People all the way down
👥 People, people, people · Airport renaming · Federal dollars in city · LPRs are back · Repeat offender of the week · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
April Fools' Day is tomorrow. Be careful out there.
Onward.
Hiked up to Mount LeConte in the Smokys over the weekend and stayed in the lodge near the top. They serve you meals and provide you a bed for the night. Somewhere between glamping and camping, except you have to hike seven miles—uphill the entire way—to get there.
The whole experience, like all backpacking trips, is a kind of simulated escape from the ever present tendrils of modern life. But even seven thousand feet in the sky, where food is packed in via llama and the only way to access the grounds is to make the climb, civilization asserts itself.
As nice as it is to walk without cell coverage and look at nature untrammeled, what I’m constantly reminded of on these hikes are the people who came before me, carved the trails out of the wilderness and set about to impose order on the woods such that an amateur like me can enjoy them in relative comfort.
Thoreau wrote about the pleasures of walking through the woods and how it can remind man that he is a part of nature first and a member of society second. But when I’m in the middle of nowhere, I find it impossible to escape the visage of man. He is everywhere and marks nearly all territories.
In more rudimentary conditions—such as in a cabin without electricity and only kerosene lamps for illumination—it really hits home how what's known as civilization is not the result of some abstract “historical force” that finds its form in the writings of Karl Marx, but the accumulation of decisions made by individual men over thousands and thousands of years.
The LeConte Lodge began as a tent camp set up in 1925 by Paul Adams to entertain visiting dignitaries from Washington, D.C. Over the years, it evolved into the small complex of cabins it is today. But the genesis of it began with one man’s decision and as a result of his actions.
I don’t know why this really hit home for me observing the workings of the lodge, but the isolated encampment felt like a little autonomous country. There are rules and protocols that everyone, guest and worker alike, follow. I began to imagine what would happen if the employees went on strike or what the deliberations and politics involved in getting campwide showers would look like. All of the progressive improvements made to the grounds were initiated, approved, and built by people.
Take for example today’s Repeat Offender of the Week who you can learn more about below. In the course of meditations on the Autonomous Republic of LeConte Lodge as we took I-40 back to Nashville, I was snapped out of my reverie by a 2009-ish Toyota Corolla barrelling past me on the highway, going at least 120 miles per hour. A caravan of Mount Juliet police officers followed, sirens blaring.
The most obvious examples of civilization, its machinery and its laws, smacked me in the face. I could talk about “inequities” or “criminal justice” or policing with regard to this scene, but beyond all the high falutin talk, that car chase was the result of people who made decisions to take or not take action. Our world is a reflection of this fact. It’s people all the way down—something that is easy to forget in conversations about politics and culture today. DAVIS HUNT
⧖⧗⧖ SHOW YOUR SUPPORT ⧗⧖⧗
If you want to support our work at The Pamphleteer, a recurring donation is the best way. We have a $10/month Grub Street tier and a $50/month Bard tier. Membership gets you access to our comments section and free access to upcoming events.
🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
✈️ Butterflies, Birds, And Bald Eagles Almost 46,000 people would like to see Nashville’s airport renamed after Dolly Parton. Back in January, a petition encouraging the change started circulating online. "I think that's probably more of a joke than anything," Parton told the Tennessean when there were only 2,600 signatures.
Though the petition seemed to come about in reaction to a proposal made by state legislators to rename BNA “Trump International Airport,” her supporters don’t appear to be kidding. “She is not only a celebrated artist who encourages love, acceptance, and goodwill through her music, but also a philanthropist, known for her countless contributions to society,” reads the petition. “It is only fitting that an institution as significant as Nashville International Airport carries the name of such a remarkable woman.”
As for Trump, the House Transportation Committee voted down the legislation that would have put his name on Nashville’s airport a couple of weeks ago. Despite wide-spread support for the president among Tennessee legislators, the fiscal note to rebrand the airport proved to be too high. It’s also worth noting the history of the Berry Field Nashville International Airport, which was named after Colonel Harry S. Berry, a decorated U.S. Army veteran of World War I, who served as the airport’s first administrator.
💸 Music City Federal Dependency “Metro Nashville's total current federal grant awards for general government, prior to this week's cuts, was $243 million,” Mayor O’Connell disclosed during Friday’s media roundtable. “The top four departments make up almost 90 percent of that balance.”
This includes the Metro Health Department ($72 million), Water and Sewer ($64 million), Nashville Department of Transportation ($48 million), and the Metro Action Commission ($30 million). “Prior to this week, there were 523 full-time employees funded by these grants, including 152 at the Metro Public Health Department alone,” said O’Connell. “We're continuing to monitor cuts, also, to education, including the recent executive order to eliminate the US Department of Education.”
📹 LPRs Are Back A handful of council members are ready to reignite the License Plate Reader discussion in Davidson County. During tomorrow’s meeting, the council will vote on a resolution urging the mayor to present legislation finalizing the contracts needed to establish the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s LPR program.
Council members Tonya Hancock, Jennifer Webb, Jeff Eslick, and David Benton are all sponsors of the resolution, and there may be even more support for the surveillance technology than meets the eye. Councilmember Joy Styles has added an amendment requesting that Mayor O’Connell include “sufficient funding to cover the costs of LPR technology for use by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department” in his FY 2025-26 operating budget.
🚨 Traffic Stops Return to Normal Nashville police officers have increased traffic stops in the first quarter of 2025, continuing a trend that began in 2023. As of March 29, officers conducted 11,496 stops, approximately 3,000 more than the same period last year. Enforcement has been particularly focused in the Hermitage and South precincts, each reporting over 2,000 stops. MNPD attributes this rise to targeting dangerous driving behaviors such as speeding, reckless driving, and impaired driving, especially in areas with high concentrations of personal injury crashes.
Hispanic drivers in Nashville aren't being stopped disproportionately, but they are being arrested at significantly higher rates during traffic stops—24% compared to 8% for Black drivers and 6% for white drivers. A key reason: a high number of Hispanic drivers lack a valid license. MNPD data shows 82% of arrests involved that charge, though most were resolved with citations, not jail time.
DEVELOPMENT
- Still G.I.N. Lounge by Dre and Snoop is launching on Nashville’s Lower Broadway (Tennessean)
- Sean Brock Sets Opening Date (April 14) for Pizza Bar (Scene)
- Atlanta developer preps for next local project (Post)
- Commercial building eyed for Germantown (Post)
✹ REPEAT OFFENDER OF THE WEEK
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
🎸 Emmylou Harris and Larkin Poe @ City Winery, 7:30p, $85+, Info
🎸 Todd Rundgren @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $54+, Info
🪕 Brownyn Keith-Hynes @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $10, Info
🪕 Liam Purcell Bluegrass Mondays @ Dee's Lounge, 8:30p, $10, Info
🎸 Timbo & Lonesome Country @ Jane's Hideaway, 8p, Info
+ modern take on classic country, bluegrass & hillbilly Jazz
🪕 Val Storey, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle & New Monday @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 7p, Free, Info
🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
The Pamphleteer
The Pamphleteer
The Pamphleteer
The Pamphleteer
The Pamphleteer