WUOT News

2 days ago | wuot.org | Quil Lawrence |Tom Bowman

As many as 9,000 Afghan refugees are at risk of deportation, as the Trump administration has ended the temporary protected status (TPS) that allowed them to stay in the U.S. legally. The White House says their country is no longer dangerous for them, a contention that confounds Afghanistan watchers. "It's a death penalty for them if they return," said Zia Ghafoori, who worked as an interpreter in combat with U.S. Army Special Forces from 2002 to 2014.

2 days ago | wuot.org | Todd Steed

A Knoxville native, Todd began working at WUOT in 2006 as jazz coordinator now serves as program director and host of Studio 865/Flipside, Improvisations and Changing Course. Todd's newest podcast is Improvisations to Go. Todd got his start in radio at WUTK, where he served as both news and music director while earning his undergraduate degree in journalism at UT. He later earned a master’s degree in education from UT and worked for several years in Programs Abroad.

4 days ago | wuot.org | Nastia Voynovskaya

Bells Larsen's new album had been four years in the making, and he was preparing for his first U.S. tour when his plans came to an abrupt halt. The Canadian singer-songwriter began writing Blurring Time in 2021 as a way to process questions about his gender identity. Once he decided to transition, he recorded the tracks in his pre-testosterone voice and again after his voice deepened, harmonizing with the past version of himself.

2 weeks ago | wuot.org | Jacqui Sieber

They’re ugly, they’re loud and they’re crawling out of the ground. Brood XIV is a 17-year periodical cicada that last surfaced in 2008. When the soil eight inches below ground reaches 64 degrees, Brood XIV emerges and lives up to 5 weeks. In that time, the cicadas shed their exoskeletons, males begin their shrill mating call and females lay fertilized eggs inside tree twigs using a knife-like organ. Females can lay up to 600 eggs in their lifetime. The eggs hatch within seven weeks.

2 weeks ago | wuot.org | Todd Steed

A Knoxville native, Todd began working at WUOT in 2006 as jazz coordinator now serves as program director and host of Studio 865/Flipside, Improvisations and Changing Course. Todd's newest podcast is Improvisations to Go. Todd got his start in radio at WUTK, where he served as both news and music director while earning his undergraduate degree in journalism at UT. He later earned a master’s degree in education from UT and worked for several years in Programs Abroad.