Rising Rock is excited to showcase some of our best audio stories from this past semester in a continued partnership with Scenic Roots.
Check out the individual audio stories here or listen to the entire showcase on WUTC. ADD LINK HERE
Heart of Steel
Robbie Waller shares Rhonda Gilliland’s story about her heart transplant and what her and her husband Mark’s life looked like after the procedure. Gilliland miraculously survived after having passed away two times due to health issues.
Replicating History
Hannah Godel speaks with Jerry Lee Jones, a Tennessee based woodworker, who has poured his life into recreating historic vessels. After years of work, he has finally reaped the hard-earned rewards of a craft he has enjoyed for years.
Hands That Build Flight
Corbin Winters sits down with Jeffery Garrett, aviation instructor at Cleveland High School. Cleveland High School has installed a new class into its STEM curriculum, the Tango Flight Program. Garrett talks about the program’s goal to build a single-engined, experimental aircraft.
New Zoo Animal
John Talley speaks with Zookeeper Alyssa McClung of the Chattanooga Zoo. The zoo is welcoming a new face: a Pudu deer named Beni, and Alyssa is his main keeper. Alyssa speaks on this new species in an attempt to teach the audience all about the newest addition to the Chattanooga zoo: Benicio the Pudu.
No Limits on the River
Mackenzie Sweat speaks with Randy Steele, a bluegrass singer and Chattanooga native who shares his journey of how music helped him overcome the challenges of being a firefighter and how he transitioned to music when he faced the loss of close friends.
Pursuit Beyond the Pitch
Sydney Banks speaks with Jose Ramirez, the director of the Chattanooga Sports Ministries Forge soccer program about the importance of connection between coach and athlete. Ramirez discusses his heart for the ministry, his relationship with his students, and what it means to be a “whole-life coach.”
We’re Breaking Free
Moses Malone sits down with Rebecca Shearer, the President and Volunteer Coordinator for Chain Free Chattanooga. Shearer speaks to the nonprofit’s work building fences for dogs to improve the quality of life for animals in Chattanooga. Chain Free Chattanooga works to reduce the number of pets in the overbearing animal shelter system.
Music in a Bottle
Conner Coady speaks with John McCune, founder of Golden Slope and the owner of JMac’s Vino & Vinyl. Follow McCune as he speaks on the importance of culture and winemaking.
Downstream Drips
Clara Paulson speaks with Micah Feagin about her story of becoming a raft guide on the Ocoee River as well as other national and international rivers. In this piece, Feagin shares about her 10-year experience working on the river and what whitewater culture looks like locally and globally.
Freezing
Kara Newstreet met with Addie Looper, a young Chattanooga local that was struck with a life changing diagnosis of Breast Cancer at 21 years old. She shares how through her battle with cancer, she discovered community, strength, and even invention of her own hair preservation product. Looper now serves other ladies in the area with the same diagnosis.
Painting the Town
Sicily Hardgrave speaks with Kate Kirniethe, the Public Art Manager for Chattanooga under the Office of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, about the new Chattanooga Murals going up in Chattanooga. We’re tracking the latest public art installations hitting the Westside and downtown sidewalks this month. From high-scale murals to City Stages performance zones, let’s dive into the story behind the paint.
Community Through Clay
Ashlyn Yoes speaks with Madeline Wright, the executive director of Scenic City Clay Arts, about how Wright became a part of the organization and what SCCA contributes to the Chattanooga community everyday. Local artists use the ceramics studio as a safe place, a creative outlet, therapy, and as an escape. SCCA serves artists of all ages and skill levels, even hosting classes and workshops for students and members.
Coloring Community
Alexis Patterson speaks with Charlie Newton, CEO and founder of Splash Art Workshop, about
how he’s using his passion for art to create free, community-based workshops that bring people
together and give them a space to express themselves.