Alabama Public Radio presents local writers reading their own works! The Alabama Writers Wednesday Night Showcase puts a spotlight on emerging voices in Alabama’s literary world. Episode two features Jodie Cain Smith from Mobile reading Splintered Reeds. It's a thriller that explores the fallout of a national catastrophe, the strength of family and the fight for survival in a world turned upside down.

Mark Berte is the Executive Director of the Alabama Coastal Foundation. He talks with Quick-Fire Quips host Baillee Majors about the ACF's mission, the importance of sea turtle conservation, and his favorite coastal animal (hint: it's not a sea turtle). Plus, how Alabama the Beautiful is living up to the name!

State Senator Robert Stewart sits down with StoryCorps and talks with family friend Gwen Carrington. They discuss what it was like for her growing up in Selma during the civil rights movement, and how they can help better the community.

This week, Don reviews The Length of Days by Lynn Kostoff.

Donald Trump announced 30% tariffs Saturday on the European Union, a move that will have repercussions for companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the U.S. The list includes Mercedes-Benz, which has its North American manufacturing plant in Tuscaloosa.

When planning a vacation, do you take your pet with you, or let it stay home? Either way requires some planning!

Alabama Public Radio was among the news organizations to be recognized during the Society of Professional Journalists “Green Eyeshade Awards,” which observed its seventy fifth anniversary as the nation’s oldest and largest regional competition to judge the best journalism in the southeast. APR received a First Place for “Best Documentary” for its eight month investigation into Alabama’s newly redrawn U.S. House Seat in District two, in the state’s impoverished Black Belt region.

The Alabama Public Radio news team is known for its major journalism investigations. We've been doing them for over a decade. Our most recent national award winning effort was an eight month investigation into Alabama's new U.S. House seat in the rural Black Belt region of the state. The new voting map was ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court so Alabama would be more fair to black residents. Now, anybody who follows the news might reasonably be thinking— what? The same high court that overturned Roe versus Wade and ended affirmative action in the nation's universities told Alabama that they needed to treat black voters better. Even the plaintiffs in the legal case of Allen versus Milligan told APR news they were gobsmacked they won. The goal after that legal victory was to make sure the new minority congressional district works. The point there was to keep conservative opponents from having the excuse to try to flip the voting map back to the GOP. And that's a moving target that could change at any moment, even as we speak, the job of managing all of these issues now falls to Congressman Shomari Figures. He was elected last November as the first US House member in Alabama's redrawn District two. Shomari figures joins me next on APR Notebook.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will keep working toward a new trade framework with the United States despite U.S. President Donald Trump saying he'll raise taxes on many imported goods from Canada to 35%. Trump's move deepens a rift between two North American countries that have suffered a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. Alabama U.S. House member Terri Sewell was in Tuscaloosa for a small business round table at the Edge Incubator Center. She says tariffs, overall, may hurt Alabama.

On this week's Keepin' It Real, Cam and a client discuss employee retention issues, and he shares an idea that may get you through any business turmoil that may lie ahead.

I talked with Alabama's newest member of Congress about the possible future impact on the state from Donald Trump's so called Big, beautiful Bill. Democratic U.S. House member Shomari Figures is the first person elected to Alabama's newly redrawn district two the US Supreme Court ordered the new voting map to better represent African Americans.

Federal judges will weigh a request to bring Alabama back under the pre-clearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act after ruling the state intentionally diluted the voting strength of Black residents when drawing congressional lines. The three judge panel will hear arguments on July 29th over whether any future changes to the state’s voting map should be made under federal review. The current fight resulted in a redrawn District two, now held by Democrat Shomari Figures, will be the subject of tonight’s APR Notebook at 7 p.m. on Alabama Public Radio.