The pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church thinks the first part of Mayor Jim Strickland’s effort to reform the Memphis Police Department didn’t go far enough.

The seven public school systems in Shelby County opened in one way or another before the Labor Day weekend with plans that vary to some degree.

In this week’s edition of The Extra Podcast, John Carroll talks with Eric Barnes about how he set about trying to find ways to talk to people about all the good things in Memphis.

The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast recaps some events from the past week and some of the recently certified election results are cause to go looking through some numbers from the historic 1991 city elections.

On "Behind The Headlines," the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate says she's raised 10 times more money since she won the August primary statewide. Bradshaw touts an alternative path back to the U.S. Senate in Tennessee for Democrats that relies on community organizers and their networks. 

Nick Walker, who recently went from interim to permanent director of the city’s division of parks and neighborhoods, talked about the change and the move to a parks master plan on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.

Grisanti talks with Jennifer Biggs about how the business took its toll on him, his recovery, and what he has planned for the new restaurant.

Council members Michalyn Easter-Thomas and Chase Carlisle were on opposite sides of the council's veto override vote on police residency this week. On "Behind The Headlines" they talked about how many police are enough and how to get to the bigger issues beyond the numbers in the ranks.

Elizabeth Rouse, President & CEO of ArtsMemphis, joined Eric Barnes on The Extra Podcast this week to talk about the myriad number of ways that artists are trying to connect with people during the shutdown.

Grizzlies beat writer Drew Hill and columnist Chris Herrington discuss the Grizzlies’ chances against the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA play-in series that begins today.

On "Behind The Headlines," Dr. James Downing talked about the gap between public health and health care as well as the research hospital's $20 million effort to keep the virus off its campus through weekly testing. Data from the testing regimen is also part of a global research effort and St. Jude is participating in clinical trials for a vaccine.

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, the city's Democratic Congressman also talked about his recent primary win on the August ballot, the political benchmark it maintained and gave his thoughts on who might succeed him down the political road.

This week on The Extra Podcast, Elizabeth Cawein, executive director of Music Export Memphis, joins Eric Barnes to talk about how local musicians are dealing with the coronavirus shutdown.

The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast features a 10-minute roundup of what the Thursday vote count means.

On “Behind the Headlines,” the president of the University of Memphis says some students have been living on campus through the pandemic, in part because of the digital divide and because some students will have the flexibility to remain off campus after the return with hybrid classes.

The Shelby County Election Commission got requests for nearly 20,000 absentee ballots and about 17,000 of the mail-in ballots were cast in Thursday's election. Some voters anxious about waiting for the ballots to come instead voted in person on election day or during early voting. And some ballots were disqualified because of specific state laws.

Contrary to early rumors, University of Memphis radio station WYXR – formerly WUMR – will still play jazz, there will be lots of Memphis music but other music as well, and U of M students will continue to be involved in the station.

Phyllis Betts and Richard Janikowski have set a new bar for growing the Memphis Police Department ranks to 2,800. They talked on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast about calls for more police amid calls locally for changing the fundamentals of policing and even the share of government funds devoted to policing.

Restaurants are not required to close, but Deni Reilly and Erling Jensen say they feel they have no choice, that they are responsible for keeping their employees and guests safe and with quick results, they could reopen faster.

On "Behind The Headlines," Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips says some upgraded digital scanners that are part of the new system will be used in the August vote count and again in November. She expects the November presidential general election Shelby County to be a record-setter in terms of turnout.

Beat reporter Drew Hill and columnist Chris Herrington discuss life in the NBA bubble “suburbs” and devise a plan for coach Taylor Jenkins to replace injured point guard Tyus Jones.

The Brooks Museum is on a "soft pause" as it adapts to the new realities of restrictions on public spaces and an economic downturn. 

On The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, the County Commission chairman says the differences between the two don't appear to extend to the rest of the commission. Mark Billingsley also said he hopes to move to lift the county hiring budget freeze once there is a reconciliation of the budget approved by the commission last month after rejecting Mayor Lee Harris's original proposal.

Two local leaders in the pandemic fight said on "Behind The Headlines" there would be a stronger-than-usual push for flu vaccinations. Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter also said the role of schools in the pandemic makes reopening them – virtually or in person – an important part of battling the virus.

Carol Johnson-Dean, president of LeMoyne-Owen College, discusses how the $40 million gift came to be.