Trisha Powell Crain Talks Money, Politics, and More in Alabama Education

There's never a shortage of stories coming from Alabama's schools. But before WBHM's and the Southern Education Desk's "Issues and Ales" education forum Thursday evening, we wanted to shed as much light as possible on the big picture behind the headlines. For better or worse, that backdrop always includes money and therefore politics. So our education reporter Dan Carsen sat down with Alabama School Connection founder and BirminghamWatch contributor Trisha Powell Crain to talk about that and more.


Dr. Tondra Loder-Jackson, Discusses Impact of Civil Rights On Education

In advance of the WBHM/Southern Education Desk Issues and Ales forum on the future of Education in Alabama, Dr. Loder-Jackson discussed her research on civil rights in Birmingham schools.

StoryCorps: “We’re just people too.”

Jennifer Sumner and her 12-year-old son Rae talk about the challenges of being transgender. They had a conversation at Storycorp's mobile booth in Birmingham, AL

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Musician Chris Thile on Playing Birmingham, Replacing Garrison Keillor

Virtuoso mandolin player Chris Thile performs in Birmingham Monday at UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. He spoke with WBHM’s Rachel Osier Lindley about his varied musical career, why he loves performing in Birmingham and how he feels about his next job: replacing Garrison Keillor as the host of A Prairie Home Companion.

The Financial Confidence Gap

Surveys show women make the majority of purchasing decisions in any given household. But when it comes to confidence with money, they trail men. We talk about that in this week’s Magic City Marketplace. Birmingham Business Journal editor Cindy Fisher Crawford tells WBHM’s Andrew Yeager about this Vanderbilt University study and what it reveals about a financial confidence gap.

WBHM Partners with StoryCorps OutLoud

Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM is partnering with StoryCorps to broadcast selections from its StoryCorps OutLoud initiative recorded in Birmingham. StoryCorps OutLoud is a multi-year project dedicated to preserving the often unheard voices of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. WBHM will share these stories on air and online Tuesdays and Fridays throughout November, 2015. […]


Birmingham’s First Female City Council Member Remembered in Statue and Film

Almost 150 people crowd around a statue in Linn Park last Friday, waiting to dedicate a statue honoring Nina Miglionico, the first woman to serve on the Birmingham City Council. Mayor William Bell and Birmingham City Council members past and present mingle with members of the Miglionico family and friends.

Hubbard Pre-trial Hearing Ends Without Much New Revealed

Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard isn't scheduled to go on trial on felony ethics charges until March, but Alabama political watchers received an early helping of the courtroom fireworks this week with a pre-trial hearing. Lawyers for Hubbard are arguing the case should be thrown out because of selective prosecution and prosecutorial misconduct. Prosecutors say it's all a distraction. We hear more about it from Alabama Media Group columnist John Archibald.

Alabama Keeps Money-Losing Liquor Stores Open

A Perry County Judge tells offenders they can either pay their fine or give blood. And Alabama closes driver’s license offices, but keeps money-losing liquor stores open.  Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for The Birmingham News and AL dot com, and he talks about these issues with WBHM’s Michael Krall.

WBHM 90.3 FM Hires New All Things Considered Host/Reporter

Public Radio WBHM 90.3 FM has hired Esther Ciammachilli as the station’s new All Things Considered announcer and news producer. Ciammachilli comes to WBHM from Reno Public Radio in northern Nevada, where she was a general assignment reporter and host of All Things Considered. Ciammachilli's voice has been the tool of her trade for the last thirteen years. Before joining the field of public radio, Esther was in commercial radio and was also a singer and actress in Las Vegas. She received her degree in journalism from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2014. Before graduating, she was awarded the Outstanding Broadcast Student Award from the Reynolds School.

Jerri Hardesty: Changing Lives Through Poetry

Emotion often fuels poetry.  Sometimes though that emotion is so personal it’s like being let into a secret space.  That’s the way it is with poems we’ll hear from Jerri Hardesty. She’s president of the Alabama State Poetry Society.  She’s won more than 600 awards and titles for both written and spoken word poetry.  Hardesty […]

A Potential Change for Credit Unions has Banks Unhappy

One winner in the recovery since the Great Recession has been credit unions. They’ve seen growth in membership and lending activity. And that’s put them at odds with those who traditionally handle services like this – banks. We hear about it in this week’s Magic City Marketplace. Birmingham Business Journal editor Cindy Fisher Crawford tells WBHM’s Andrew Yeager about what drove that growth for credit unions.