The Role of a Lifetime

The town of Harrenheim is mysteriously out of water, yet its reservoir is full. The Heroes’ Guild summons four of its bravest to investigate. These …

What happens when you want to learn more about your cultural heritage and find out that your grandma was a spy? 80-year-old Sara McCall grew up in …

This is a story about a way of life put on trial. Jeffory Young was a beloved farmer and major landowner in scenic Short Mountain, Tennessee. But …

Jakob is traveling for the next two weeks doing some work for the Goethe-Institut about two of Nashville’s Sister Cities—Belfast, Northern Ireland and Magdeburg, Germany.

The story of how Stephen Spinola got to Nashville is not a typical one. The stand-up comedian posted a tweet on the day of Trump’s inauguration that …

A story of Jakob’s is turned into poetry courtesy of the podcast Versify. Fighting wildfires is dangerous work. But to a 20 year old Jakob Lewis the …

An immigrant restaurateur, Elizabeth Martinez, struggles to make it in America, when the person she came to the U.S. with betrays her. After …

Jakob breaks from his usual format to sit down with his editor Mack Linebaugh and answer your questions. You’ll find out why he started the podcast, his favorite episode, and what’s up with those windchimes. Also Jakob …

Joel Rice got the opportunity to ghost-write the memoir of one of his childhood heroes—skateboarding legend Christian Hosoi. But Joel’s experience …

What happens to someone when the thing they love most in the world — skateboarding— is also the source of their greatest wound? When Joel Rice, a naturally bookish kid was younger he wanted nothing more than to be a pro …

Jakob gets a rare chance to hear what his guests think of how they're portrayed as Miso and Dejan, the subjects of “Miso’s Brother”, have a drink and …

Marlo Mack has a young transgender daughter. She met another woman named Debi Jackson who has a very similar parenting story to her own, the only difference is where they live. Marlo lives in a liberal community where …

Jakob issues himself a challenge to redo the first story he ever made, about Anglican priest Father Thomas McKenzie and his dad. The title of Father …

Miso and Dejan are Bosnian refugees who met as children when they were both resettled in the same apartment complex in Nashville, Tenn. After they each turned 30 they made a pilgrimage all the way back to Bosnia to …

Sam Tucker is a passionate baker who doesn’t like to compromise on ingredients, but one of them contains a tiny little protein known as gluten, and …

When Katie Cooley found out her brother needed a kidney transplant, she volunteered without hesitation—despite not being super close to him. Hear …

In the final chapter of the Neighbors mini-series “Matt Got Shot,” we visit Jodi Hays,  the woman whose security camera captured the footage of …

In Part 2 of the Neighbors mini-series “Matt Got Shot,” we explore the reality of the trauma of getting shot: first to Matt’s body, then his identity and finally to his mind.

Matt says, “PTSD doesn’t show up with a …

It was inauguration day 2017 when Nashville singer-songwriter Matt Lovell was ambushed while sitting in his car — and then shot in the chest. A …

Everyone seems inspired by fitness instructor Katherine Tisha Wilson. People describe going to her class as "going to church." Her fierceness comes …

Hello. I’m Jakob Lewis and Neighbors….is back. January 16th.

I’m on a quest to make sense of the human experience through the lives of my neighbors. There’s something magical about getting an intimate pass into …

As Myanmar aka Burma is going through a humanitarian crisis Neighbors brings an update to the story of a man who fled the region to come to America …

It's an odd scene: A man, playing a sousaphone, stands inside a tunnel on a busy Nashville road during rush hour. Is he crazy, divinely inspired or something else entirely? In this episode of Neighbors, we go inside the …

Whit Hill digs up items she finds with a metal detector — Civil War bullets, forgotten toys, old coins. Her treasures, and the songs she writes about …

Robert Person Sr. — Percy, as he’s known — has been shining shoes for 70 years. He started around age 10 and now, at 80, continues to work at Percy’s Shoe Shine Service in Nashville. He’s worn out, stressed out, but …

Prepare to be embedded into a gaggle of neighborhood kids, playing at the peak of summer. Producer Erica Heilman from the always-delightful podcast …

Wayne cherishes his independence. And having had ALS for 33 years, he has to fight for it everyday. But his disease is only one of the seemingly insurmountable challenges he’s faced.

Credits: Edited by Emily Siner, …

Eddie and Mary Helen live in Chattanooga, Tenn. — a city, like many in the country, that still feels the effects of segregation. They started examining their hometown through the lens of race and ended up throwing a …

Dave Hayes is a “social media-rologist”. He has no meteorology degree, but posts dense and poetic weather updates on Facebook where he’s grown quite …

Bethany embalmed bodies for a living, but she couldn’t help but empathize with every corpse she worked on, seeing her job as one final gift—one that …

Hannah has a rare genetic disorder that causes her to stop breathing when she goes to sleep. She wears a ventilator at night. How does having to constantly monitor a basic human function change how Hannah and her family …

In 2011, Rinker Buck crossed the Oregon Trail — yes, that Oregon Trail — in a covered wagon pulled by a team of mules. He traveled with his brother …

Hey Everyone, a new season of Neighbors starts Tuesday April 4th. Tell your friends, tell your family, the party starts Tuesday. 

www.podcasts.wpln.org 

The season 3 finale is a little different. It is a personal story of Jakob’s told by taking a musical journey all around Nashville. Together, you …

In 1969, Leroy and Gloria Griffith got married in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It would have been an ordinary event, except that they are believed to be …

Two men walk over a mile once a week just to give each other a high five. It's a seemingly meaningless act, but one that can take on a powerful …

Like part one, this is a story of a barber who followed an unlikely path to the grooming profession. Stephen Mason's journey took him from 20 years …

Ronnie Clardy grew up near the barbershop he owns in Nashville, but the path that led him to his current life is anything but short and straight. He started dealing drugs at 13 and relapsed into a life of crime and …

On a rainy night in 1949, a young woman arrived by train in Franklin, Tennessee, and walked off into the night. The next morning, her body was found …

We want to do right by the people we care about. But sometimes, honoring someone's wishes can put us at odds with social norms, our own values, or even the law. In this episode of Neighbors, three stories where the …

Most people might think it’s not worth the trouble to intervene in someone else's life. But in this episode of Neighbors, we get to know a woman who sees that obstacle—and will do everything she can to jump over it.

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Michael Kearney is a genius — he holds the Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to graduate from college, at age 10. Now he's 32, and …

We meet Gin Thawng. The 66-year old is a refugee from Burma living in a Nashville apartment with his ailing wife, a baby grandson, his …

What keeps you up at night? For some, it's the shape-shifting song of a mockingbird outside the bedroom window. It turns out, not everyone is amazed by this bird's musical feats. What is a wonder of nature to some, to …

It's an odd scene: A man, playing a sousaphone, stands inside a tunnel on a busy Nashville road during rush hour. Is he crazy, divinely inspired or something else entirely? In this episode of Neighbors, we go inside the …

Sam Tucker is a gifted baker, but the one thing that is his greatest passion just might put his family in danger. With the premiere of Season 3, I am thrilled to announce Neighbors' partnership with Nashville Public …

This is a small bonus story about how the Christmas tree from your curb disappeared.

A story of how one clown turns his sorrow into connection. Some music by Podington Bear Editors: Tally Abecassis and Rob McGinley Meyers Production Help: Bailey Robbins Sponsors: Yazoo Brewing Company www.yazoobrew.com …

Why do two grown men walk a mile and a half every week, rain or shine, to give each other a high five?

Editors: Bailey Robbins, Rob McGinley Meyers, Tally Abecassis

Music: Podington Bear and Dan Burns AKA Dop Shrah

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Today we feature a story from the podcast Anxious Machine called "These Things Is Miracles." What happens when a woman refuses to admit she can't hear, and what happens when she finally does?

Music in this episode: …

"I guess they can't go to no church or whatever and ask to lick their preacher's armpits...so they come around the mission."

Two stories of people going to church for two very different reasons.

Do you have a going to …

It’s an unwritten rule in Nashville. If you see a famous musician who lives in town, you let them be. Your heart might skip a beat when you see …

Our newest addition to our Sans Houses series has the theme of music. Producer Tasha A F Lemley takes us along to glimpse into the lives of three men …

Find out the meaning behind the words highbrow and lowbrow through the construct of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You'll visit a man who is currently homeless and learn how he brews his coffee by the interstate. Enter …

Since 2006, Neighbors producer Tasha A F Lemley has interviewed men and women who are homeless on the streets of Nashville. We've grouped these interviews by theme in a series called Sans Houses. This episode's theme …

It's been almost a year since I reported the story "Bringing Wes Home." It was a story about a family losing their son, Wes Vose, in a car crash two-and-a-half years ago. Instead of leaving it to the funeral home to …

This story is the first in a new series called "Sans Houses." After more than 40 years on the street, David has a place to call home. Neighbors …

Todd Michael Rogers got married young, and it was bad. It was the kind of bad that Todd describes as "Lifetime movie bad." He became unhappy and …

This is a story about a ritual. A Chinese tea ceremony. It's used as a means to connect — with the past, with people, with another land. Joshua Drake Wu invited me into his home to experience the joy of Chinese tea. I …

What happens when you try to help someone out, it goes well, but then they end up right back where they started? Jakob channels his inner Sisyphus and goes to the Parthenon to interview strangers about when helping …

This episode is more of a meditation than a story. When Barclay was 25, he traveled the country in a van. Out under the open sky he bought an …

Bobby Hopkins wakes up one day and decides to change his life. Within two years, he's entering his first 100-mile ultramarathon. I go along as part …

Neighbors is once again live from my backyard. 10 storytellers poured their hearts out. 5 of them are featured in this episode. In this episode: Blake Farmer, reporter at WPLN in Nashville, tells a story of being a …

After a five-week road trip across beautiful America, I'm back. I'm bringing you a story I did from before I was gone. It's called "Bringing Wes …

On March 22, 2014, I held Neighbors Live! in my backyard. It was a very neighborly time. Neighbors favorite Thomas McKenzie told a story that will …

If you live in Nashville you've probably heard a lot of flood stories from the May 2010 flood. This one stood out to me as a true example of neighbors being neighbors. Jeff Jones the owner of the local Dairy King shares …