WKNO/The Daily Memphian
101 episodes listed below
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Each week host Eric Barnes discusses major stories in the Memphis area with business executives, community leaders and politicians, as well as local journalists. WKNO's Behind the Headlines Podcast is powered by the Daily Memphian.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Eric Barnes makes Memphis civic power easier to follow through direct interviews, reported context and persistent attention to institutional responsibility.
Eric Barnes turns Memphis public affairs into sustained, practical questioning. Interviews with elected officials, utility executives and criminal-justice leaders are regularly joined by Daily Memphian reporters, giving the conversation both direct access and reporting context.
Eric Barnes moves from xAI's power demand to winter utility help; you hear the local stakes.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Memphis public-health conversation about trust, messaging, and how data gets translated.
Behind the Headlines spends the hour on public health in Memphis and beyond, with Dr. Ashish Joshi, dean of public health at the University of Memphis, giving the field a plain definition: health for all.
A practical, city-level look at a federal surge that is changing Memphis faster than the politics can explain.
Behind the Headlines stays focused on the practical side of Memphis's federal surge of resources: how many personnel are present, which agencies are involved, and what still needs answering.
A grounded public-defense discussion that keeps returning to the jail, bond hearings, and what comes next.
Jerry Green turns this into a grounded public-defense discussion about the jail, bond hearings, and preliminary-hearing timelines. The strongest stretches stay close to concrete questions: what the data shows, what the courts require, and how the system should weigh speed…
A grounded Memphis policy episode that keeps coming back to who has the power to fix the mess.
Behind the Headlines stays with the practical edges of Memphis politics: jail conditions, county finances, school governance, and the point where state power starts pressing on local government.
A Memphis-focused politics conversation that keeps returning to how Washington lands locally.
Steve Cohen's Memphis-focused hour keeps coming back to a simple question: how national politics lands in daily local life. It is strongest when it stays with power, change on the ground, and the procedural roadblocks that can slow both down.
A local politics roundtable that keeps pressing on who can actually act.
A Memphis news roundtable works through the week’s civic pressure points: pre-K funding, immigration enforcement, the task force, and the legal and practical questions that show up once policy leaves the room. What holds it together is the panel’s refusal to stay abstract.
A county-government discussion that stays close to the commission's live questions about public safety, borrowing, and schools.
Behind the Headlines stays with the County Commission as it works through the Federal Task Force, borrowing and spending, schools, and a few other local knots.
A Shelby County government conversation about detention, policing, and who should control what.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris keeps the episode anchored on a local power question: who should run the Youth Justice and Education Center, and what happens if the county tries to move away from the current setup.
Fargo morning-drive radio with Bo and Megan, NDSU Bison football previews, and listener call-in games.
Mayor Paul Young sits down on Behind the Headlines to talk through Memphis's federal law-enforcement surge and the questions around it.
Eric Barnes talks with Laura Testino and Bill Dries from The Daily Memphian about the biggest Memphis stories of 2025 and the issues likely to shape 2026.
Behind the Headlines Podcast 1609: Journalist Roundtable centers on the Shelby County jail, MATA leadership turmoil, Memphis crime statistics, and XAI's Southaven expansion.
Phyllis Aluko, retiring chief public defender for Shelby County, says her office now handles more than 20,000 cases a year and has grown to about 81 to 83 attorneys.
Sandy Whitehead-Thompson says Shelby County Community Services is 'the heart of Shelby County' and oversees almost 300 employees across 10 departments, while Mary Hamlet describes MIFA's housing stability work as rent aid, mortgage aid, shelter referrals, and a family hotline.
Eric Barnes brings three county commissioners and a Daily Memphian reporter to the table.
Roderick Richman, interim superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, tells Behind the Headlines that his first job has been to “steady the ship” after years of turnover in the district.
Behind the Headlines Podcast episode 1638 centers on Memphis population loss, House Bill 780, and how a yearly special census could change sales-tax revenue sent back to the city.
Behind the Headlines Podcast episode 1608 centers on the return of a $30 million federal Head Start contract for roughly 3,000 Shelby County children, with Porter-Leath taking over after four years under Memphis Shelby County Schools.
Behind the Headlines Podcast Episode 1612 centers on the proposed Memphis Safe Task Force, with Sam Hardiman explaining that President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Monday the 15th and asked Governor Bill Lee to activate the Tennessee National Guard.
Behind the Headlines Podcast 1624 centers on a proposed downtown Memphis tech hub on the former Union Walk site south of AutoZone Park, with 125,000 square feet of innovation space, 200,000 square feet of retail, an 800-room hotel, and 700 apartments.
Behind the Headlines talks with Shondell Ryan, President and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission, about downtown Memphis crime, Beale Street, and the $74 million state allocation that will be paired with other funds for a $100 million area project.
Behind the Headlines Podcast episode 1626 centers on how immigration stops in Memphis intersect with MPD, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, sheriff’s deputies, and deputized federal agents.
Behind the Headlines turns to growth and development in Millington.
The roundtable opens on pre-K funding.
Host Eric Barnes interviews Shondell Ryan of the Downtown Memphis Commission and reporter Bill Dries about revitalizing downtown Memphis post-COVID.
This episode discusses XAI's massive data center power demands in Memphis, with MLGW executives explaining how they manage grid reliability, natural gas supply, and low-income assistance programs.
Eric Barnes opens with Shantae Avant, Ramesh Akbari, and Bill Dries to frame Memphis-Shelby County priorities ahead of the state legislative session.
Eric Barnes opens the show on the federal intervention in Memphis.
Steve Mulroy gives a mixed read on the Memphis Safe Task Force.
Jerry Green talks jail pressure.
Public health is the focus.
Eric Barnes opens the interview by introducing State House Representative and candidate for the U.S.
Eric Barnes opens the hour with Senator Brent Taylor, Representative Mark White, and Bill Dries at the table.
The show opens with the possible takeover of Memphis Shelby County Schools.
County Mayor Lee Harris sits down to talk through the fight over who should run Shelby County's youth detention center.
Congressman Steve Cohen joins Behind the Headlines for a Memphis-focused political conversation.
Host Eric Barnes interviews Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Tarek Sugarman, Division of Corrections Director Anthony Alexander, and reporter Bill Dries to discuss changes in juvenile detention, including the role of corrections and the new Uke Justice and Education Center.
Judge Sherry Lipman’s decision to order “a whole new trial” in the Tyree Nichols federal case drives the first part of Behind the Headlines, after unsealed filings raised questions about Judge Mark Norris’s conduct and comments about MPD.
Eric Barnes and Bill Dries talk with John Zena, the City of Memphis’s new Chief of Development and Infrastructure, about a role created this past summer under the Paul Young administration.
Memphis crime numbers showed another sharp drop, with Chief Davis reporting 48% fewer Part 1 crimes and motor vehicle thefts down 68% year-to-date.
Host Eric Barnes discusses upcoming local elections with the heads of the Shelby County Republican and Democratic parties.
Host Eric Barnes discusses affordable housing challenges in Memphis with local experts and officials.
Host Eric Barnes discusses the pressure on the Memphis Shelby County School Board with board members and a journalist, covering a potential state takeover, forensic audit, term limits, and a former superintendent's lawsuit.
Host Eric Barnes discusses redevelopment projects in Memphis' medical district with a pastor, a university administrator, and a real estate developer.
Host Eric Barnes discusses proposed state legislation affecting Memphis-Shelby County schools with state representatives and a reporter.
A roundtable of journalists discusses major Memphis news stories including the Claiborne Temple fire investigation.
Host Eric Barnes interviews superintendents from Germantown and Lakeland school districts about their recent budgets and teacher raises.
Host Eric Barnes interviews CEOs of youth-serving organizations about their work and challenges facing Memphis youth post-COVID.
A roundtable of journalists discusses major Memphis stories including Elon Musk's AI supercomputer investment and local budgets.
Host Eric Barnes interviews Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy about recent criminal justice changes from the Tennessee legislative session, focusing on bail reform.