Gloria talks with musician and activist Allison Russell about the through-line connecting her art and her advocacy — from co-founding the Love Rising benefit concert in response to Tennessee's anti-drag legislation, to her gun violence advocacy following the Covenant School shooting, to the personal history that shapes her commitment to showing up for marginalized communities. They also dig into empathy, generational change, farmland loss and AI data center expansion in Black communities, and Allison's new record, "In the Hour of Chaos," out now.

Gloria talks with fellow State Rep. Gabby Salinas about her personal journey, arriving in Memphis as a seven-year-old cancer patient at St. Jude, her family gaining citizenship with help from then-Senator Fred Thompson, and how that history shapes her work in the legislature today. They cover the 2025 special session fight over Memphis redistricting, Gabby's bipartisan-sponsored cold case bill, the defeat of a bill Gabby says would have challenged Plyler v. Doe nationally, and close with a get-out-the-vote push ahead of the August 6th primary, including details on how to volunteer in Memphis this week.

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Alex Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Gloria sits down with two of Haley's descendants, Chris Haley and Bill Haley Jr., to talk about the book and miniseries' cultural impact, the recent (and reversed) banning of Roots from Knox County Schools libraries, and the rise of book bans, "divisive concepts" laws, and historical whitewashing across the country. The conversation moves from personal family history into a broader discussion of racism, dehumanization, and the common humanity Haley's work was built to illuminate — closing with details on the upcoming Roots 50th anniversary commemorative tour.

Gloria Johnson talks with Civil Miller-Watkins, a middle school math teacher and former Fayette County school board vice-chair who is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Bill Hagerty. The two ran against each other in the 2024 Senate Democratic primary and now sit down as allies. They cover Civil's roots in rural West Tennessee, the origin of her name (tied to her mother's civil rights activism), maternal health care and hospital closures in rural Tennessee, reproductive rights, voucher programs and public school funding, redistricting, and what it will take to turn out Democratic voters in a state that hasn't elected one to the Senate since 1990.

Gloria Johnson talks with Justin Kanew, founder of the progressive news outlet The Tennessee Holler, about the state of Tennessee media and politics. Kanew traces his path from a 2016 congressional run against Marsha Blackburn's seat to founding the Holler, and the two dig into press access at the Capitol, the 2023 expulsion of the "Tennessee Three," the erosion of floor debate under recent House speakers, corruption in the legislature (with a focus on school vouchers and a troubling judicial confirmation story), and what gives them hope, including youth political engagement and the rise of figures like Zohran Mamdani.