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 ...
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The Progressive South And Barberian Productions Podcasts
SYNOPSIS: Florida was once the swing state that presidential elections hinged on. But over the last few decades, it has turned redder and redder. This week we’re joined by writer, educator and Progressive South board member Alfred Soto to talk about what has happened to his home state — and what (if anything) he sees that gives him hope. Also: Scho…
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SYNOPSIS: The Confederacy ended in 1865, but it never really died. The iconography of the slavers’ secessionist rebellion has returned again and again through the succeeding 160 years, particularly in times of backlash against progress toward racial equality. This week we look at recent moves by the Trump administration, along with a Texas school b…
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SYNOPSIS: Miami is a Southern city by geography, but by history, demographics and culture it’s really not like anywhere else in the South — or, arguably, the world. In this week’s conversation, Cuban-American writer and environmental activist Andrew Otazo helps us understand the politics and personality of the South Florida tourist mecca. He’s the …
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Ep. 15: Texas and the Gerrymandered South
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SYNOPSIS: All eyes were on Texas last week as Republican legislators moved toward drawing new congressional districts, effectively trying to steal five seats from Democratic incumbents. It’s part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to maintain control of the House of Representatives after the 2026 elections. But it’s far from the only blatantly pa…
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SYNOPSIS: Florida has an estimated 5 million immigrants — more than 20 percent of its total population. It is also ground zero of the Trump administration’s mass deportation program. With the eager assistance of Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislators, it has seen some of the country’s most aggressive enforcement round-ups and most enthusiastic coo…
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SYNOPSIS: Angie Hayden became an accidental activist when she stood up against censorship in her local library in Prattville, Alabama. Now she’s a founder of a statewide coalition called Read Freely Alabama, which is fighting efforts to ban books and restrict libraries across the state. We talked to her from the frontlines of a contentious fight ov…
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Synopsis: What does U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett do in the bathroom? The privy proclivities of our East Tennessee congressman are among the issues on the minds of Jesse and the gang from “Cast Iron Resistance” in a special podcast crossover. Jesse joined the guys on their own show a few weeks ago, and here we present some relevant excerpts from the freew…
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CORRECTION: We inadvertently refer to ACLU Louisiana Executive Director Alanah Odoms as Alanah Combs. We apologize for the error! SYNOPSIS: Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in America. It is also home to the country’s second-largest population of immigration detainees. Last week, a group of workers from the Service Employees Internation…
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Synopsis: As we close out Pride month, we thought it was a good time to check in with two leading voices for LGBTQ rights in the South: Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project and Jeff Graham of Georgia Equality. We spoke just a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of U.S. v. Skrmetti, and Sanders and Graham had a lot …
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Synopsis: Whose stories count in the South — and who gets to tell them? This week, we’re talking to Gwen Frisbie-Fulton, a social worker and author in North Carolina who writes about people in the rural and small-town South. She has a lot of insights about the importance of storytelling in Southern culture, and the absence of many voices in officia…
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SYNOPSIS: Well before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought his vaccine skepticism to the federal government, many Southern states were already taking steps to weaken immunization mandates. This week, we take a look at recent moves in Florida, Louisiana and Texas to make it easier for parents to opt their children out of vaccines. Florida already leads the…
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Bonus Episode: More with Adeem the Artist
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SYNOPSIS: Talking Southern History, Gender Identity and Politics With Adeem the Artist. As promised in our regular episode this week, here is an extended edit of our interview with Adeem the Artist. The critically acclaimed, politically engaged, non-binary singer-songwriter talks about their North Carolina childhood, their growing awareness of thei…
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SYNOPSIS: Bruce Springsteen once sang that “a king ain’t satisfied until he rules everything,” and Republican officials in one-party-rule states across the South are doing their best to prove the point. This week, we look at three examples of conservative attacks on the remaining pockets of liberalism in their states: Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackbur…
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SYNOPSIS: While much of the U.S. has given a green light to cannabis, the South remains mostly hostile to legalization. This week we look at recent moves in three states to restrict hemp-based THC products — and why Virginia still doesn’t have a commercial weed market, even though marijuana is legal. In our conversation, we talk with Ilham Askia, C…
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Ep. 5: A "Pragmatic Progressive' in North Carolina
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Conservative legislators in the South have been attacking diversity programs for years, long before President Trump made a national priority of assailing “DEI.” This week, we look at some of this year’s anti-DEI bills in Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas — and why their allegations of anti-white discrimination are mostly bunk. This week’s con…
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When Reconstruction ended in the South in 1876, white political leaders moved swiftly to establish what they called a “redemption” — the re-establishment of white supremacist rule. Now, 60 years after the Civil Rights Act, white conservative political leaders are again moving to roll back advances toward racial and sexual equality. Are we in a seco…
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Immigration sweeps are picking up steam in states across the South, often with the help of state and local agencies. In this week’s roundup, we look at an unprecedented enforcement action in Florida called Operation Tidal Wave, which led to the arrest of more than 1,000 immigrants, along with operations in Tennessee and along the Interstate 10 corr…
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In our second episode, Jesse offers the first Headlights weekly news round-up: a fight over library books in Arkansas, the rocky tenure of Louisiana’s top environmental official, and an attempt to block undocumented children from Tennessee public schools. He then heads out on the road to Richmond, Va., where he talks to community organizer Quinton …
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Welcome to Headlights! In our first episode, Jesse Mayshark — the founder and publisher of The Progressive South — introduces the podcast and project. What do we mean by “progressive”? What do we mean by “South”? And who are we, anyway? Then he takes to the streets of Knoxville, Tennessee, to hear from some of the thousands who came out earlier thi…
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