Living beyond the headlines

Spent the past couple of days in the woods in Story, Wyoming at a place called the Wagon Box. Like anything interesting that happens in the world today, the Box had a whole hit piece written about it in The Guardian, which portrayed it as a kind of lumber-jack-cum-techno-utopian hideout where vampirish tech oligarchs like Peter Thiel launder money to further their plans to burrow miles into the Earth’s crust after some cataclysmic doomsday event preceding the great Robot Wars wherein AI-demigods engage in kinetic warfare on the internet and all the non-believers are swept away in an alien spacecraft that Elon Musk is constructing in a bunker in Texas with an exclusively non-trans workforce as Wagon Box proprieter, Paul McNeil, gazes from his remote mountain inn with bleary satisfaction, his finger on a button that will vaporize all the furry little creatures. Or something like that.

Thanks for indulging me.

If any of that were true, I’d really have something to tell you about this afternoon. Instead, it was a pleasant weekend where discussions about AI, the NGO complex, trust busting, regenerative agriculture, faith, education, and a couple of breaks between for food, fishing, and firearms intermingled seamlessly. 

We live in an odd time. Much of what previous generations took for granted has been destroyed or violated in some way. Many of us have questions about how to proceed in such an environment. Shorn of the anxiety and escapism that often accompanies such gatherings, I found the campout to be refreshingly grounded. There was deliberation, healthy disagreement, and people proposing real solutions.

The distance between what Jason Wilson portrayed in his Guardian article and the first-hand experience of the place and the people makes you wonder how he stilll has a job. Beyond the headlines, unsurprisingly, it's not all that scary out there. If you’re ever up that way, be sure to check it out. DAVIS HUNT

🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.

🏛️ Metro Council: We’re Back After wrapping up budget season, the council is back to regular business. With affordable housing top of mind, several multi-family unit and upzoning proposals are on the agenda for public hearing tonight. They include 1,138 multi-family units, 74 townhome multi-family units, 60 single-family lots, and 24 two-family lots (48 residents), all up for public discussion.

A NEST proposal is also back on the calendar. That said, it’s one of the least controversial proposals from last year’s sweeping package of legislation designed to reimagine zoning regulations in Davidson County. The council will consider a bill on second reading to adopt a safety standard of single stairway exits for buildings up to six stories in height. 

Staying on trend of reviving past proposals, the body will also revisit Councilmember Emily Benedict’s change to Rule 9.3, which would make it more difficult to move a bill off the consent agenda during its introduction. Currently, a bill on first reading can be pulled off consent for discussion by the lead sponsor or when two or more members notify the Vice Mayor during proceedings. According to the analysis, Benedict’s bill would still allow the lead sponsor to take a new bill off consent, but would only permit “first reading to be deferred for one meeting if the subject matter affects only one district and the district council member has not introduced or co-sponsored the legislation.”

Councilmember Tom Cash proposed an amendment to Benedict’s proposal. His change would allow for the lead sponsor or a council member who receives support from four other members (via four motions to second) during consideration to remove a bill on first reading from the consent agenda. 

📜 New TN Laws Crack Down On Illegal Immigration Starting today, 177 new Tennessee laws will go into effect. While several parts of Tennessee’s new immigration enforcement package were immediately implemented following this year’s special session—including the creation of Tennessee’s Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division—five bills that crack down on public safety issues related to illegal immigration kick in on July 1st. They include:

• A human smuggling bill that creates harsher punishments for “traffickers who knowingly conceal or transport illegal immigrants for financial gain” and for aggravated offenses involving children
• A bill targeting organized retail crime that fixes loopholes in Tennessee's criminal code to help dismantle theft rings
• A bill that increases the penalty for mass violence threats and criminalizes doxxing to deter online harassment and public safety threats (not related to alleged ICE agent doxxing)
• A ban on rideshare impersonation to improve passenger safety
• And increased penalties related to public order and protest laws that address illegal protest tactics, unauthorized traffic obstruction, and giving false information to the police.

🇺🇸 Governor Lee On The Road This morning, Governor Bill Lee announced that he will embark on a 95-county tour across Tennessee as America approaches its 250th birthday. Along the way, “the governor will visit historic farms in Greene, Williamson, and Tipton counties for ceremonial signings of the Farmland Preservation Act” in honor of preserving the State’s agricultural industry and its family farms for future generations.

Prints of the  commemorative “Tennessee: The Original Frontier” poster (published above) will be available at America 250 events throughout the year. It was designed by renowned Knoxville artist Justin Helton, who was also commissioned for the three limited-edition “Untold Tennessee” posters commemorating Tennessee’s 225th statehood celebration in 2021. 

Events will be announced as they are scheduled. The Governor’s Office invites Tennesseans to sign up for the Tennessee State Museum’s Voices & Volunteers newsletter to learn more about upcoming events across the state, submit recommendations for historic site visits, and share their personal stories.

DEVELOPMENT

• North Nashville Receives $20M Investment From Fifth Third Bank (Now Next)
• Jelly Roll opens downtown speakeasy (NBJ)
• Film, music studio project makes progress in Berry Hill (Post)
• Nashville bid passed over in WNBA's expansion search (Post)
• Chestnut Hill property sells for $1.75M (Post)
• Hotel, condo tower eyed for SoBro (Post)

✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (July 1st)

Sinners (HBO Max) 2025’s best movie so far finds Ryan Coogler, director of  Black Panther and Creed, taking a Marvel break for this high-budget period vampire film featuring Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld as residents of a Mississippi town stalked by vampires. As we said last spring, Coogler comes, “the closest to any director in recent memory to represent the region dynamically (and pulls off a vampire Irish Step Dance sequence as breathtaking as it is tense).” Premieres July 4th.

The A-Team (Philo) The 80s most ass-kicking series features Breakfast at Tiffany’s gentleman George Peppard and Mr. T. leading a team of mercenaries dedicated to helping the little guy with as much firepower as possible. A fun throwback to the time of Reaganite TV. 

Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount+) With Patton and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington unavailable on streaming, it’s a good week to revisit the blockbuster that Made America (And American theaters) Great Again amid the darkness of 2002. Cruise’s return to his most iconic role remains one of the best summer movies of all time.

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Lifeguard @ The Blue Room, 7p, $20.81, Info

🪕 Rhonda Vincent @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $59+, Info

🎸 Iration @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, 7p, $40.90+, Info

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).