David Pharr and Jason Watkins | Fondren Developers

David Pharr and Jason Watkins | Fondren Developers

On today's show, David and Jason talk about what it actually takes to bet on a neighborhood like Fondren — and why, for two people who aren't planning to go anywhere, that bet only keeps getting bigger. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-david-pharr-jason-watkins

Patricia Syner | Jubilee Opera

On today's Soul Sessions Extra, we're talking about Jubilee: A Folk Opera — a collaboration between Jackson State University and Yale University debuting this summer, free and open to the public, right here in Jackson. I'm joined by Patricia Syner, Communications Director at the Margaret Walker Center. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-patricia-syner

Josh McManus | Urban Strategist, Better Together Project

On today's show, we're talking with urban strategist Josh McManus — partner at M|B|P, co-creator of JXN Rising, and the driving force behind Better Together, the effort to bring architect Sambo Mockbee's personal archive back into public view for the first time in 25 years. Josh has spent three decades working in post-industrial cities from Chattanooga to Detroit, and now he's turned his attention to Jackson — not as an outsider with answers, but as someone who keeps showing up with tools and a blueprint. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-josh-mcmanus

Aisha Carson | Third Space JXN

On today's show, we recorded live on location at the Mississippi Museum of Art during Third Space JXN's Soulfood Sunday event this April with our guest, Third Space founder Aisha Carson. We find out what it actually takes to build intentional community in a city that deserves to see itself celebrated. Her belief is rooted simply in this: that narrative change is where all other change begins, and that when people start experiencing their city differently, they start talking about it differently, too. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-aisha-carson

Andrea Patterson | MS Sports Hall of Fame & Museum

On today's show, we're talking with Andrea Patterson, Executive Director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum about 30 years of preserving Mississippi's greatest sports legacy, a $4 million renovation that's redefining what the museum can be and why the stories told inside those walls still stop people cold. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-andrea-patterson-2026