About Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South
The American South is much more than Spanish moss and plantation politics. In every city, town and rural county across the region, there are people working for a better future, continuing a centuries-long fight for real freedom, equality and opportunity. In every episode of Headlights, we bring you news, interviews and stories of people working for justice and progressive values all across the South. From community organizers to elected officials to artists and writers, business leaders and scientists, we amplify the voices of those making a difference in our Southern states.
SYNOPSIS:
In his first weeks in office in 2025, President Donald Trump visited Western North Carolina and promised to help the mountain communities still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Helene. The help never came. This week we talk to Chris Kromm of Facing South about his investigation of the administration's failures to follow through, leaving state and local authorities mostly on their own to recover and rebuild. Kromm says it's a warning for any state or city vulnerable to climate-fueled natural disasters. Also: With the midterms a month away, we look at some of the most competitive races in Texas and Florida, as well as Southern Senate contests that could decide control of Congress.
Plus: Why the Mullet Festival in Swansboro, N.C., isn't what you might think.
SHOW NOTES:
2026 House Races (https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings) Cook Political Report
"Republican redistricting in Texas and Florida may not turn out as Trump had hoped" ABC News
"This Texas crooner could help Democrats win Congress, one quinceañera at a time" The Washington Post
Swansboro Mullet Festival (https://www.swansborofestivals.com/mullet-festival)
CONTACT:
Jesse Mayshark
jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org
(865) 214-7764
28 Sept 2026
Ep. 63: Memory and Media in Alabama
SYNOPSIS:
Pulitzer-winning reporter John Archibald grew up in Alabama and has spent his career as a journalist immersed in the state's tangled and troubled past and present. In an illuminating conversation, he talks about the persistent problem of "white silence" in the face of the state's injustices — and the responsibility of journalists to face up to them, as we have so often failed to do. Also: The blowback against racist comments by Texas Republican candidate Bo French, and what it illuminates — or fails to — about the rising wave of explicit white and Christian nationalism among modern conservatives. Plus: The Decatur Book Festival returns to Georgia this weekend.
SHOW NOTES:
John Archibald AL.com (https://www.al.com/staff/jaarchib/)
"Dispatches From the Deep South" (https://johnarchibald.substack.com/) John Archibald
"Meet the Far-Right Nepo Baby Vying to Deregulate Texas's Fossil Fuels" The New Republic
"Bo French doubles down on racist post made after UT win against Ohio State" The Texas Tribune
"Top Texas Republicans knew Bo French's history of racist comments. They supported him anyway." Houston Public Media
"The Trump Administration Is Publishing a Stream of Nazi Propaganda" The Atlantic
"How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics" The New Yorker
Decatur Book Festival (https://www.decaturbookfestival.com/)
"What happened to the Decatur Book Festival?" Atlanta Magazine
CONTACT:
Jesse Mayshark
jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org
(865) 214-7764
21 Sept 2026
Ep. 62: Fighting Censorship in Arkansas
SYNOPSIS:
The United States is in the midst of one of the strongest waves of censorship and book-banning in our history. And nowhere is it stronger than across the South. This week, we talk to Fayetteville librarian and First Amendment advocate Molly Quinn about the fight to preserve the right to read in Arkansas. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has politicized the state's library system, and a new law threatens criminal penalties against librarians. We also take a look at the record-breaking heat that has baked our states throughout the summer and into mid-September. Last week's highly unusual heat dome set temperature records from Dallas to Nashville, and Southerners find themselves increasingly hiding indoors during a season once celebrated for its decadent sticky days. Plus: Artville returns to Nashville, making the case that there's more to the Music City's culture than music.
SHOW NOTES:
Molly Quinn, the Memeing Librarian (https://www.instagram.com/the_memeing_librarian/) (Instagram)
Arkansas Right to Read Project (https://www.arrighttoread.org/)
"Warmest Summer on Record for the Contiguous U.S." (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202608) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"The Summer We Love Is Slipping Away" Grist
"Historical U.S. Electricity Rates (1990–2026)" Electric Choice
"Data Center Power Demands Are Contributing to Higher Energy Bills" Environmental and Energy Study Institute
"21 Students Hospitalized, Including 3 in Critical Condition, After Potential Bomb Threat at Tennessee Middle School" People Magazine
"Greenhouse Gas Standards and Guidelines for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Artville (https://artville.org/) (Nashville)
"Finding Artville in Nashville" Whitehot Magazine
CONTACT:
Jesse Mayshark
jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org
(865) 214-7764
Inside a recent episode
Ep. 28: SNAP in the South
Published 3 Nov 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] In other words, there is no Southern state where fewer than about one in 10 people receive food stamps. As of yesterday, 24 states had announced plans to provide food aid if SNAP benefits lapse, some are creating their own direct payment systems to existing SNAP recipients, while others are directing aid and resources to food banks and other nonprofits. Those do not include most of the Southern states. Only two have announced plans to actually cover lapsed benefits. Interestingly, they're at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of participation in the program. Louisiana, which as we said has the highest SNAP rate in the region, stepped forward late last week to promise to cover the shortfall for at least the month of November for most participants. […]
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