S7E5: Bill Townsend on Annesdale Mansion, ghosts and Always Memphis
Release Date: 03/18/2026
S7E28: How the Hotel Pontotoc went from bordello to boutique hotel
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
For more than 20 years, Joey Lewis loved the Hotel Pontotoc, the former Downtown Memphis bordello that is now a hotel - and much more. Lewis bought the Hotel Pontotoc in 2022, then embarked on a three and a half year process of renovating the building. Lewis talks about the first year of the hotel’s new life as a boutique hotel, a bar (The Dame), and a music venue.
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S7E27: Pulitzer Prize winner to speak about homelessness at MIFA event
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Brian Goldstone wrote a book about the millions of homeless people in the U.S., “There is No Place For us: Working and Homeless in America,” which won the Pulitzer Price for nonfiction.
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S7E26: WYXR on the bands who'll perform at this year's Raised by Sound Fest
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
With a lineup that includes the band Soccer Mommy and a show at the new Satellite Music Hall, WYXR’s Raised by Sound Fest announced the bands that will be playing at the radio station’s annual festival.
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S7E25: New owner talks about the bright future for Memphis Flyer and Memphis Magazine
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Brady Walkinshaw joins Eric Barnes to talk about the importance of local media, the network of local alt weeklies he's creating, and how print publications can be an antidote to the problems of AI.
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S7E24: Tim Disney on his new book, the global elite and Oliver & Company
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Tim Disney, who’ll be at Novel on August 29, joins Eric Barnes on The Sidebar to talk about his dark satire of a culture of lying, misinformation and the global elite -- plus his life as the grandnephew of Walt Disney.
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S7E23: Pat Mitchell Worley on the legacy of Stax in Memphis
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Pat Mitchell Worley, the president and CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, joined Eric Barnes on this week’s episode of “The Sidebar.”
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S7E22: How art, place and Memphis come together for the Hyde Foundation
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Rachel Knox, senior program officer for arts & culture for the Hyde Family Foundation, talks not just about the arts organizations that the foundation has supported, but the entire landscape of the arts in Memphis.
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S7E21: How the Sterick Building hopes to transform a neighborhood Downtown
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
The principal of Constellation Properties, Stuart Harris, and the executive director of HiFi Memphis, Mersadies Burch, join Eric Barnes to talk about the scope and scale of the Downtown project.
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S7E20: What makes a great music city?
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Elizabeth Cawein, who founded Memphis Export Memphis ten years ago to promote Memphis musicians and help them in their careers, talks about the organization’s birthday celebration concerts on July 25, the realities of making money as a musician, and what Memphis does right - and could do better - in being a music city.
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S7E19: Paris comes to Memphis in "Cafe Society"
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
International exhibition “Café Society” at Dixon Gallery and Gardens centers on Belle Époque Paris and explores how Parisian cafés shaped the city’s culture from 1855-1914. Julie Pierotti, the Martha R. Robinson Curator of the Dixon, was the primary organizer of the exhibition. She joins us today to discuss the exhibition, as well as with the process of coordination it requires.
info_outlineWhen the historic Annesdale Mansion suffered through a fire in January, more than a few people worried whether the house would be restored. But Bill Townsend, who bought the house in 2023 and did a nearly $2 million renovation, has assured everyone that Annesdale will be restored.
Host Eric Barnes is joined by Bill for this week's episode of The Sidebar. They talked not just about Annesdale, but also Townsend’s major commitment to Memphis, especially nonprofits and community organizations here.