Podcasting is an exciting new way for you to enjoy the local features and interviews that you hear on WUOT-FM.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently began holding public hearings around the country, which focus on whether to classify coal ash as a toxic substance. The move would make coal ash subject to strict regulation. None of these hearings are being held in Tennessee, which many find surprising after the 2008 coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant. In response, several organizations are hosting a public forum at Roane State Community College September 2nd. Chrissy Keuper speaks with Cathie Bird, chair of the Stripmine Issues Committee for Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment*, one of the organizations hosting the forum... 
*formerly Save Our Cumberland Mountains
If the controversies surrounding mosques in New York City and Murfreesboro have taught us anything, it's this--- as a nation, we still don't have a grip on what Islam is-- and what it's not. And maybe that's an unrealistic expectation. After all, most religious traditions are diverse, complex and for the non-believers, more than a bit confusing.
But we're going to take a shot here today at demystifying Islam a little bit. Let's call it Islam 101. What's the history of Islam? What are the fundamental beliefs? And what about the connection between radical Islam and terrorism? On this episode of Dialogue, host Matt Shafer Powell speaks with Nadeem Saddiqi, a Shura Board Member for the Muslim Community of Knoxville...
Tennessee is one of only two states* in the country that have a statewide system of elected public defenders. The Knox County Public Defender's office celebrated its 20th anniversary September 1st, 2010... and Mark Stephens has been Knox County's Public Defender since the office's inception. In the last decade, the Defender's Office has evolved into what's now called the Community Law Office. Chrissy Keuper spoke with Stephens about the CLO's holistic approach to defending the accused...
*the other is Florida.
When you think of the process of brewing beer, you might conjure images of elephant-sized copper kettles and elaborate networks of pipes. But here in Knoxville, a group of brewers is making beer on a much smaller scale-- in their kitchens, garages, and driveways. As part of WUOT's Next Wave Radio Project, Annie Byrnes takes a look at the passion behind the process of making a good brew…
The University of Tennessee Center for Business and Economic Research predicts there will more than 31,000 teacher openings in Tennessee by the year 2013. The challenge for area school systems will be finding quality teachers to fill those vacancies. Teacher education programs are doing their best to improve their reputation and attract the best and brightest students to the field. But they'll have to fight the perception that, "those that can, do and those that can't, teach." Leslie Snow reports...
This week marks the beginning of classes in many school districts throughout East Tennessee. And it's a pivotal time. With a half billion dollars in Race-to-the-Top funds, Tennessee's system of education will definitely change in the coming years. In fact, it's already changing. In Part 2 of WUOT's three-part series on Teacher Effectiveness, Chrissy Keuper looks at the way Tennessee has evaluated teachers in the past--- and what the state already has planned for the future...
This week marks the beginning of classes in many school districts throughout East Tennessee. And it's a pivotal time. With a half billion dollars in Race-to-the-Top funds, Tennessee's system of education will definitely change in the coming years. In fact, it's already changing. Over the next three days, WUOT will take a look at one of the most controversial issues being discussed--teacher effectiveness. In part one of our series, Matt Shafer Powell examines how a seemingly simple subject can actually be very complicated...
As a young man growing up in the 1970's, Gerry Boylan hitchhiked all around the U.S. and Canada. He says he probably covered more than 100,000 miles. Thirty-five years later, he's written a novel called "Getting There", based on his experiences. And to promote it, he's hitchhiking his way down I-75. As he passed through Knoxville, he sat down with WUOT's Matt Shafer Powell to discuss his life on the road--- then and now...
The Cumberland Mountains to the north of Knoxville are home to most of the coal mines in East Tennessee... and towns like Briceville, Fraterville, and Lake City grew up around the mining industry. Lake City was once called Coal Creek. In the 1890s, Coal Creek and the surrounding area experienced a major labor uprising involving coal miners, leased convict labor, the Tennessee Legislature and Governor's office and the state militia. On August's Dialogue, Chrissy Keuper speaks with Barry Thacker and Carol Moore of the Coal Creek Watershed Foundation about that period of East Tennessee history...
