Thinking about town
🎶 What is Nashville · Ogles vs. the World · TikToks new owners · Homeless relocated · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. Today, we look at some criticisms of Nashville, Ogles' spate of legislation targeting various people, and the homeless being relocated for Fourth of July. First time reading? Sign up here.
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In addition to informing you about goings on in the city, both politically and culturally, The Pamphleteer is an attempt to reckon with what makes Nashville Nashville. Writer Aaron Renn, who I repost in this newsletter frequently, recently visited the city and jotted down some notes, concluding that the “Nashville buzz is about to dissipate.”
Renn makes some pretty common criticisms of the city, noting that the roads are bad, houses are expensive, the new developments are bland, and the public realm and walkable infrastructure is almost entirely absent. “Nashville is a city that is almost entirely about the private domain, not the public one,” he writes.
Renn describes the aspirational Nashville lifestyle in a separate series of notes on Williamson County as one in which you buy a large house with a big front yard on a busy throughway (think Franklin Pike or Hillsboro Road) and adopt a “plantation” lifestyle — homestead-lite, basically.
I generally agree with this. The pattern of migration in Nashville is that you live in the city, if you can afford it, until your kids hit middle school, then you move out to a ring to get access to better public schools. If you’re a loyal reader, you'll be familiar with the various attempts I’ve made to come to terms with what Nashville is and could be, and more generally, what cities are for anymore. Aaron’s thoughts on the matter are always worth considering. DAVIS HUNT
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
📜 Ogles On Gender Transition For Minors & NYC Mayoral Candidate Following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Tennessee’s law restricting gender-transition interventions for minors, Tennessee House Leader William Lamberth called upon Congress to pass a “national ban on sexual mutilation.” Congressman Andy Ogles plans to answer that call. In an interview that aired this morning, Ogles told Fox17 that he intends to use Tennessee’s legislation as a blueprint for a federal bill.
The Supreme Court victory was a monumental win for states’ rights, but Ogles said a national ban is about protecting minors in “wackadoodle” states like California. “When it comes to protecting children, that is, I think, an issue facing everybody in this country,” said Ogles. “So we're not talking about states’ rights here, we're talking about protecting children. We're talking about children being victimized by doctors, being victimized by woke governors, being victimized by the woke…system.”
In other news, Ogles called for the deportation of New York City’s Democratic candidate for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. According to the Tennessean, “Ogles is basing part of his argument on rap lyrics by Mamdani that expressed support for the Holy Land Five, a group convicted of funneling funds to Hamas.” Last Thursday, the Tennessee Congressman called into question Mamdani’s naturalized citizenship status on X and has since suggested that the mayoral candidate go through denaturalization proceedings.
📱 Will TikTok Get New Owners? Yesterday, President Donald Trump told Fox News that there’s a group of investors ready to buy TikTok. The social media platform has been in flux since 2024, when Congress passed a law that would ban the platform in the U.S. unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divested from it. Trump has extended the deadline three times since threatening to shut TikTok down. The president also said that the deal hinges on the approval of China’s General Secretary, Xi Jinping.
Over the last few years, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has been investigating TikTok Inc. regarding consumer protection violations. The AG’s office has filed multiple motions in an attempt to compel the social media platform to disclose requested documentation. “Despite a court order and ample time to comply, TikTok continues to cover up the extent of its destruction of evidence and dodge our investigative demands as we fight to reveal the truth about TikTok's impact on kids,” said Skrmetti in a press release last October. “My Office will not cease our ongoing effort to hold TikTok and other social media companies accountable for their misconduct.”
🏚️ Homeless Relocated For America’s Birthday On Friday, the Banner reported that nonprofits are working to relocate around 60 homeless people encamped along the East Bank in preparation for the Fourth of July. Every year, Music City shoots off fireworks near the Cumberland River. Though a few of the homeless people told the publication that they haven’t had to evacuate the area in the past, advocates are scrambling to relocate the group in time for downtown’s patriotic bash.
DEVELOPMENT
- Developer pitches new plans for 17-story hotel in the Gulch (NBJ)
- Epice official part of trio that buys Green Hills building (Post)
- Tennessee State breaks ground on $90M project (Post)
- Luxury beach club eyed for Pie Town (Post)
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
🪕 Kyle Tuttle's Bluegrass Monday @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $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.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).