Jess Limbird is Proving Progressives Aren't Alone in Rural Tennessee

Breaking the Red Wall: Jerri Green's Fight for Tennessee's Soul

Y'all, pull up a chair because we've got something special tonight. While the GOP machine keeps telling us Tennessee's a lost cause for progressives, Jerri Green's already out there proving them wrong, even if it means campaigning in a bulletproof vest after death threats from the folks who think democracy only works when they win. This ain't your polite politics podcast episode. We're talking to the woman who's crisscrossed Tennessee seven times already, building a coalition of teachers, nurses, veterans, and everyday folks who are dog-tired of a government that only answers to the powerful. From her days as a juvenile public defender to fighting for clean water and living wages, Jerri's got the receipts and the backbone to take on Marsha "Trump in a wig" Blackburn for the governor's mansion. We dig into the real Tennessee, where Democrats just sliced a 22-point Trump margin down to single digits in that 7th District special election. Where a mama of three decides to run for governor not because it's safe or easy, but because she's got to look her kids in the eye and show them you can do hard things. Where neighbors still build ramps for neighbors, even when the state won't lift a damn finger to help. This is about more than one race. It's about whether we're going to let fear and fanaticism own our identity, or whether we're going to stand sturdy like cast iron, and fight for the South we know is possible. The one that doesn't leave working families behind while the well-connected get fatter. The math is there. The map is there. Now we need the movement. Listen in as Jerri breaks down how Tennessee's future isn't inevitable. It's up for grabs. And if you're tired of being told to shut up and accept the red state narrative, this one's for you. Because Tennessee doesn't belong to one party. It belongs to the people brave enough to fight for it.

Flipping the 7th: How Aftyn Behn's Campaign is Raising Hell in Tennessee's Red Heartland

Y'all, the Republican machine wants you to think Tennessee's 7th Congressional District is theirs for the taking. They're dead wrong. In this episode, we sit down with Kate Briefs, the Boston-bred, immigrant-raised campaign manager who's helping Aftyn Behn turn what everyone called a "safe red seat" into a battlefield. This ain't your typical campaign —this is grassroots organizing with teeth, stretching from Clarksville to the Alabama border across 14 counties. Kate pulls back the curtain on how they're building something real in just six weeks—not with political mercenaries and consultants, but with organizers working out of homes, volunteers skipping Thanksgiving to knock doors, and folks from across the planet making calls in the middle of the night because they believe Tennessee deserves better. We're talking about the campaign that's got Republicans scrambling, national media finally paying attention, and Tennessee Democrats remembering what hope feels like. This is what it looks like when progressives stop asking permission and start taking ground—one door, one call, one vote at a time. Because here's the truth: The South isn't lost. It's not permanently red. It's full of people hungry for leaders who see them, who fight for them, who refuse to let hate and apathy win. Aftyn Behn is that voice. This campaign is that movement. So buckle up and listen to what real resistance sounds like when it's forged in cast iron and tempered in Southern fire. Special election is December 2nd. Get off your ass and get involved at aftynforcongress.com [http://aftynforcongress.com]

Kevin Jenkins - Talking Truth in the Shadow of Tragedy

In the wake of Charlie Kirk's shocking assassination, we sit down with Kevin Jenkins—a young Black man running for Congress in Tennessee's blood-red 1st district, where he's one of the few faces that don't look like the overwhelming majority. From the poorest county in Tennessee, Kevin's doing the hard work of building bridges in Trump country while folks on the right try to paint progressives as bloodthirsty monsters. We dig into the real aftermath of political violence—not the manufactured outrage, but the genuine horror felt by decent people across the political spectrum. Kevin breaks down what it's like organizing in rural Appalachia, fighting for universal healthcare and affordable housing in places where Diana Harshbarger votes against her own constituents' interests, and why the real enemy isn't your Republican neighbor—it's the billionaires keeping us all down. This isn't about left versus right. It's about top versus bottom, and it's time we started acting like it. Because the South isn't just red, y'all—it's hurting, and it deserves better than the politics of division and cruelty.

Jess Limbird is Proving Progressives Aren't Alone in Rural Tennessee

From Alaska to Marshall County: How One Woman is Building a Progressive Resistance in Rural Tennessee In this powerful episode, the Cast Iron crew sits down with Jess Limbird, the Democratic Party chair in Marshall County, Tennessee—a place so red it went 78% for Trump in 2024. But don't let those numbers fool you. Jess, who spent two decades in Alaska working with Native students and fighting broken systems, came home to Tennessee with a fire in her belly and a clear mission: prove that progressives aren't isolated blue dots drowning in a red sea. From organizing "Bearing Witness" protests every Saturday on the town square to mobilizing the community to save their beloved Black city manager from a racist firing, Jess is showing rural Tennessee what real grassroots power looks like. This isn't your typical political organizing story—it's about finding joy in the fight and building relationships that transcend party lines. Whether she's talking about the "blue dot syndrome" that keeps progressives feeling defeated or sharing how rural values are actually progressive values when you strip away the Fox News talking points, Jess embodies the Cast Iron spirit: standing sturdy, speaking truth, and refusing to let the South slide into hate. As she gears up to run for city council, her message is clear—we crawl before we run, we show up for our neighbors, and we never forget that resistance starts at the kitchen table, not in Washington D.C.

Narcan Nate's Battle to Preserve Harm Reduction

When Boots-on-the-Ground Meets Policy Hell This week, Steve sits down with Nathan "Narcan Nate" Smiddy, a fellow traveler from the rooms who went from small-town Tennessee addict to one of the most respected harm reduction advocates on the West Coast. Nate's story cuts deep—from growing up in a cop family in Jellico to chasing that first devastating high, to finding his calling keeping people alive on the streets of San Diego. He doesn't sugarcoat the reality: people use meth to stay awake and safe on dangerous streets, they lose their cars to $600 parking tickets while living in them, and the system is designed to punish rather than heal. But Nate shows up anyway, carrying Narcan, treating wounds, and testing drug supplies because he knows that staying alive is the first step toward getting better. The Fight Gets Harder Under Trump's New Order Just as harm reduction efforts were starting to show real results—national overdose deaths finally dropping in 2023—Trump's new executive order threatens to drag us back to the failed "tough love" approach of the 1980s. Nate breaks down how the administration plans to gut funding for evidence-based programs, reward cities for criminalizing homelessness, and push people toward RFK Jr.'s dystopian farm camps instead of proven treatments like MAT. It's the same old story: politicians who've never lived it making moral judgments about medical problems. But as Nate says, this isn't the time to back down—it's time to get louder, show up at city council meetings, and take care of our own communities the way harm reduction activists have been doing since the beginning. Resources: https://nextdistro.org/ [https://nextdistro.org/] https://metrodrug.org/ [https://metrodrug.org/] https://www.hellbenderharmreduction.org/ [https://www.hellbenderharmreduction.org/] https://www.asapofanderson.org/ [https://www.asapofanderson.org/]