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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Will the Carolina Panthers’ 2025 draft class make the team a contender again? Nobody knows — yet. And WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, says the anticipation is a beautiful thing.
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The restored Carolina Theatre holds a special place in Charlotte’s history. But WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, says it’s also a symbol of our potential now and in the future. -
Host Tommy Tomlinson's guest on this week’s SouthBound is Tom Acitelli, who has a new book “The Golden Age of Beer,” that features a different beer style for every week of the year. Acitelli grew up in Charlotte and talks to Tommy about some of his favorite Southern beers. -
The Trump administration’s tariffs have shaken the global economy and disrupted many Americans’ financial futures. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his “On My Mind” commentary, says the tariffs are a misguided search for a simpler world.
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Some North Carolina legislators introduced a bill recently to adopt a state hip-hop song. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, suggests some other good choices to update the state’s musical playlist.
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This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Annelise Mennicke, a UNC Charlotte professor whose federal grant was canceled as part of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting program. And also because her research involved trans people.
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The scandal over U.S. war plans made over a commercial texting app will linger for a while. But WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his “On My Mind” commentary, looks back at a moment where one of our own in North Carolina could have changed the path.
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The madness is upon us again in college basketball tournament season. But WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, wonders if it’s worth looking at our brackets a different way.
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This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Jim Barger Jr., author of a new book called “Rivers and Dreams,” on former President Jimmy Carter’s life as a fisherman — and how he often used fishing to cast the lines of diplomacy.
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For the first time in its modern history, South Carolina has executed a prisoner by firing squad. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his “On My Mind” commentary, says the echoes of that moment will last far longer than a rifle shot.
