooled, whether that will impact, you know, whether they
will need water for cooling. So they're looking at those
environmental costs. They're also looking at well, once these data
centers are up and running, how many people will actually
(03:52):
be needed. Will they be an economic boom for these
communities or will it just be that initial construction boom.
So those are some of the ten playing out here right.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
It's interesting, you know, all the jobs, and we've talked
about this, all the jobs that are probably going to
go away because of artificial intelligence. But at the same time,
what I discover anecdotally in my conversations with people is
almost everybody is using AI at this point. Do you
find that, Kate, we're in Wisconsin, even among people who
are against the data.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Centers, it certainly attention point AI in use of course
in so many industries, and we talk about that on
Wisconsin today as well. So, but there's also a lot
of the tensions around, you know, whether it is the
responsible thing to do. So that is playing out here
(04:41):
as well.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Blake, what about you in Nashville? What are you seeing?
What's a big story we should be paying attention to.
Speaker 5 (04:48):
You know, we've had we do have some data center
hiccups every once in a while. But the big thing
when I look back at this year, that's just like
this story that keeps on giving. Not to say it's
it's entirely consequential in a lot of ways, but it's
about the boring company, as in Elon Musk's company, the
Tunnels Underground. Yes it's boring. It's a great name for
(05:14):
a company, I mean, it really is. But they there
were sort of like rumors about this early in the
year and then they they sort of came out and
indeed announced that they were going to tunnel from downtown
Nashville out to the airport. And this sounds like it
would be, you know, something that Nashville would be excited
(05:35):
about because the city has had all kinds of trouble
getting public transit going and getting it paid for, and
this was not going to be government money.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
But it like went over like a lead balloon.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
I mean, the city of Nashville itself was not really
brought in.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
It was. It was one of these situations.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
You've got a state here in Tennessee that's that's run
by Republican supermajorities and the legislature and the governor and
the city that's run by Democrats, and it's like they
kind of went around the city to announce this plan
that very much is a Nashville thing, and like the
mayor was barely in on it, the city council was
hardly in on it, and so they had all.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Sorts of question.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
Of course, it involves Elon Musk's company, and he was,
especially when it was announced, a very controversial figure in
the news every day, you know. And we've learned since
then that they're you know, they've already started tunneling, and
they've announced that it's going to be a bigger project
than they even first announced that we would go under
our river, the Cumberland River, over to the Titans Stadium,
(06:35):
and they planned to connect, you know, build it out
all over the place. Again, this is a place that's
had a lot of issues trying to figure out how
to how to do some sort of mass transit. But
you know, not been very welcoming of this for any
number of reasons.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
But they've actually started tunneling. They're doing it.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Oh, it's their holes in the ground. It's going.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
You know, it's interesting because I feel like we've been
hearing about his tunneling projects for so long and they
haven't really been happening the way you were supposed to.
I think, be able to go from Los Angeles to
Las Vegas at this point in a tunnel, and that's
not even happening. But also, you know, you look at
a place like London and they built the Elizabeth Line
on the Tube, a new line under the entire city
(07:15):
of London, which think about how much you know, old
stuff is under there and how difficult it must be
to tunnel. They did that by tunneling, not by whatever
it's called dig in dig in tunnel or whatever whatever
it is. Instead of going from the surface, they actually
just did that by tunneling. So it is possible to
do it, and it'd be interesting to see if they
can actually make it happen in Nashville.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Well, and they certainly can dig tunnels. But it was
interesting from the very beginning the hit the leaders of
the boring company, the way they were talking about it.
They said, well, we know Tennessee is a very hard
you know, got this very hard rock and a tough
place to dig, and people who knew anything about our geology, like,
that's not the issue. The issue is that it's kind
(07:55):
of soft and it's this limestone.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
We have sinkholes. Karst is the issue.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
Which I won't even try to explain the geology because
I'll get in trouble. But like, the point is it's
hard to dig here for other reasons, not because the
rock is hard. So it just felt to a lot
of people who you know, had a lot of questions
in the first place, that homework had not even really
been done on the front end.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Anyway, it's an ongoing saga.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
All right, Mary Sanchez, You're in Kansas City where they
have a beautiful new airport but no tunnel that takes
you directly into the city. But what are you looking
at this year as a big story we should be
focusing on.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Okay, Well, I was thinking about the redistricting. But I
will say what's so interesting even what we've already covered,
we have some of those same issues with transportation. We
extend streetcar here and the data centers. It's like everything
is so entwined in the US, which is so interesting
how you do this? And you know, redistricting obviously is
(08:53):
something that is going to be taking off. On the
Missouri side, it is very much caught up in the courts.
The Republican legislature did redo a map, and this is
outside of the census. Usually after every ten year census,
they look at those numbers and they figure out what
makes sense in terms of, you know, the legality of
(09:13):
this of how do you redistrict. Well, this is an
effort to increase more Republican seats, and so they drew
the map, but it is all caught up in the courts.
The public really pushed back, just like they were doing
on some of these other issues we're discussing. They turned
in more than three hundred thousand signatures. Some of those
have already been thrown out through an issue with Secretary
(09:36):
of State. It's going to be ongoing. And on the
Kansas side, we have the same thing. There's you know,
have been efforts that they're talking about. There there's a
Democrat governor, so there's a little bit more pushback. And
I think what's happened in Indiana where they didn't go through.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
The Republican Senate said no to Donald Trump, we're not
going to do that new map right now.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Yeah, and that costs some hiccups among some in Kansas,
some of the legislators who said, well, maybe, you know,
maybe we don't have enough force to get this done.
So I think that's something that's going to continue. There's
also a little sliver in Saint Louis. I'm on the
western side of the state of Missouri, but in Saint
Louis there's a little sliver that it could play out
(10:22):
with the Voting Rights, how the Voting Rights Act, how
the Supreme Court takes up that case.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Right.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
The interesting thing, and we've covered this redistricting fight on
the middle, is that Number one, a lot of members
of Congress don't want it to happen because it makes
them have to have new voters and they have to
figure out how they're going to win their new district,
even if it's maybe safer for them. And number two,
if the Republicans change the lines and make all the
(10:50):
districts like fifty five forty five read instead of sixty forty.
If there's a way of election, it could totally backfireute.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
That's what people are worried about. And the other thing
about this is once you change those districts, it's really
hard to undo it.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Kate Archer Ken, you as we hear about the politics
there in Missouri and Kansas, what about in Wisconsin, such
a political hotbed of.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
This country, a political hotbed. Indeed, you know, looking back
at the year, Wisconsin and the nation witnessed the most
expensive judicial race in American history, and that was with
the election of liberal Justice Susan Crawford elected to our
state Supreme Court, elected to a ten year term. So
(11:38):
now the court tipped with a liberal majority for years
to come. It's now for three and so we're watching that.
I mean this particular race, you know, it had millions
of dollars in it from Elon Musk, tens of millions
of dollars in supporting Brad Schimmel in that race. And
so now we're very closely watching what the court takes up.
(12:01):
Most recently, we've seen some notable lawsuits challenging our state's
congressional maps, and that could have implications very soon in
the twenty twenty six midterms. So we are certainly watching
what this shake up in the state Supreme Court means
for the cases that they take on, you.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
Know, Jeremy here in Tennessee, I mean, certainly Elon Musk
has been still playing an outsize role even though he
hasn't been here in person. But in terms of the politics,
one of the surprising stories from this year that's been
big is about school vouchers. And I don't know how
many states represented here have school vouchers, and they've been
in place to some degree in Tennessee for a long time,
(12:42):
but our Governor Bill Lee kind of has made it his,
you know, kind of one of his signature things too
before he leaves office, to have a real, a big
school voucher program. And so this was the first year
that launched. Was very controversial. Even a lot of Republicans
had tons of questions. It was a very close vote
ultimately because these were forty thousand school vouchers.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
So for people to be able to go to a
private school with.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Take about eight thousand dollars and they'd be able to
go to a private school, and there was no income
cap on half of those, where it didn't matter how
much money your family made, you could still have one
of these school vouchers. And it will continue to be
an issue into the future because I mean they were
(13:30):
very popular and more people wanted them than could get
them because they were only forty thousand and so going
into the next year, it's going to be a big
issue here in Tennessee because people are like, well, how
much larger should we expand this program?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Right? And the worry, of course, is that you're taking
money out of the public schools. And we did a
show about this in Louisiana at WWNO in New Orleans
when they were considering doing exactly this, and I will say,
as a fellow talk show host Blake, that was one
of the hardest shows we've ever done in terms of
how much research it takes to understand all the nuances
(14:09):
of the school voucher programs. I mean, it is a
very complicated topic and people know it very well, and
if you get something wrong on a show like that,
they will call you out for it.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
I know, I was gonna say one of the things
I found interesting. We do call in shows from time
to time. On This Is Nashville, had a lot of
calls on this topic, but we had some folks on
the show who honestly are against the concept of school vouchers.
They support public schools, is what they would say. However,
if they're available, and since their kid goes to a
(14:41):
private school, they're going to sign up for it, which
I think is so interesting going forward. Kind of like
when people were maybe against lottery scholarships that was going
to help people go to college, people aren't against anymore.
You're just like, hey, the money's available, you might as
well take it. So it'll be interesting to watch going forward.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
We're going to be back in just a moment with
the good news the optimism for twenty twenty six The Middle.
We'll be right back. Welcome back to a special episode
(15:17):
of The Middle. I'm Jeremy Hobson. This episode, we're joined
by Kansas City based columnist Mary Sanchez. This Is Nashville
host Blake Farmer from Nashville Public Radio and Wisconsin Today
host Kate Archer Kent from Wisconsin Public Radio. And now
we're going to look ahead to twenty twenty six or
if you are really late on listening to your podcasts.
It's already twenty twenty six and we are now talking
about the things to be optimistic about this year.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Mary.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
You first, we are a World Cup host city here
in Kansas City, and it is just starting to consume
you know, people's just consciousness. It's just even if you
aren't a fan of football, which how are you not?
Is what I would ask, there's something to be excited about.
I mean, it's just going to be amazing. I think,
(16:03):
you know, there's a lot that could go wrong when
you bring in about six hundred and fifty thousand more
people into your area. Transportation, you know, just all sorts
of things, crime, but it's just exciting. We possibly, if
everything plays out right, you know, winners, losers, whatever, we
could end up with Ronaldo and Messi actually playing in
(16:25):
their last matches. That gets into who loses, you know,
when we do have one quarter final match. But it's
just amazing. It's a huge thing for the city. We're
an incredible soccer town. We have the only stadium that
was built for a professional women's soccer club in the
entire world, and it is beautiful. It's right on the
(16:47):
river front, I mean, and people just love it. It's
just a wonderful atmosphere.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
You know. I'm in Los Angeles, which is also a
World Cup host city this year, and as soon as
they announced like who was playing when or who is
playing home in which city, all of a sudden, Airbnb
sent out alerts I guess to everybody who puts their
house up that said, by the way, get ready to
put your house up now, put your apartment up now,
because you're about to make a lot of money on
(17:12):
these World Cup people coming in. So that's very interesting. Kate.
What about you in Wisconsin? What are you optimistic about
in the coming year.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Well, I'm going to take in following what Mary said.
I mean, in Wisconsin, we have some of the most
elite speed skaters in the country and many of them
have their sites set on the Winter Olympics and they
train at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, which
is famous for being one of only two long track
(17:43):
speed skating ovals in the country. They're hosting the Olympic
trials there, so we'll see who's on that Olympic team
from Wisconsin in the Winter Olympics. And you know, on
Wisconsin today, we hear of so many people around our
state who are trying to make positive impact. A couple
of things that we've heard recently are about these community
(18:06):
fridges that are popping up around our state that are
run by local volunteers and neighbors can just come to
a community fridge. It might be located in a park
or another public place.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Day or night.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
They can just take things from the fridge if they're hungry.
So community fridges are something that's happening around our state.
We've also been hearing about what are called memory choirs
that are opening up in northern Wisconsin, and these are
choirs specifically for people who have dementia or Parkinson's disease.
One choir is called Parkins Song and it really allows
(18:43):
people who are suffering from Parkinson's or dementia to reclaim
their voice and join a choir. So that also has
been a source of optimism.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
That's great, that's really nice, Blake, What about you in Nashville.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
You know, it's less of a single story and more
of something that I feel is in the air, or
at least maybe I am hoping into existence. But on
our show, this is Nashville just like the middle. We
really try to get people on different sides of an
issue not to come scream at each other, but to.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Come, let's talk about where we are.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
You know, a couple of weeks ago, we've had three
executions in Tennessee this year, so executions have been a
big story and there will be more next year. There's
one schedule for a woman to be put to death,
which is very rare. But we had a pro death penalty,
although he wouldn't exactly call himself that, but he's outside
the executions when they occur like here in Tennessee, basically
(19:41):
on the pro side of the fence where they allow
protesters to go, sort of saying in support of the
death penalty. Sit down in our studio that I'm sitting
in right now, sitting across from a Methodist pastor who
pastors people on death row and who is a death
the abolitionists they sat in here. We had to edit
(20:03):
the conversation down quite a bit and talked for three hours,
and it was incredible how much overlap there was, and honestly,
by the end of the conversation you weren't sure who
was against the death penalty, because honestly, the issues, nobody
loved how things were working out, and often we have
(20:23):
when we have episodes where we've got people on left,
right center, there's a conversation after the we go off here,
and people on left and right are exchanging phone numbers,
they're sort of hearing from the other side, and you
just get the sense that there is far less that
divides us than we are made to believe a lot
(20:45):
of times. And I just think, uh, and maybe simply
hope that there's more of that in the new year.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I agree with you one. I think that we discover
that every single week on our show, that people are
interested in finding solutions and talking to each other in
a civil and respectful way, and unfortunately, most of our
media does not prioritize that. And I'm not blaming people necessarily.
The algorithms are a major problem there too, But you know,
(21:17):
I guess I hope we have less social media in
twenty twenty six. That's never gonna happen, but I sort
of hope so, because it really is, it divides us
in a way, and it makes us focus on the
things that make us angry and all of that. And
it's just I always find when I take a break
from it for a couple of weeks. I feel better.
I want to say one nice thing about each of you,
(21:39):
because we're so glad to have you. Kate Archer, Kent,
I just want to tell you we did a bunch
of interviews when we were launching The Middle, and one
of them was with you, and I stole something from you,
and I've used it over and over again, which is
go ahead. I say that to the guests all that
when the phone callers call in, I'm like, hello, you know, Birmingham, Alabama.
Go ahead, and it's like, oh my god, they know.
It's like Okay, let's start talking now.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
I'm stealing that. Now, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Good Blake Farmer. By the way, you know, whenever I
eventually have somebody backup for me as a host on
this show, it's never happened before. You're at the top
of my list. I love Blake Farmer. You guys are
all fantastic, but I've known Blake for a very long
time and I just think he's an excellent, excellent host.
People should check out this as Nashville and Mary Sanchez
(22:25):
like our favorite guest from week one. You were on
one of our first pilots, and you've been on more
episodes than almost anybody. I think maybe Philip Bailey has
been on maybe one more than you on the middle
so far, but you're catching up very quickly.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
I'm always happy to be here. I just love the concept.
I absolutely agree with you. I hear so many people
reply and say that they just they enjoy listening because
it is civil, it is interesting, it's different perspectives. I
just think you've hit on a wonderful model that frankly,
the US is hungry for.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Well, thank you so much. That is Kansas City based
columnist Mary Sanchez, who writes for the Tribune Content Agency,
Blake Farmer, who hosts This Is Nashville and Nashville Public Radio,
and Kate Archer Kent, host of Wisconsin Today on Wisconsin
Public Radio. Thanks to all of you, and happy.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
New Year you too.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Happy New Year, Joan you and thanks.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
You for listening. Happy New Year. I will talk to
you soon.
Host
Jeremy Hobson
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