Tommy Tomlinson
Tommy Tomlinson has hosted the podcast SouthBound for WFAE since 2017. He also does a commentary, On My Mind, which airs every Monday.
He's the author of "The Elephant in the Room," a memoir about life as an overweight man in a growing America. He spent 23 years as a reporter and local columnist for the Charlotte Observer, where he was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in commentary. He has also written for publications including Esquire, ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Garden & Gun. He’s a graduate of the University of Georgia and was a 2008-09 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
Tommy and his wife, Alix Felsing, live in Charlotte.
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An important player in Charlotte’s civic evolution passed away last week. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, says she was special for how she went about changing our city. -
This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Kate Medley, a photographer who spent years roaming the South to take pictures of gas station food, and the people and places that serve it. Her photos are collected in a new book called “Thank You Please Come Again.”
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A proposal to expand legal gambling in North Carolina got dropped from the state budget in last-minute negotiations. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, says it might just delay the inevitable.
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The turnout for Charlotte’s primary elections on Tuesday was, in a word, abysmal. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, looks at some of the reasons.
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This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Nat Glover, who in 1995 was elected sheriff of Jacksonville, Florida, becoming the first Black sheriff in Florida since Reconstruction. He’s written a new memoir about how he earned his way there, and about the terrifying moment that defined his childhood.
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We haven’t officially changed seasons yet, but WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson senses a bit of fall in the air. In his "On My Mind" commentary, he talks about it being a beginning rather than an ending.
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The shooting of a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill sent shockwaves through the campus and out into the wider world. But WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, wonders how long we’ll remember.
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This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks college football — and many other things — with Ryan Nanni, one of the hosts of the strange and wonderful podcast called the "Shutdown Fullcast." Among other things, they discuss whether Tommy owes any money to a basketball-playing dog.
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WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson and his family ran smack into the COVID-19 wall last week. In his "On My Mind" commentary, he talks about an unexpected silver lining.
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This week on SouthBound, we're replaying host Tommy Tomlinson's 2020 conversation with comedian Roy Wood Jr. It’s an interesting look back at the first days of COVID-19 and how it informed Wood’s comedy — and his ability to perform. Roy and Tommy also get into it over pimento cheese.
