S7E7: The YMCA's impact on thousands of children in Memphis and the Midsouth
Release Date: 04/01/2026
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.
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S7E18: Robby Grant from WYXR
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Robby, who is the executive director of WYXR, joined this week’s episode of The Sidebar to talk about how the station has evolved in its six years, the range of program and events WYXR supports, and the station’s growth into a full-blown arts and community organization.
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S7E17: John Zeanah wants city planning to be smarter - so he wrote a book
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
John Zeanah has written a book: , which he describes as the book he wished he’d had when he started a project as big as . Zeanah joined Eric Barnes on to talk about the book, his history of planning in Memphis, and more. They touched on around Memphis 3.0 and focused on the differences between the smart and dumb ways cities have planned for their growth.
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S7E16: Songwriters, music and beer flood South Main
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Two music festivals are coming to South Main this weekend, as the Ghost River Brewing Co.’s . Organizers from both festivals - Tori Keskey with Ghost River Brewing and Mike Mielenhausen with the South Main Songwriter Festival - joined this week’s episode to talk about events, the music, and - of course - the beer at Ghost River.
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S7E15: A look at the 2026 Live at the Garden line up
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Olivia Wall, director of marketing and communications for Memphis Botanic Garden, joined this week’s episode to talk about Live at the Garden’s 2026 line up, including the first show featuring the band Alabama on June 13. The full line up and ticket information is .
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S7E14: Books from Birth send books to 30,000 children a year - reaching the other 30,000 is the challenge
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
For the 30,000 children in Shelby County who get a book every month from Books from Birth, the benefits are innumberable. But getting those same books to the 30,000 kids in Shelby County who aren’t in the Books from Birth program is the work of Wynett Jones and Porter-Leath. Jones, program director for Books from Birth, joined this week’s episode of The program, which is statewide, is run by Porter-Leath in Shelby County and sends 30,000 children of all backgrounds one book a month from birth till five years old.
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S7E13: New Memphis Institute on recruiting and retaining talented people in Memphis
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
New Memphis’ president and CEO, Anna Mullins, joined this week’s episode of to talk about the organization’s mission in Memphis, how their role has evolved over time, and that the impact of COVID has changed how and why people choose where to work and live.
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S7E12: Karen Carrier and 'Legacy at the Table'
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Restaurateur Karen Carrier joins Eric Barnes to talk about Legacy at the Table, a three-part dinner series where Carrier translates the history of Memphis College of Art into unique menus that take guests on a journey through different eras of the school. Karen also talks about her time at MCA, how she began her career and her food artistry.
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S7E11: For local Fashion Week, 'Memphis is the host'
The Sidebar with Eric Barnes
Ramona Sonin is creative director of Memphis Art & Fashion Week, which starts May 4 at the Brooks Museum of Art, including a Met Gala watch party, a high tea, aperitifs and, of course, a runway show at the museum. Sonin, who also created and runs the fashion program at the University of Memphis, joined this week’s episode of to talk about the event, its origins just three years ago, and how fashion has evolved since she got into the industry.
info_outlineFor many people, the Y is a gym. For others, it’s a place to swim. But one of the biggest impacts the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South has is on the 14,000 kids they work with across the Mid-South.
Brian McLaughlin, group’s CEO, joined Eric Barnes to talk about that impact kids and families on this week’s episode of “The Sidebar.”