The Promise

The Debt: What Tennessee Owes Its HBCU 09.12.2025 52p

In this one-hour special from WPLN and the Tennessee Lookout: What happens when government funding is withheld from a public university that's served generations of Black Tennesseans? And what could be possible if that debt were finally paid? Credits: This story was co-reported and co-produced by Camellia Burris and Emily Siner. Story editing by Meribah Knight and Miriam Kramer. Additional editing by Tony Gonzalez, Holly McCall, Joshua Moore, LaTonya Turner and Nina Cardona. Sound design by Joshua Moore. Fact-checking by Daniel Potter. Digital buildout by Mack Linebaugh and Megan Jones. Engineering by Liv Lombardi. The Debt is a production of Nashville Public Radio and The Tennessee Lookout, with additional support from the Pulitzer Center and the Education Writers’ Association.

Listen: The Country In Our Hearts 05.06.2025 1p

Episode 1 of WPLN’s new series “The Country In Our Hearts” is out now! We travel from a market in South Nashville to the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan to discover what happened on one terrible, pivotal day in 1988.

WPLN News & NPR's Embedded present: "Supermajority" 17.06.2024 3p

Supermajority is a new podcast from NPR’s Embedded, in partnership with WPLN News, exploring what happens when one political party has near-complete control. In this four-episode series, hosted by Meribah Knight, we follow the story of three conservative women challenging their own party. As Americans focus on national politics this election year, NPR's Embedded takes an up-close look at one state – Tennessee – where Republicans hold a powerful majority. We ask: What does that power mean to lawmakers, who are the constituents pushing back, and what might it all reveal about the fragility of our democracy?

Preview: "Making Noise" from WPLN and WNXP 05.02.2024 2p

"Making Noise" is a four-part series by WPLN and WNXP about how the music promotion company Lovenoise has changed the music landscape of Nashville. The best way to listen is to subscribe to the WNXP Podcasts feed.

Bonus: How one police chief struggled to change the system 26.11.2023 6p

Karl Durr arrived in Rutherford County from Eugene, Oregon, in spring of 2016. He had been hired as the new police chief of Murfreesboro, the county’s largest city. As an outsider, there was a chance he would shake some things up. But less than two weeks after he started, while he was still furnishing his office and learning people’s names, officers from his department arrested 11 Black school children for not stepping in to stop a fight. When Durr discovers what, and who, is behind the arrests, he takes swift action. But he also makes a political enemy in the process.

Dedicated Public Servants | The Kids of Rutherford County 23.11.2023 38p

The lawyers settle with the County, which agrees to pay the kids who were wrongfully arrested and illegally jailed; the hard part is getting the kids paid. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

Bonus: Rutherford County is not alone. This youth detention center superintendent in Knoxville illegally locks kids alone in cells. 19.11.2023 9p

The Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center has been punishing kids with seclusion more than any other facility in Tennessee. And as the laws and rules on how to treat kids changed, the facility failed to keep up.

Bonus: Behind the music of The Kids of Rutherford County 17.11.2023 17p

“Minimalist classic country with maximalist tendencies.” That’s one way to describe the musical scoring of The Kids of Rutherford County. In this bonus conversation, Nashville Public Radio’s Meribah Knight and Celia Gregory talk about the multi-instrumental composing work of The Blasting Company.

Would You Like to Sue the Government? | The Kids of Rutherford County 16.11.2023 1ó

Wes Clark reads a telling line in a police report about how Rutherford County’s juvenile justice system really works. He and his law partner Mark Downton realize they have a massive class action on their hands. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

What the Hell Are You People Doing? | The Kids of Rutherford County 09.11.2023 33p

A young lawyer named Wes Clark can’t get the Rutherford County juvenile court to let his clients out of detention—even when the law says they shouldn’t have been held in the first place. He’s frustrated and demoralized, until he makes a friend. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

Bonus: Locked up and treated ‘like I’m a dog' 07.11.2023 6p

Quinterrius Frazier was 15 years old when he was arrested for aggravated robbery and held in the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center. When staff said he was being disruptive — flashing gang signs and rapping, they claimed — he was placed in solitary confinement. It’s been almost seven years now, and Quinterrius still feels the effects of being locked up in a cell for 23 hours a day — he has trouble with small spaces, and he needs constant stimulation. Trauma has a way of lingering like that.

The Egregious Video | The Kids of Rutherford County 26.10.2023 27p

A police officer in Rutherford County, Tennessee, sees a video of little kids fighting, and decides to investigate. This leads to the arrest of 11 kids for watching the fight. The arrests do not go smoothly. Credits: “The Kids of Rutherford County” is a production of Serial, The New York Times, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. It was written and reported by Meribah Knight with additional reporting from Ken Armstrong at ProPublica. The show was produced by Daniel Guillemette with additional production by Michelle Navarro. It was edited by Julie Snyder and Jen Guerra. Additional editing by Anita Badejo, Sarah Blustain, Tony Gonzalez, Ken Armstrong and Alex Kotlowitz. The Supervising Producer is Ndeye Thioubou; research and fact checking by Ben Phelan, with additional fact checking by Naomi Sharp. Music supervision, sound design, and mixing by Phoebe Wang. Our Standards Editor is Susan Wessling. Legal review from Dana Green and Al-Amyn Sumar. Original score by The Blasting Company. Additional production from Jenelle Pifer. Mack Miller is the Executive Assistant for Serial. Art by Pablo Delcan. Sam Dolnick is a Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.

Coming Soon: The Kids of Rutherford County 19.10.2023 2p

A juvenile court in Rutherford County was wrongly arresting and illegally jailing kids for more than a decade 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 particular attention to the adults responsible for it and the two juvenile delinquents-turned-lawyers who try to do something about it. The podcast's host is Meribah Knight, a Peabody Award-winning reporter for Nashville Public Radio who co-reported the original investigation. Listeners can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever podcasts are available. The first two episodes will premiere on Thursday, Oct. 26; parts three and four will air the following two Thursdays.

Coming Soon: Behind The Blue Wall 27.09.2021 3p

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.

The Final Exam 19.10.2020 51p

It’s February 2020, and Warner Elementary’s star is rising. It’s showing so much progress this year that it might be able to go from one of the lowest performing schools in Tennessee to one of the best. Now it’s just time to hunker down and work until the big state test at the end of the year. But we all know what happens next. First, a natural disaster in Nashville. Then, a global pandemic. And at a school with low-income students, these challenges hit especially hard. “I'm tired of fighting for kids. One person can’t consistently carry that burden,” Warner principal Ricki Gibbs said. “I was at a point where I was going to say, ‘You can have Warner. This is too much.’” In this dramatic final episode of Season 2, crisis brings Warner’s challenges to a breaking point. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

The Recruitment Divide 12.10.2020 26p

There was a time when the decision of where to send your child to school was relatively simple: public or private. Now, in Nashville and many other cities, those choices have multiplied exponentially. In large part, it's because of white families — a way to keep them in the public system, but on their own terms. But with so many choices at play, things have gotten messy. Judgement is cast. Pedagogy is ruthlessly ranked. Gossip and chatter steer decision making. And information begins to splinter. In this episode, we follow two mothers whose experiences in choosing a school couldn't be more different. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

A Reckoning 05.10.2020 45p

Last fall, parents from Lockeland Elementary held a community meeting to talk about the elephant in the room: Despite the diversity of the neighborhood, their school was the whitest school in the entire district. Some white parents in the neighborhood simply didn’t see any problem. Others did and wanted the district to find a solution that would bring more children of color to their school. But there was a time, not that long ago, when an idea was floated that could have changed the makeup of Lockeland’s student body — and it did not go well. In this episode, white parents start to realize that their choices, and the choices of their neighbors, created this problem. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight, with additional reporting by Samantha Max. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

Warner's Hope 28.09.2020 36p

Warner Elementary is about to take its moon shot. After landing on the state’s list of lowest-performing schools, it’s aiming to make the list of highest-performing schools. Finally, it has all the right tools: an infusion of federal grant money, an energetic and experienced principal, and new class offerings that set the school apart. But the real turnaround will only work if more students enroll — white students, specifically. And most white families in the neighborhood want nothing to do with Warner. In this episode, Warner begins its uphill turnaround battle. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

What You Can't Unsee 21.09.2020 37p

When Willie Sims’ daughter started kindergarten at a high-performing elementary school in East Nashville, all seemed well at first. His daughter loved her teacher. She was making friends. But then Willie realized: In a neighborhood with tons of Black families, his daughter was the only Black child in the entire grade. Then he started hearing murmurings from other families, white families, concerned about the issue of resegregation. They were mobilizing. They wanted to push the school to acknowledge the fact that families of color were becoming scarcer and scarcer at the school. In this episode, white parents start to see the problem. And once they do, they can’t unsee it. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.

The Unraveling 14.09.2020 29p

After 43 years of courtroom battles, Nashville's landmark school desegregation lawsuit was settled. In the eyes of the law, the city finally made an honest effort to racially integrate its schools. But in truth, the matter was far from settled. For the Kelley family, whose son was the case's named plaintiff, being Black in America meant there were battles and sacrifices at every turn — far beyond education. And for Richard Dinkins, the plaintiffs' lawyer, hope was quickly replaced by dismay as he watched decades of work and progress towards school desegregation begin to unravel. "The settlement was based on mutual promises," Dinkins said. "The city broke the promise." In this episode, our story about Nashville's fight for school desegregation continues. The Promise is written and produced Meribah Knight. Edited by Emily Siner, with additional editing by Anita Bugg, Tony Gonzalez, Samantha Max, Sergio Martinez-Beltran and Damon Mitchell. Fact-checking and research by Sam Zern. Advising for this season by Savala Nolan Trepczynski and Alex Kotlowitz. Mixing by Jakob Lewis of Great Feeling Studios. The music is by Blue Dot Sessions.