Archive Atlanta

Before Atlanta was crisscrossed with interstates and highways, there was a bold plan—born from the Great Depression, inspired by Germany’s Autobahn, and fueled by fears of another economic collapse.  In this episode, we rewind to the 1930s to unpack how the U.S. highway system began, why Atlanta jumped in headfirst, and how a single report—the Lochner Report—shaped decades of urban design, displacement, and, yes... gridlock. From ambitious plans, to having to teach Atlantans how to drive on the interstate, and even a traffic-stopping turkey, this is the origin story of the Atlanta Expressway and the infamous Downtown Connector. Want to support this podcast? Visit here [https://www.patreon.com/archiveatlanta] Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com [thevictorialemos@gmail.com] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/archiveatlanta] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/archiveatlanta/]

This week, we’re talking about Atlanta’s most famous food franchises. Atlanta has been the birthplace of almost a dozen food franchises, including Chick-fil-A, Huddle House, Mellow Mushroom, Great American Cookies, Applebee's, Flying Biscuit and Moe's Southwest Grill. Want to support this podcast? Visit here [https://www.patreon.com/archiveatlanta] Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com [thevictorialemos@gmail.com] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/archiveatlanta] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/archiveatlanta/]

Even though this is a bye week for me, I wanted to share a bonus episode related to a special project that I got to do recently.  I worked with Canopy fellow Damius Smith on his piece "Built for Legacy". Collier Heights was designed by and for Black people, with the architectural design of every house telling a story. From American Small Houses, to ranch-style, to mid-century, each home focuses on the symbolic power of the neighborhood. https://canopyatlanta.org/2025/06/27/legacy-collier-heights-architecture/ [https://canopyatlanta.org/2025/06/27/legacy-collier-heights-architecture/] Canopy Atlanta [http://canopyatlanta.org] is a community journalism nonprofit founded in 2020. They collaborate with residents to tell stories about their communities, redefining who journalism is by and for. Even better, they pay and train residents to report alongside experienced journalists. And they’ve trained over 200 Atlantans so far.

This week, we’re talking about the Lakewood Cutting - the story of the murder of Fred Thompson. I’ve said a million times that I’m not a fan of true crime, but centuries-old murders in Atlanta’s past seem to have worked their way into my heart.  But this week’s story isn’t just a murder story, this is a story of an abduction, self defense, secret orders, ransom notes and the far and wide reach of the Ku Klux Klan. Want to support this podcast? Visit here [https://www.patreon.com/archiveatlanta] Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com [thevictorialemos@gmail.com] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/archiveatlanta] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/archiveatlanta/]

This week, I am SO excited to share a conversation that I had with Marty Padgett about this new book, The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS [https://martinpadgett.com/215-2/]. Sodomy laws had been used to discriminate against queer people for centuries, but in 1986, the US Supreme Court ruled that the constitution did not guarantee a person the right to engage in homosexual conduct, even in the privacy of their own home. The case began with the arrest of Michael Hardwick and happened right here in Atlanta! A Night at the Sweet Gum Head [https://martinpadgett.com/midnight-at-the-oasis/] https://martinpadgett.com   Want to support this podcast? Visit here [https://www.patreon.com/archiveatlanta] Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com [thevictorialemos@gmail.com] Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/archiveatlanta] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/archiveatlanta/]