Nashville mourns Minneapolis woman fatally shot by ICE wpln.org/post/nashvil...

Scenes from outside Nashville’s ICE Field Office during this morning’s vigil for Renee Nicole Good. Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. A second vigil is planned for 4 pm in downtown Nashville.

Such an honor! My podcast for @wpln.bsky.social, “The Country in Our Hearts,” has been awarded “Best Audio Storytelling.” Thank you to @nashvillescene.com and, as always, to all the people who shared their time and stories with me ❤️ www.nashvillescene.com/bon/2025/med...

WPLN's @rosegilbert.bsky.social traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan to learn about the homeland of many Nashville Kurds. Halabja loomed large as the site of a 1988 chemical attack. Rose interviewed Mayor Nuxsha Nasih, the first woman appointed mayor there: wpln.org/post/my-meet...

A small town in rural Tennessee will soon be the site of a privately-run ICE detention center. Local officials in Mason, Tennessee narrowly approved the contract at a contentious townhall. wpln.org/post/a-regio...

When a wave of Kurdish refugees came to Nashville, they quickly got to work. They opened businesses and raised their kids. As those kids grew up, they had to figure out how to navigate the world of a first-generation Kurdish-American teenager. And in that world, a new threat was forming —

The story of how Nashville became home to the largest Kurdish diaspora in America is an epic one. But the story of the Kurdish people, no matter where they are, is a story about a country that only exists in the hearts of its people. And the lengths they’ll go to make it real.

The first episode of Nashville Public Radio’s new podcast, “The Country In Our Hearts,” is on the air today @thisisnashville.bsky.social 📻 Stick around after the episode for a conversation with the reporter of the podcast (yours truly). Today at 12!

The final episode of WPLN’s 4-part series “The Country In Our Hearts” is out now! WPLN’s @rosegilbert.bsky.social reports that a new wave of Kurds are coming to America. But today, America is a nation in turmoil.

The village of Chalke is a beautiful place with a beautiful story: Freedom fighters, a hand-carved cradle, fresh walnuts and pomegranates. Family meals and harrowing escapes through the mountains. Thank you to everyone who hosted me!

I had the honor of listening to many versions of Episode 1 before today's launch, and STILL, this listen had me holding back tears in public. So tremendously proud of @wpln.bsky.social ‘s @rosegilbert.bsky.social, whose talent and heart know no bounds ♥️

We had a little staff listening party for the first episode of The Country In Our Hearts today. Truly moving. Excited to hear the next episodes and so impressed by @rosegilbert.bsky.social! wpln.org/from-erbil-t...

Episode 1 of WPLN’s new series “The Country In Our Hearts” is out now! We travel from a market in South Nashville to the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan to discover what happened on one terrible, pivotal day in 1988. wpln.org/from-erbil-t...

Subscribe now to The Country In Our Hearts, a new four-part series from WPLN’s @rosegilbert.bsky.social. Follow one family’s epic journey from Kurdistan to Nashville. wpln.org/from-erbil-t... New episodes Thursdays in June.

The Country In Our Hearts is a new, four-part @wpln.bsky.social series — launching on June 5. I follow one family’s epic journey from Kurdistan to Nashville. Across centuries, across continents, across generations, this is a story about a people’s fight to exist. (1/3)

Fewer people identify as Southern Baptists, and fewer churches are affiliated with the Nashville-based denomination, according to an annual report. But the Southern Baptist Convention has made gains in baptisms and weekly church attendance. wpln.org/post/souther...

Last fall I travelled from TN to Iraqi Kurdistan. I kept a reporter’s journal of my trip: the centuries-old bazaars, the soaring mountains, the echoes of war, and the wonderful, generous people I met along the way. This is where it begins. wpln.org/post/welcome...

Last week, WPLN told you about the Muslim-owned coffeeshops leading Nashville’s sober nightlife scene. One week later, WPLN's @racheliacovone.bsky.social followed back up with Deir Cafe’s Palestinian owner, after the news that Israel had broken its ceasefire in Gaza.

Last Ramadan, Muslim Nashvillians had one late-night cafe option, The Horn. Now, one year later, WPLN's @racheliacovone.bsky.social reports the city has two more Muslim-owned shops that want to make this sober nightlife culture a year-round thing.

Tennessee’s drag ban will remain in effect, as the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to take up a legal challenge to the law. But LGBTQ advocates may have another avenue to oppose the ban in East Tennessee. wpln.org/post/tenness...

Tennessee Republicans are challenging a landmark SCOTUS case that established the right to public education for students without legal status — part of the same playbook that led to the reversal of Roe v. Wade. wpln.org/post/how-tn-...

Rêdûr is a pseudonym, one he picked out because it means “far from home” in Kurdish. He faced prison in Turkey for a series of tweets, so he fled to Nashville. Now, his asylum case is in limbo. We did not use his real name because he fears he could be deported.

The House has passed the governor's voucher program in a 54-44 vote.

As the Tennessee House convenes to consider passing school voucher & immigration enforcement legislation, protestors are chanting “Don’t sell out public schools!” outside the chamber.

“Everything has been canceled across the country, every flight,” said Max Rykov with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE), a local refugee resettlement nonprofit. “We’re in this state of limbo.”

The Kurdish forces in Syria have been the United States’ main partner in the fight against ISIS. However, the United States and Turkey are also allies — which makes things complicated.

“Even if the devil himself ruled Syria, it’s going to be better than what we had,” said Saleh Sbenaty, who is a professor at MTSU.

During his first term in office, Donald Trump had a complicated track record when it came to Kurdistan. Following Trump’s reelection, WPLN’s @rosegilbert.bsky.social sat down with a politically engaged member of Nashville’s Kurdish community.

Hey y’all! I have an exciting announcement ✨

From band tees to cowboy boots to dashikis, clothing is a way to communicate who you are and where you come from. WPLN’s @rosegilbert.bsky.social says that’s true for Nashville’s Kurdish community, in which clothing is a tangible way of preserving their traditions.

A U.S. Army intelligence analyst at Ft. Campbell has been arrested and indicted for federal conspiracy charges. WPLN's @rosegilbert.bsky.social reports the charges against Korbein Schultz include bribery and selling national defense information to China.

Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti has joined a coalition of 24 states in an effort to overturn a recent U.S. Supreme Court order. WPLN's @rosegilbert.bsky.social reports the order allows Border Patrol to cut through razor wire installed along Texas' border with Mexico.

First-time political candidates are often spurred into action by personal experiences. WPLN's @rosegilbert.bsky.social reports three new Democratic candidates on the ballot this fall in Tennessee are making the personal political through advocacy and action.

Shaundelle Brooks, whose son was killed in the Waffle House shooting, is running for TN House District 60. "I've been going to the Capitol, begging and pleading and trying to bring change," she said, "So I decided that I have to be the change that I need to see." More TK @wpln.bsky.social !

“It makes sense as a strategy, as it were. But it’s being done on the backs of human beings. It’s being done with violence and with wanton disregard for the Constitution.” — Robert Barsky, who is an expert on migration and refugee law at Vanderbilt.

Gov. Bill Lee is headed to Texas as that state’s governor defies a Supreme Court decision to remove razor wire at the border. WPLN's @rosegilbert.bsky.social reports Lee, who heads the Republican Governors Association, will join 14 other Republican governors there.

A group of anti-abortion protestors who blockaded a Mt. Juliet reproductive care clinic were found guilty of several felonies by a federal jury on Tuesday. WPLN's @rosegilbert.bsky.social reports each could face up to 10.5 years in prison and $260,000 in fines.