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A former vice president coming to Columbus is the kind of headline that makes you stop scrolling, even if you swear you’re tired of politics. We talk through why a Kamala Harris stop isn’t just spectacle, what it might telegraph about the Mississippi U.S. Senate race, and how campaigns try to shake loose the voters who usually stay home because they assume the outcome is already written.

Then we turn to something that hits families directly: Mississippi school accountability scores. We then step into the hottest local fight you can start with one phrase: data centers. What rules should our community insist on before saying yes?

Finally, MUW ceramics professor Ian Childers joins us to talk about finding clay after a wilder youth, why craft still matters, and how modern tools like 3D printing can support handmade work without replacing it.

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A neglected historic house isn’t just a private problem, especially in a place like Columbus where the town’s identity is tied to its older homes, downtown buildings, and landmark properties. We talk through the newly passed historic preservation ordinance changes and what it means when the city adds a fine structure that can get expensive fast. The big question isn’t only “Should we protect historic assets?” It’s “How do we protect them fairly, without creating a system that feels arbitrary or punishes the wrong people?”

From there, we shift gears to public safety and city operations. Columbus Police Department hits a full roster for the first time in a long time, and we talk about what it might say about leadership, retention, and whether that progress can hold. We also dig into the College Street truck traffic issue, where drivers ignore suggested routes because the city lacks an ordinance to make the route enforceable. Signs can’t compete with convenience, but citations can.

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We break down the latest domino chain in Columbus and Lowndes County politics, starting with shifting ambitions up the ballot and landing on a big local question: What does a city council member owe the voters before running for a different office? Jason Spears’ interest in the District 2 county supervisor race sparks a candid debate about timing, constituent trust, and whether moving from city council to the board of supervisors really increases impact or just spreads it thinner.

From there, we wade back into the ongoing Trotter and Regal Hall fight, because it keeps revealing the same problem: unclear rules and too many “exceptions.” If public facilities are meant to generate revenue, what should complimentary use look like, how do you define a real “city event,” and how do you stop governance from turning into case-by-case bargaining?

Then we’re joined by retired Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics captain and author Merle Temple, whose book A Ghostly Shade of Pale draws on real undercover experience. Merle shares how he learned to write scenes that feel lived-in, why music matters in storytelling, and what it’s like to revisit Columbus with decades of memories. His account of a 1976 drug deal ambush is as intense as anything in true crime, right down to the bulletproof vest that may have saved a life, plus a surprising connection to Criminal Minds and Hollywood.