In These Times with Bill Nigut

Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning writer David Lindsay-Abaire discusses his latest play, which is about how the toxic culture in Washington D.C. can seep into the most mundane of issues in daily American life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Bill Nigut and Reverend Dr. Robert Franklin have a discussion about faith, God, morality and ethics in these difficult times.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we approach the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Dr. Stan Deaton, Distinguished Historian at the Georgia Historical Society, joins host Bill Nigut to discuss events in Georgia and other colonies leading up to this historic event. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Will Haygood discusses the subject of his latest book, The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Billy Planer has spent four decades working to provide opportunities for people to understand the views of those they may vehemently disagree with. He and host Bill Nigut discuss the deep partisan divide we face as a a nation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shirley Franklin, Atlanta's first woman mayor, discusses civil rights, female empowerment and retirement.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Has the US Supreme Court become a rubber stamp for President Trump's agenda? Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Linda Greenhouse, who covered the court for 30 years, shares her extraordinary perspective with host Bill NigutSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony and Laurence Olivier Award-winning actor Shuler Hensley has played iconic roles in eight Broadway productions but still lives in his hometown Atlanta. Here he serves as Artistic Director of City Springs Theatre and supports young actors through his namesake Shuler High School Musical Theatre Awards.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Long time Georgia journalists DuBose Porter and Kevin Riley join host Bill Nigut to discuss the challenges facing journalism today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sheila Cavanagh is a professor of English at Emory University and Director of the World Shakespeare Project. With the Oscars approaching and Hamnet receiving eight nominations, Sheila and host Bill Nigut discuss Hamnet and Shakespeare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a 10,000 bed detainment center coming to Social Circle, immigration lawyer Charles Kuck joins host Bill Nigut to discuss recent developments in immigration policy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boston Globe books section editor Kate Tuttle joins host Bill Nigut to discuss recent and upcoming book releases. Kate previously lived in Atlanta where she wrote for the New York Times, LA Times and Washington Post. She is also a former president of the National Book Critics Circle.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atlantan pianist Joe Alterman has taken the stage at iconic venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland and Blue Note and performed alongside jazz greats like Houston Person, Les McCann, and Ramsey Lewis. After studying music at NYU and playing gigs around New York City, he returned home to Atlanta to serve as Executive Director of Neranenah, an Atlanta-based concert and culture series celebrating Jewish contributions to the arts. On In These Times he discusses his career and recent writings on current events, especially as they pertain to Judaism and the arts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doug Shipman, founding CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, former President and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center and member of countless Atlanta boards discuses his background in civil rights and weighs in on how to heal the deep partisan divides that plague us today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With 2026 off to a roaring start, Andra Gillespie, Audrey Haynes, Kevin Riley and Amy Steigerwalt join host Bill Nigut to discuss Georgia and national political headlines.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Martin Luther King Jr. day coming up, today's episode focuses on a specific element of civil rights history: transportation in civil disobedience. John Bollard joins host Bill Nigut to discuss his latest book, Protesting with Rosa Parks: From Stagecoaches to Driving While Black. Bollard served as the managing editor of the African American National Biography at Harvard University’s W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African American Research and has a PhD in English from the University of Leeds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Bill Nigut interviews global health expert Bill Foege, who is largely credited for devising the strategy that eradicated smallpox, about his life and career and where public health is headed in these times. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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With immigration policies dominating headlines we turn to Atlanta-based immigration lawyer Charles Kuck to help break down what is happening. Host Bill Nigut interviews Kuck about current events as well as his fascinating personal journey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A panel of political experts covers some of the most pressing stories in Georgia politics. Bill Nigut hosts Andra Gillespie of Emory University, Audrey Haynes of the University of Georgia, Karen Owen of the University of West Georgia and Rahul Bali of WABE to discuss Fani Willis, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jon Ossoff and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kenny Leon is a Tony Award winning Director who became the first Black Artistic Director of Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in 1990. In 2000 he co-founded True Colors Theatre Company. He quickly rose to prominence in New York on Broadway where he has directed plays and musicals by legendary writers including Lorraine Hansberry and August Wilson and worked with actors like Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and Tom Hanks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As many of us approach Thanksgiving with trepidation around potential dinner table political conversation, there is no better time to speak with Beth Macy. The best-selling author discusses her new book Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America. After her hit Dopesick dove deep into the opioid epidemic in Appalachia, she returns to Urbana, Ohio to explore how these times have changed her hometown.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An expert panel convenes to discuss the consequential 2025-2026 Supreme Court docket. Lori Ringhand of the University of Georgia Law School, Georgia State University Associate Dean of Faculty Research and Development Anthony Michael Kries, and Fred Smith of Stanford University Law School join host Bill Nigut.  For more, visit wabe.org/in-these-times-with-bill-nigutSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Nigut interviews Tom Johnson, who grew up in Macon, Georgia, and went on to make CNN a global news network. Tom studied journalism at the University of Georgia and business at Harvard Business School before serving as a White House Fellow in the Lyndon B. Johnson White House. He was publisher of the Dallas Times Herald and then the Los Angeles Times, where Ted Turner tapped him to run CNN. For more, visit wabe.org/in-these-times-with-bill-nigutSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Subscribe now to catch the first episode, dropping November 8. In These Times with Bill Nigut is a weekly podcast featuring thoughtful, in-depth conversations about the political, cultural, and social forces shaping Georgia and the wider world. This series brings together expert analysts to help listeners make sense of the biggest stories of the moment, offering clarity without the noise of partisanship. But politics is just part of the story — the show also highlights voices from the arts, music, theater, film, and literature, exploring how creativity and culture help us navigate and reflect on these complex times. Insightful, wide-ranging, and grounded in curiosity rather than division, In These Times with Bill Nigut is your guide to understanding where we are — and where we’re going. Learn more: https://www.wabe.org/podcasts/in-these-times-with-bill-nigut/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.