Musician Davey Williams sat down with Present Tense host Anne Markham Bailey to talk about origins, art, birth, cancer, music and more.

In the first episode of Season 2 we sit down with poet Erica Dawson as she talks with host Anne Markham Bailey about being a poet, the power of poetry in society, her relationship with words and more.

In a world full of chaos and confusion, the clarity of these high school writers' voices is a resounding inspiration.

Yasmeen Khan, Senior Rare Book Conservator at the LIbrary of Congress down with with host Anne Markham Bailey in Washington to talk about her family, her Pakistani lineage and her work as a conservator.

RITA FELDMAN I was born in the beautiful very modern, though very ancient, 2000 years old city, named Tashkent. It is the capital of Uzbekistan, back then a part of the Soviet Union, now it is an independent country in the Middle Asia. In 1993 my family had to leave our homeland because of the etnic problems that not-native, not-Uzbek people started to face in Uzbekistan. We emigrated to America, and we were recognized as a political refugees. The organizations that helped us to move choose...

In the second episode of the Emerge Alabama Voices of Progress series, we hear from Amy Wasyluka, Lindsey Deckard and Dr Stacie Propst, Executive Director of Emerge Alabama. These are women who have committed to a vision of the future that is more just, equitable and inclusive. These women see governance as a way to serve and to shape a better Alabama, in which citizens are educated and valued, offered opportunities for economic and community empowerment, in which well-being is not a...

In this episode we hear from Cara McClure, a boots on the ground activist and candidate for Alabama Public Service Commission Place 1. Cara talks about the 70 hours of candidate training offered by Emerge Alabama, the state affiliate of Emerge America whose goal is to train Democratic women to run for public office and win. Cara discusses activism, public service, the future that she imagines and is in the process of shaping in Alabama. Music from the Red Dirt Roses, a Birmingham acoustic...

Poets discuss why they write, their intimacy with words, the power of poetry in society and their identities as poets.

Poets engage questions and considerations with wit and heart and intelligence.

Not Too Bad was written and narrated by poet and author Anne Markham Bailey, describing life with J Everett Batterbury, the old man across the street.

Not Too Bad is a story from 12th Street South in Birmingham, Alabama. Anne Markham Bailey lived across the street from J Everett Batterbury, an old man who became a kind of spiritual teacher without the slightest intention of doing so. Written and narrated by Anne Markham Bailey

Host Anne Markham Bailey presents stories of sexual abuse woven into audio art followed by a discussion with members of Sister City Connection Spoken Word Collective.