Live Not By Lies

Good afternoon, everyone.

Have you ever experienced the high from fixing an issue with your car? I pity you if you haven’t. My 2007 Buick Lucerne (which I discussed at length here) had a misfiring piston. Yesterday morning, I successfully fixed the problem and immediately felt Herculean levels of dopamine coursing through my bloodstream. My skin gave off a faint, golden glow. Grand ideas flooded my mind—science, technology, AI, Plato, Michelangelo, Beethoven. The secrets of the universe laid thread-bare for me to inspect in all their glory just because I removed a couple of screws.

An old rickety used car is just an untapped source of dopamine—food for thought for all you “new car” drivers out there.

Thanks to all who came out to our happy hour with Bitcoin Magazine and @nashvilletn last night. If you attended and didn’t receive your obligatory compliment, respond here with an insult, and we’ll parry with praise.

Onward.

Rod Dreher discusses the new documentary series based on his best-selling book Live Not By Lies

Despite its cultural ascendancy, the American Right has long lacked its own Chistopher Hitchens–an elder polymath whose contrarian philosophical approach broaches questions that even the most daring of pundits wouldn’t touch. However, since his breakout book, The Benedict Option in 2018, Rod Dreher appears primed to take up that mantle.

A former columnist for The American Conservative and “The Man Who Made JD Vance” in the natal days of Hillbilly Elegy struck a chord with American readers in 2020 when Live Not By Lies, his investigation into the roots of Soviet totalitarianism, captured COVID tyranny in a way no one else could. Now, Angel Studios has turned Dreher’s bestseller into a four-part docu-series featuring interviews with the everyday people who stood up to the Soviet Union and, against all odds, ushered in its demise.

Before the Nashville premiere on Monday of the series’s season finale, Dreher talked to The Pamphleteer about the state of American Christianity, the fact of Gen Z’s rightward shift, and the lessons survivors of the Iron Curtain have for Trump’s second term.

Read the interview

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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.

📸 Budget Snapshot Here’s a quick look at the $3.8 billion budget Mayor O'Connell proposed for FY-2026. During yesterday’s State of Metro address, the mayor emphasized that his budget focuses on core city services, affordability, and continuity despite stagnant revenue growth and federal funding cuts:

Education: A 13 percent funding increase for Metro Nashville Public Schools, including $64.5 million in funds to sustain mental health and college readiness support services that were previously sustained by one time, American Rescue Act dollars; $15 million for school nurses; and funding for 23 new school resource officers.
Affordable Housing Initiatives: $45 million for housing based on the recommendations made by Nashville’s new Unified Housing Strategy, including $30 million for the Barnes Housing Trust Fund; $2.4 million for rapid rehousing vouchers; $2.2 million for permanent supportive housing; and $1.7 million for home repair assistance for seniors.
Public Safety: $49.6 million for first responders, including funding for new fire trucks, EMS staff, fire marshals, and the REACH mental health co-responder program.
Infrastructure and Services: $138 million for essential services like pothole repairs, trash collection, and park maintenance.
Property Tax Adjustment: The mayor’s proposed property tax rate is 2.814, which is higher than the adjusted rate established by state law after the recent reappraisals. Some residents will face higher tax bills despite the rate being lower than the last 4 years.

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🏧 “We Are Not Your ATM” As the leader of one of the three groups that coordinated the protest against raising property taxes during yesterday’s State of Metro address, Nashville GOP Chair Jason Weakley weighed in on Mayor O’Connell’s comment that failing to impose the increase would lead to less safe schools and a less responsive police force.

“We heard Freddie O'Connell, but I don't think he is hearing Nashville residents about this issue,” said Weakley. “The mayor's claim that protesters want to gut essential services like teacher pay and police salaries is a distraction. We're demanding an end to wasteful spending that fuels dependency on federal subsidies and debt. Nashvillians deserve leadership that prioritizes fiscal responsibility and protects our most vulnerable citizens, not policies that deepen inequality and destabilize families.”

Sources with close ties to Metro government anticipate that some of O’Connell’s progressive allies in the council may propose changes “so outlandish that it will make the mayor’s budget look like the pragmatic choice.” Council members have until June 30 to make adjustments to the mayor’s proposal.

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💸 Putting Grant Applications On A Short Leash Will the governor sign a bill limiting the executive branch’s ability to pursue federal grants over $25 million without the approval of the General Assembly? According to State Affairs, Governor Lee is expected to do so despite pushback from lawmakers like Senator Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville), who called the legislation “brazenly” unconstitutional. It “empowers a subset of legislators to make a binding decision that precludes the executive from taking action,” he explained. “I am curious how the sponsor squares that with the separation of powers in the constitution and the limitations of the legislative branch to act in a legislative capacity.”

If Lee doesn’t veto the bill, it won’t be the only piece of legislation passed during this year’s General Assembly that puts new guardrails on the powers of his office. A month ago, the governor allowed a bill that clarifies the limitations of executive branch emergency powers to pass without his signature.

DEVELOPMENT

Country hitmaker, producer plans entertainment venue in Wedgewood-Houston (NBJ)
Rezoning plan proposed for The Nations (Post)
Swedish manufacturing company to move U.S. operations to Midstate (Post)

✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: May 2-8

The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week. For a complete list of upcoming titles, check out the 2025 Film Guide.

Thunderbolts (Dir. Jake Schreier) Marvel gets its own Suicide Squad with Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier playing off Black Widow’s Florence Pugh and David Harbour. It’s also the best-reviewed Marvel movie in a half-decade. Now playing in theaters.

The Surfer (Dir. Lorcan Finnegan) Nick Cage plays a dad who goes vigilante on the surf punks taking over his childhood beach on a family trip in this psychological-thriller. Now playing in theaters.

Rosario (Dir. Felipe Vargas) A stockbroker discovers a labyrinth of occult rituals in her deceased grandma's basement and must come to terms with some gnarly family secrets in the most horrific ways imaginable. Now playing in theaters.

Bonjour Tristesse (Dir. Durga Chew Bose) An 18-year-old girl’s idyllic vacation her dad goes sour when her mom’s friend (Chloë Sevigny) makes a surprise visit that leads to tragic consequences. Based on the classic coming-of-age novel. Now playing in theaters.

See the full list