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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This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Pete Candler. He comes from a storied Southern family—one of his ancestors founded Coca-Cola—but Pete has written a new book about the secrets in his family’s history, and in the South’s history as well.
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A debate over how to use Charlotte’s tourism-tax money recently caused a bit of a fuss. But WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, says it’s part of a broader discussion.
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This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson convenes a panel of three experts on Charlotte for his second SouthBound Live event about the future of the city. This time we’re talking about affordable housing, equity, and what we can learn from the city’s history.
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South Carolina legislators are trying to solve a mystery: Where did $1.8 billion that suddenly showed up in a state bank account come from? WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, says it’s a very South Carolina kind of mystery.
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It’s April 1. But WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson says this "On My Mind" commentary isn’t a prank or an elaborate joke. It’s an appreciation. Because the first of April means we have finally shed winter.
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This week on SouthBound, we've got a live recording of a SouthBound panel discussion on the future of Charlotte. The panelists are Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Crystal Hill; Sil Ganzó, the founder of ourBRIDGE, which provides after-school programs for immigrant and refugee children; and John Searby, director of the Catawba Riverkeeper organization and the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens.
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WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson is hosting a SouthBound Live event this week. To get the full experience, you have to come, listen and engage. In his "On My Mind" commentary, Tomlinson reflects on how that may be challenging since just going out and seeing people has become a fight against inertia.
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Sports betting is now legal in North Carolina. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, ponders the winners and losers.
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This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Alice Randall, who became the first Black woman with a writing credit on a #1 country song with Trisha Yearwood’s 1994 hit “XXXs and OOOs.” Randall has now written a memoir called “My Black Country” and it comes with a companion album of the same name.
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Two recent stories involving North Carolina schools illustrate the challenges facing the state’s public school system. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, makes the connections.