We visit the Elizabethton-Carter County Public Library and talk with archivist Joe Penza about the collection of historical items there, as well as a new grant the Archives has received.

On a Peace Corps assignment in Zimbabwe, Kingsport, Tennessee, native Mark Overbay observed the making of a peanut butter paste for use in groundnut stews. It was his inspiration, over a decade later, to start Big Spoon Roasters, a company that specializes in hand-crafted nut butters.

We visit with Dr. Bob Miller, still leading an active life at age 105 in Kingsport, Tennessee.

We talk with Autumn Lockwood, Associate Performance Coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. On February 12, 2023, during Super Bowl 57, she made history as the first African American woman to coach in a Super Bowl.

Our guest is Ayesha Rascoe, host of NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday." She discusses her newly released book, HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience.

Laurel Blanchard, a meteorologist with WJHL-TV in Johnson City, talks about how she documented the weather for the year 2023 in a unique way. Using her crocheting skills, she created a temperature blanket that is almost 8 ½ feet long.

We talk about the history of an unusual soft drink that was originally touted as a dietary supplement. Dr. Enuf was first produced by Tri-City Beverage in Johnson City 75 years ago this year.

We talk with Hank Thomas, one of the 13 original Freedom Riders, who rode Greyhound and Trailways buses throughout the South to protest racial segregation. Thomas was on board the bus that was firebombed by a Ku Klux Klan-led mob on May 14, 1961, in Anniston, Alabama. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Hank Thomas is now 82.

For our first “Vital Voices” program of the new year, East Tennessee State University clinical psychologist Dr. Diana Morelen examines the concept of self care. And along the way, she answers the perennial pressing question: Should I or should I not make a New Year’s resolution?More information about infant mental health is available through the Association of Infant Mental Health in Tennessee (aimhitn.org).

With the number of homeless people on the rise in Northeast Tennessee, we visit a storefront church in Kingsport that has been addressing homeless issues and other community needs for over 10 years. Our guest is The Reverend Will Shewey, a United Methodist minister who says Shades of Grace seeks to serve the four Ls: the last, the least, the lost, and the lonely.