The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast

The Democrat challenging Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn on the Nov. 5 ballot talks about the statewide campaign and the historic change in the Democratic presidential ticket on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast.

Tami Sawyer and Lisa Arnold are the candidates in the only countywide race to be decided by Shelby County voters this election year. Arnold is a retired  supervisor in the clerk's office who began working there part-time as a teenager.

Tami Sawyer and Lisa Arnold are the candidates in the only countywide race to be decided by Shelby County voters this election year. Sawyer is best known as a former county commissioner.

Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery talks in the “On The Record” podcast about more specific plans for a hip hop museum in Memphis.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris breaks down how county commissioners settled amid budget season, including keeping vacant positions on the books and local opposition to the Regional One Health rebuild. 

Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips talks on the “On The Record” podcast about the upcoming August elections and voter turnout. Meanwhile, the latest election commission count shows 593,121 voters countywide as of May - an increase of approximately 10,000 voters from two years ago.

Shelby County Budget Director Michael Thompson talks about the 2024 budget season in county government on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast as well as the savings found in vacant county positions.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talked on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast about his $1.6 billion county budget proposal and the change to more local funding for a rebuilding of the Regional One Health campus.

One of the artists working on new stained glass images for Historic Clayborn Temple talks on the “On The Record” podcast about bringing images of the 1968 sanitation workers strike to the frames of the landmark.

County Commissioner Henri Brooks found out two years ago she was adopted through the Tennessee Children's Home Society - a notorious black market adoption operation. Her lawsuit against the state could open a “floodgate.” Brooks talked about the sudden revelation in The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast series.

Early voting in 2024's first election in Shelby County begins Wednesday, Feb. 14. The Tennessee presidential primaries top the ballot, but Memphis voters haven't seen much of the presidential campaigns this year.

Tennessee Republican Party chairman Scott Golden talks in an “On The Record” podcast about the presidential primaries and general election races.

The On The Record podcast talks to Daniel Deriso and Grif Gray, who helped guide Mayor-elect Paul Young's successful campaign. 

Daily Memphian political reporters Sam Hardiman and Bill Dries go over some notes on the 2023 city elections and what the unofficial results mean in an “On The Record” podcast.

Marcus Pohlmann is a former political science professor at Rhodes College whose 2008 book “Opportunity Lost: Race and Poverty in Memphis City Schools” is required reading for teachers and school administrators in Memphis-Shelby County Schools. It is a case study of busing in Memphis City Schools.

Roderick Richmond started at Shannon Elementary School as his neighborhood school at a time when busing as well as private schools were changing the definition of neighborhood schools in public and private school systems. For the first grade, he was bused to Wells Station Elementary School, which racially was a school in transition. His time as a student came as longer-term patterns in the reaction to busing were taking root.

Roshun Austin is a founder of The Works Inc., a community development corporation. She is also a planner who works as a developer in some of the communities affected the most by the impact of busing. She grew up in the Hyde Park section of North Memphis. Austin is also on the board of Memphis Fourth Estate, the nonprofit behind The Daily Memphian.

The founder of Sound Diplomacy, a music industry consulting firm, talks about the groups coming work in Memphis on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast.

Chapter Three: 'Plan Z' busing begins.

Chapter Three: 'Plan Z' busing begins.

Steve Steffens arrived in Memphis with his family from rural Illinois and Arkansas in 1972, a semester before Plan A began. His neighborhood school was Oakshire Junior High in Whitehaven as an eighth grader. Oakshire and greater Whitehaven beyond the school was predominantly white at the time. Steffens and his family were part of that white majority in a city whose housing patterns were just as segregated as its schools.

Drawing Plans A and Z.

The Daily Memphian's Samuel Hardiman interviews Floyd Bonner Jr. 

The Daily Memphian's Samuel Hardiman interviews Willie Herenton.

The Daily Memphian's Samuel Hardiman interviews Paul Young.

We are joined by Doctor Earl Fisher, co-founder of the Memphis People's Convention.

The Daily Memphian's Sam Hardiman sits down with Cole Perry of Perry Strategies, which worked on Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland's two campaigns. Perry shares his insight on the crowded 2023 race and peels back the layers on what a successful campaign looks like.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris talks about the defeat of his wheel tax proposal on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast and says he is still pushing for county financing of the rebuilding of the Regional One Health campus.

He would be a heavy underdog in the general election were he to win the Democratic nomination. 

County Commission Budget Committee Chairman Michael Whaley talks about the proposed doubling of the county's capital budget on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast.

Nine years ago this month all trolleys stopped running following a fire on the Madison line. Nine years later, the Riverfront loop and Madison Avenue line are still down. MATA's chief development officer talks about the delay on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said this week the results of a federal investigation will show whether Tyre Nichols' death was part of broader cultural issues in the Memphis Police Department. 

As a final county commission vote nears on a timeline for a green fleet on county government vehicles, there are a lot of questions about the aggressive timeline the county administration is setting toward the goal over the next decade.

CLERB chairman James Kirkwood talks in The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast about the review board's possible role in investigating allegations of police misconduct, pending legislation in Nashville.

Three contenders reported raising $300,000 or better in the first report of the mayor's race. J.W. Gibson talked on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast about his mix of contributions with self financing and why he wants to depart from outgoing Mayor Jim Strickland's “brilliant at the basics” theme.

City Council weighs Philadelphia police reform.

Who gets county tax delinquent properties?

Strickland said, on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast that an outside review of MPD's special units will likely determine if police culture needs to change or if more police training is the answer. 

Next week, a specially equipped vehicle will begin a drive around of the city collecting data for later analysis on potholes and the condition of streets. The data will be analyzed to find and repair stretches of road for immediate action. The city is also experimenting with artificial intelligence that could make calling in reports of potholes a thing of the past.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen talks about the new Republican majority in the U.S. House and the prospects for bipartisanship.

The cofounder of the People's Convention says a 2023 edition of the gathering could serve to whittle down the field in this year's race for Memphis Mayor.

The certified vote totals from the November election show an increase in the number of provisional ballots cast and counted compared to the August elections. The votes added didn't change any of the outcomes on the November ballot, but they did boost the turnout to 34.4%.

The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast takes closer look at the unofficial results in the Tuesday Nov. 8 election and finds a lackluster show of support for the Democratic nominee for Governor in the bluest county in the state as well as interesting numbers from the four amendments to the state constitution.

Shelby County elections administrator Linda Phillips and Ian Randolph of the Shelby County Voter Alliance talked about the low turnout on The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast. 

The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast takes a closer look at the numbers in the certified vote totals from August, previews the nearly complete November ballot and features a few political notes.

The unofficial voter turnout in  Shelby County for the August 2022 big ballot election was the lowest for the election cycle since partisan county primaries began. None of the changes in totals changed outcomes in races. The Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast looks at the totals from several key races and compares the vote totals of candidates across elections for the same office.

Beyond the vote totals, politicos will be considering what a Smiley victory in the Democratic primary for Governor could mean for the statewide Democratic strategy and whether the Republican strategy of trying to keep the GOP's May county primaries unopposed worked or backfired in August.

Here is The Daily Memphian's guide to who is who in the 57 contested and retention judicial races on the August ballot included endorsements and polling by the city's two bar associations.

The “big ballot” that comes once every eight years in Shelby County politics has arrived with the Friday, July 15, start of the early voting period. Here are the stakes in the 163 races with 344 candidates and what has changed for voters.

Chief operating officer Doug McGowen talks about the city's study of a long range plan for Mud Island River Park 40 years after it opened.

Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips and Ian Randolph of the Shelby County Voter Alliance join the Daily Memphian's “On The Record” podcast to talk about the August and November elections and the differences voters will see from one to the other.