The Contributor | The Contributor helps our homeless neighbors establish their own micro-businesses and work their way into housing through selling an award-winning street paper.

Who’s on the ballot this election season?

By editorial | July 15, 2026

For this special election edition, The Contributor worked to create a mini guide of all the offices and candidates for whom you might be asked to check a box in this year’s election.

Kings & Queens: A History and a Look to the Future

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HELLO, kings and queens. My name is Shawn L.

No matter where I’m at, I refer to people I meet as “King” or “Queen.” It started when I was in prison. In prison some will go against you, but some will go along with you.

Hoboscopes: June 17, 2026

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a trained group photographer, or a professional driver on a closed course.

“ … We Need Roses, Too.”

My Uncle Harry is 81 years old this year. He is vital and funny and very technically oriented. He had a great life as a software and hardware engineer in computers.

More Headlines

World Cup Fever Hits Nashville

By Logan Butts | July 1, 2026

Every four years, World Cup Fever takes over the summer when the globe’s biggest sporting event returns. The quadrennial competition holds extra resonance for local soccer fans this time around.

Recently while traveling for work in Chicago, I came upon an art gallery along the Magnificent Mile. I’d noticed the enormous canvas works walking by before I noticed the free entry sign at the front door and walked in. Quietly, I paced myself through the floor-to-ceiling paintings, noticing how the artist had hidden images in the paint itself in some of them. Layers of bright yellow, green and shades of pink and purple paint were outlined in thick strokes of white and black on one. I thought: “Is that smoke rising from a building?

Features

The Spirit of Small Town Pride

By Amanda Haggard | June 17, 2026

Franklin Pride Celebrates Six Years at the Farm

Features

Learn More About The Federal Homelessness Approach

By Judith Tackett | June 10, 2026

Being poor in America is expensive.

Vendor Writing

Solving the Food Desert

By Lisa A. | June 10, 2026

Nashville has looked at the problem of food deserts, and done a few things to solve it. For instance, you can double your EBT at the downtown Farmer’s Market. Edible Nashville publishes a yearly guide to local farmers and regional farmers that offer CSA’s. The town of Andernach, Germany, with a population of 30,000, has managed over the last 16 years to create a complete Food Island. They have 38,000 square feet of food growing in all public spaces.