The first episode of In Divided Times is out now on WBIR+, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
My first guest is Robin Wilhoit, who has spent more than three decades at WBIR Channel 10. Her career spans nearly the entire arc of how Americans get their news, from the era when the evening broadcast was a nightly habit to today’s fragmented mix of streaming, social media, and… podcasts.
We talked about what that shift has meant for local news, why local outlets have held on to more public trust than national ones, and why fewer elected officials are willing to sit down and answer questions. Our conversation covers a lot of ground, from Dolly Parton to the Freedom Engine, the fire truck East Tennesseans bought for New York City after 9/11 with nearly $1 million raised largely through small gifts, some straight from kids’ piggy banks.
Robin has also joined the podcast world too. Her show, Behind the Headline, revisits some of East Tennessee’s biggest stories with the journalists who covered them, from the Redhead murders to the Blizzard of 1993. It’s well worth a listen.
If you missed the announcement, you can read more about In Divided Times here. And if you enjoy the episode, subscribing on your preferred platform, sharing it with a friend, or leaving a review goes a long way toward helping a new show find its audience.
Listen on your favorite platform:
Support My Work
This publication is free and publicly accessible to everyone.
That doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Behind each article are real costs—from data subscriptions and software to research tools and analysis—and, to date, I’ve covered those myself.
If you find this work valuable, please consider making a donation of any amount. Every donation goes exclusively toward supporting and expanding this publication, not to benefit me personally. Your support helps keep this work free and accessible to all.