HeyJaredHeadlights: Voices from The Progressive South
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.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 12
- Latest publication
- Sep 21, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 6, 2026
Latest episodes
Ep. 62: Fighting Censorship in Arkansas (opens the original)
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SYNOPSIS: The United States is in the midst of one of the strongest waves of censorship and book-banning in our history. And nowhere is it stronger than across the South. This week, we talk to Fayetteville librarian and First Amendment advocate Molly Quinn about the fight to preserve the right to read in Arkansas. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has politicized the state's library system, and a new law threatens criminal penalties against librarians. We also take a look at the record-breaking heat t
Ep. 61: Teaching South Carolina's Real History (opens the original)
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SYNOPSIS: With the teaching of American history — particularly its racial history — under assault from the Trump administration and conservative state governments across the South, the Modjeska Simkins School in South Carolina is a community-based model for carrying that work forward outside the bounds of state-controlled curriculums. This week, we talk to history professor Dr. Robert Greene, the school's lead instructor, about what it does — and how you can learn from it. Also: ICE detentions c
Ep. 60: The Big Tech Backlash (opens the original)
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SYNOPSIS: Something remarkable has happened over the past 18 months across the U.S. and especially across the South: a mounting backlash against the explosion of data centers, surveillance cameras, and so-called artificial intelligence. This week, we talk to Tim Cywinski of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club, who has been leading the fight against data centers in the state that has become their epicenter. Also: The bipartisan push to "get the Flock out," and efforts to put some guardrails a
Ep. 59: The Southern War on Academic Freedom (opens the original)
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SYNOPSIS: Classes are back in session at colleges and universities across the South, and in many conservative-dominated states students and faculty are returning to increasingly tense cultural war zones. This week, we talk to Teresa Klein, president of the Texas chapter of the American Association of University Professors. The group has filed lawsuits against two Texas public university systems over restrictions on what can be taught and how. "People are afraid," Klein says. We also look at Tenn
Ep. 58: Blue Ballots in Red States (opens the original)
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SYNOPSIS: We return from our summer hiatus with a look at some fascinating local and state races in recent weeks in Florida and Tennessee. Democrats in both states flipped multiple seats at local levels across both states this month, and took control of some major school boards. It's been a bad set of results for one group in particular — the Florida-based right-wing activist organization Moms for Liberty. We also take a look at progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon's surprising win in Florida's De
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