Curious Nashville
In Curious Nashville from Nashville Public radio, we answer your questions about the city and region. Listeners decide which question we should investigate and answer next.
Episodes
"Making Noise" is a four-part series by Nashville Public Radio about how the music promotion company Lovenoise has changed the music landscape of Nashville. The best way to listen is in the WNXP Podcasts feed. Subscribe now!
A juvenile court in Rutherford County was illegally jailing and detaining kids for 16 years before a former juvenile delinquent-turned-lawyer came up with a plan to take it on. This four-part narrative podcast builds on a joint investigation by WPLN Nashville Public Radio and ProPublica and is produced by The New York Times and Serial Productions.
“The Kids of Rutherford County” reveals how this system came to be, with pa...
Something new has hit Nashville’s hot real estate market: a beach, right smack in the middle of downtown Nashville.
But, until it’s sold, Nashvillians driving through the intersection of Lafayette, Division and 4th Avenue may wonder: What is that sandy triangle doing there?
One listener directed this question to our Curious Nashville project, so we took a brief “vacation” to SoBro to find the answer.
Photos: Visit this ...
On a small island in the middle of Centennial Park’s Lake Watauga stand five towers of beehives. One of our listeners spotted the hard-to-reach hives and inquired about the bees: Who cares for them? What happens to the honey? Do other parks have hives?
In 2017, a listener wrote to ask: “On Sulphur Creek Road, in Coble, Tennessee, we saw what appeared to be a ‘space capsule’ with a NASA logo on the end. What is it?”
Now, for the first time anywhere, Curious Nashville has the story for the Hickman County space capsule.
Credits: Curious Nashville is a project of Nashville Public Radio. Tony Gonzalez is executive producer, and Paula Ramirez reported this story. Paige Pfleg...
Curious Nashville turns the tables and asks you to help us solve a mystery. It involves Bob Dylan, John Cale, and Edie Sedgwick — and a song that brings them together.
This intriguing tale comes to us from Justin Barney, assistant program director for WNXP, the music discovery station that Nashville Public Radio launched in 2020.
Alongside some Tennessee roads, you might notice knee-high cement markers — usually quite weathered — that have this inscription: “H’Y R.W.” In learning what those are all about, Curious Nashville also revisits a fascinating saga from local history.
To see photos that accompany this podcast, visit www.wpln.org/curious.
Lawmakers are back in Nashville for session, and it’s busy again inside the Tennessee State Capitol. But all year round, the historic building draws interest and provides tours — and it has prompted several questions to Curious Nashville that we’re answering in a batch today.
You can see photos related to this story, and learn more, at this story on WPLN.org.
Earlier this year, Curious Nashville looked into why Arabic isn’t offered on Tennessee’s driving test. (You can read that story here.) Half a year later, a new coalition is pushing the state for changes.
Many Nashvillians are aware that the city is home to “Little Kurdistan,” which is the largest Kurdish community in America. However, it’s easy to know that fact without really understanding these neighbors.
We unpack how Nashville became a destination for Kurdish refugees starting in the late 1970s and hear from local Kurds about their future hopes and ambitions.
To hear more stories of Nashville Kurds, check out the dis...
A sixth-generation Nashvillian says she’s rarely surprised by new information about her city — but did start wondering about what she describes as a “bonsai-looking cypress tree” in her yard. Curious Nashville learns more.
You can view the tree featured in this story at WPLN.org/Curious.
Just about every day, a freight train grinds to a halt and blocks traffic somewhere in Tennessee. At times, an entire day (or longer) passes before it gets rolling again. As federal officials ramp up their tracking of this chronic problem, WPLN’s Cindy Abrams documents the concern and explains the factors that lead to blocked crossings.
Credits: Tony Gonzalez is the executive producer of Curious Nashville and WPLN Directo...
The way we pronounce the names of some places in Tennessee can raise eyebrows for newcomers. But even long-time residents can’t always explain why those names are the way they are. This prompted a question to our Curious Nashville project, and sent WPLN’s Marianna Bacallao [mary-AW-nuh bahk-uh-YOW] in search of the stories behind a few prominent place names.
Credits: Tony Gonzalez is the executive producer of Curious Nash...
Just after English and Spanish, Arabic ranks as the third-most spoken language in Tennessee. Nearly 27,000 people in the state speak it. But there are less common languages offered on the written driving exam in Tennessee. WPLN’s Alexis Marshall explores why, and helps a local Egyptian American man start a conversation with the state’s director of Driver Services.
Read more at the online version of this story here, and yo...
Confusing road lanes and limited traffic signals can make commutes on Bell Road excruciating near Interstate 24 and Exit 59. Why was it designed this way, and will there be any relief for drivers in the Antioch area?
For photos, and to explore more of the reporting by Hallie Graham, visit this story at WPLN.org/Curious.
Curious Nashville is a project of Nashville Public Radio. The executive producer is To...
Nicholas Qualls, a voter in Antioch, wants to know more about voting stickers. He asks:
What determines what location gets what “I Voted” sticker? My location had a pretty generic oval sticker, but I see several people at other locations get a neater Tennessee-shaped red one.
The answer turns out to be fairly simple — but fun facts abound in this short-form episode.
After a brief intermission, Curious Nashville returns to the airwaves to answer listener questions about Middle Tennessee. WPLN Special Projects Editor Tony Gonzalez joins This Is Nashville host Khalil Ekulona to share some of his favorite stories from past Curious Nashville episodes and gives a glimpse into what’s being investigated next.
In this series, we're going to tell you about what's been described as a toxic culture of misconduct and retaliation within the Metro Nashville Police Department. And the disciplinary system that has allowed that culture to thrive.
If you glance down at the street at the right moment in Nashville, you might spot a “stikman.” This little street art character appears in thousands of places around the world, but the artist behind them remains mostly unknown. Thanks to an observant listener, Curious Nashville delves into the phenomenon.
Curious Nashville is a project of Nashville Public Radio. The executive producer is Tony Gonzalez and the edi...
Nashville was right on-trend in 1975 when the revolving Polaris restaurant opened atop what was then the Hyatt Regency hotel. It quickly became the go-to destination for special occasions and marriage proposals. But the restaurant has navigated some tougher turns in the past decade, leaving a local architect wondering: Does it still spin?
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