Ep. 46: The Spirit of Bipartisanship: Unpacking the Partisanship in Tennessee’s House of Representatives
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Release Date: 03/24/2025
Ep. 55: Tennessee’s Childcare Conundrum
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Childcare in Tennessee isn’t just a family issue—it’s an economic one, a workforce one, and increasingly, a political one. Across the state, parents are struggling to find affordable, reliable care. Providers are stretched thin, and employers are feeling the ripple effects as workers are forced to make impossible choices between their jobs and their families. In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Melanie Shinbaum, Executive Director of Nashville’s Early Education Coalition, to understand what’s driving the shortage, why costs remain so...
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Ep: 54: Is Gino’s Bulso’s Bible Bill Constitutional?
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
There’s a bill of biblical proportions in the Tennessee Legislature. Some are questioning its constitutionality. State House Rep. Gino Bulso filed HB1419. The legislation, which Bulso refers to as the “Protecting Religious Liberty and Expression in Public School Act” would require religion to be taught in Tennessee schools and permits prayer on campuses. In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Sara Mayeaux, a Vanderbilt Law professor to discuss whether or not it's a violation of separation of church and state.
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Ep. 53: Addressing Nashville’s Affordable Housing Crisis: An Interview with Angela Hubbard, Director of Metro Nashville’s Housing Division
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Nashville has a cost of living crisis. Less than 9% of Nashvillians can afford a typical home in Nashville. It’s even worse for minorities. Less than 1% of Black and Brown communities can afford a typical home. The crisis has been exacerbated by our city’s zoning code which limits affordable and middle income housing. There’s a new push by the Planning Department to amend it. The enthusiasm comes after the recent release of Nashville's Unified Housing Strategy. The document outlines code reforms addressing affordability. In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon...
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Ep. 52: A Crypto Conversation: An interview with Rod Roudi, Founder of Bitcoin Park
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Nashville has taken on many titles — Music City, Athens of the South, Smashville and Cashville, but tech bros have coined a new name, “Bitcoin City,” in honor of the thriving crypto community that has formed. The city is home to Bitcoin Magazine, the world’s largest web3 media outlet and Bitcoin Park, a globally renowned grassroots crypto community. Last year, Nashville even hosted Bitcoin Conference, the largest crypto conference in the world. In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with the Founder of Bitcoin Park, Rod...
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Ep. 51: The Face of Nashville Business: An Interview with Stephanie Coleman the CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Nashville is more than a hub for musicians. It’s a hub for business. Over the last decade, corporations like Amazon and Oracle have flocked to the southern city. Pro business politics and tax incentives are part of the allure. But business isn’t the only thing ballooning in our sunbelt city. Housing costs have skyrocketed. More than 50 percent of Nashvillians are cost burdened by housing expenses — meaning they spend more than 30-percent of their monthly income on rent or a mortgage. In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Stephanie Coleman...
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Ep. 50: Meet Charles Robert Bone: “One of the most recognizable figures in Nashville’s legal, political and development circles."
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Every city has a family who shapes it. New York City had the Rockefellers. St. Louis had the Bushes. Boston had the Kennedys. Nashville has the Bone family. They are attorneys by trade but political powerhouses and real estate tycoons in practice. In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Charles Robert Bone. The Nashville Post called the attorney turned developer “one of the most recognizable figures in Nashville’s legal, political and development circles.” His resume defends that descriptor. Before joining Southwest Value Partners as...
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Ep. 49: Nashville Unhoused: Understanding Homelessness in Nashville
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
In March, the mayor’s office announced the closing of one of the city’s oldest and lagest homeless encampments — Old Tent City. The 40-year-old site sits just outside downtown, on Anthes Drive. 120+ people have called this area underneath I-24 home. The city says these individuals will be placed in transitional housing. Metro plans to provide the unhoused with access to the wrap around services so they can succeed and find stability. In this episode of Climbing the Charts, Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with April Calvin, the Director of Nashville’s Office of Homeless...
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Ep. 48: Spirit of Bipartisanship: Nuclear Energy in Tennessee
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Nuclear energy is part of Tennessee’s past and present. Oak Ridge played an important role in the Manhattan Project during WW2, and today, 48% of our state’s energy comes from nuclear energy. In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, hosts Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Republican Rep. Clark Boyd, who chairs the business and utilities subcommittee where nuclear energy is a conversation, and Democratic Rep. Sam McKenzie, a retired Oak Ridge physicist, to learn about the push to build a first of its kind nuclear reactor right here in Tennessee.
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Ep. 47: The Spirit of Bipartisanship: Medicaid Expansion and Tennessee
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
Tennessee is 1 of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid. It is estimated that more than 150,000 Tennesseans would qualify for coverage if the state opted to expand the program. In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, hosts Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Republican Reps. Brock Martin and Pat Marsh and Democratic Rep. Jesse Chism to hear the arguments against and for expansion.
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Ep. 46: The Spirit of Bipartisanship: Unpacking the Partisanship in Tennessee’s House of Representatives
Climbing the Charts with Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller
American politics are polarizing, but in no place are they more polarizing than in the Tennessee State House. Two years ago, the Republican-ruled supermajority expelled two Democratic lawmakers after they led spectators in a chant “Gun control now!” and “No action, no peace!” The controversy was ignited by the Covenant School Shooting and Republican lawmakers’ failure to enact gun reform. Since then, the divide has only deepened. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree it's about more than expulsions. In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, hosts Angie Lawless...
info_outlineAmerican politics are polarizing, but in no place are they more polarizing than in the Tennessee State House.
Two years ago, the Republican-ruled supermajority expelled two Democratic lawmakers after they led spectators in a chant “Gun control now!” and “No action, no peace!” The controversy was ignited by the Covenant School Shooting and Republican lawmakers’ failure to enact gun reform.
Since then, the divide has only deepened. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree it's about more than expulsions.
In this episode of the Spirit of Bipartisanship, hosts Angie Lawless and Brandon Miller sit down with Republican Reps. Kevin Vaughan and Ryan Williams and Democratic Rep. Bo Mitchell to unpack the partisanship in Tennessee’s State House.