Pat Duggins
Last year, Americans spent an estimated total of $13.3 billion on food and beverages for the Fourth of July. As we come together to celebrate Independence Day, food and drinks will be a highlight for many. Several of these dishes echo the same one that the Founding Fathers and American colonists ate in 1776, and others are completely different. One similarity appears to be the barbecue.
News & Commentaries From APR
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Maigen Sullivan is an Alabama native and the co-founder and co-executive director of the nonprofit Invisible Histories. She talks with Quick-Fire Quips host Baillee Majors about her childhood obsession with Rouge from X-Men (spoiler alert: it's still going strong!) and embracing the mysteries of the universe. Plus, her love for the Yellowhammer State's mountains and the resilience of Alabamians. -
Senate Republicans hauled President Donald Trump's big tax breaks and spending cuts bill to passage on the narrowest of votes, pushing past opposition from Democrats and their own GOP ranks after a turbulent overnight session. Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie to push it over the top. The outcome capped an unusually tense weekend of work at the Capitol, the president's signature legislative priority teetering on the edge of approval, or collapse. -
Major Edward Madison Jr. has lived a life of service to others. He served his community as a deacon at his local church, he served his country in the United States Air Force, and he currently serves the people of Selma, Alabama as their city attorney. This week on StoryCorps, Major Madison explores how he discovered his passion for public service. -
The measure taking effect today prohibits the sale of smokable marijuana products to minors. It also limits how consumable cannabis can be sold in stores or online. Vendors of Tetrahydrocannabinol will now have to register with Alabama’s Beverage Control Board and pay excise taxes. This chemical is also known as THC. It’s what makes people high when they use marijuana. -
This week, Don reviews "The Bliss of Your Attention" by David Borofka. -
Don't walk your dog in the heat of the day; find a time in early morning or in the evening, and stay on the grassy areas! Remember, your pet is barefoot! -
PAT DUGGINS-- If I were to say, ‘man, have you seen the price of eggs these days?’ You're probably thinking, Oh, he's talking about inflation and the price of groceries and how it became an issue in the presidential race and how nothing has changed, and so on and so on. That's not what I mean. I'm not talking about the kinds of eggs that build omelets. I mean the kinds of eggs that build families. -
Professors and students at the University of Alabama testified on Thursday that a new an anti-diversity, equity and inclusion law has jeopardized funding and changed curriculum, as a federal judge weighs whether the legislation is constitutional before the new school year begins. The new state law, SB129, followed a slew of proposals from Republican lawmakers across the country taking aim at DEI programs on college campuses. Universities across the country have shuttered or rebranded student affinity groups and DEI offices. -
The Supreme Court on Friday put off ruling on a second Black majority congressional district in Louisiana, instead ordering new arguments in the fall. The case is being closely watched because at arguments in March several of the court's conservative justices suggested they could vote to throw out the map and make it harder, if not impossible, to bring redistricting lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act. -
The premiere episode of "APR Notebook" looks into the "darker side of infertility." News Director Pat Duggins talks with University of Alabama professor Diane Tober about her book "Eggonomics." It's about the "wild west" atmosphere in the U.S. between wealthy infertile couples and young women who donate their human eggs at a price. It's a story of money, racism, and often—unintended consequences. -
A beach conversation earlier this week caught Cam's attention, and he asks if we've ever had so many known solutions to a common problem and ignored them. -
An issue here in Alabama is getting traction in the U.S. Senate as lawmakers debate Donald Trump’s so called Big Beautiful Bill. Members of the upper chamber are working to set aside Medicaid funding to help rural hospitals. APR news focused on that issue during its eight month investigation into the new U.S. House seat in District two.
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Alabama is known for football and white barbecue sauce. But we’re also making our mark in science, literature and the arts—and we helped put astronauts on the moon! Join APR news director Pat Duggins as he takes up topics like this with interviews on APR Notebook.
Dr. Don Noble, specializing in Southern and American literature, gives his weekly review on the work of Alabama’s finest authors.
Host Cam Marston brings fun weekly commentaries on generational and demographic trends to provide new ways to interpret the changing world around us.
Speaking of Pets with host Mindy Norton is a commentary for people who care about pets and want to celebrate that special relationship between humans and animal companions.
Sports Minded podcast with host Brittany Young features interviews with coaches, athletes and sports personnel. Insight, commentary and analysis on professional, collegiate and high school sports can be heard here.
Quick-Fire Quips is centered around people who stand out in Alabama. Host Baillee Majors presents guests with a questionnaire of playful personal questions and questions about the Yellowhammer State.
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It looks like the subject of invitro fertilization will figure prominently in Alabama's election in 2026 an attorney who specializes in helping infertile couples through IVF wants to be on the Alabama Supreme Court and a former high court and a former High Court Justice who helped write Alabama's controversial frozen embryos are children. Ruling wants to be attorney general. That's why I wanted to talk with University of Alabama Professor Diane Tober. She wrote the book “Eggonomics.” It's about the darker side of infertility. -
Music fans from all over the southeast just gathered in Birmingham to celebrate an artist you may not know. Headliners like Widespread Panic, Radiohead, and Outkast all say they’ve been influenced by the Alabama jazz pioneer Sun Ra. Here’s how one fan turned his interest in the first ever Sun Ra Day Festival… -
Sandy Stimpson is the 108th Mayor of Mobile and a proponent of the Port City's history, museums, art and, of course, Mardi Gras! Now in his final term in office, he talks to Quick-Fire Quips host Baillee Majors about what lies ahead after public service. Plus, how his wife of 50 years, Jean, is always the boss! -
This week on StoryCorps, siblings Kaitoria Banks and Cameron Reynolds tell their stories as members of the LGBTQ+ community in Alabama. -
Work continues in the U.S. Senate on what Donald Trump calls his big beautiful budget bill. Critics are concerned about possible cuts to Medicaid and the SNAP nutrition program. Alabama Medicaid says about a quarter of state residents gets health coverage this way. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says three quarters of a million Alabamians use SNAP -
This week, Don reviews "Lay Your Armor Down" by Michael Farris Smith. -
Alabama’s two U.S. Senators briefly used the website "X" to show their support for Saturday night’s U.S. Air strikes that reportedly showered three Iranian nuclear sites with a dozen or so “bunker buster” bombs and other weapons launched by B-2 stealth bombers and Navy submarines. -
A bored cat is not a happy cat, and might even get into trouble if there is no stimulation that keeps it busy and content! -
On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston seems to think writers are a good bit like Labrador retrievers - they can't not chase the stick, and writers can't not tell a story.
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C.J. Mosley is ready to tackle life beyond playing football. A five-time Pro Bowl selection during an 11-year NFL career with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens, Mosley announced Thursday, his 33rd birthday, that he's retiring. -
Today is Alabama’s first ever annual observance of Juneteenth. That’s the date back in 1865 when enslaved blacks in Texas learned that the Civil War was over and slavery had ended. Baseball fans in Birmingham will also mark the day with an annual negro league legends game. Here’s how both of these subjects come together. -
Alabama man accused of killing 18 people in 2023 and 2024, including two mass shootings, will go to trial in April next year, a judge ruled Tuesday. But his attorneys have raised concerns about whether it will be possible to select impartial jurors from a city still reeling from record levels of violence last year.
After the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, hundreds of children from the affected areas dealt with multiple health issues caused by radiation from the nuclear meltdown. A few years later, families from all across Alabama housed many of those same children for a summer to give them access to better healthcare and a reprieve from the radiation.