This episode is brought to you by Alianz Travel Insurance. From visiting the in-laws in Indiana to sightseeing in Sicily, a year's worth of travel can come with its share of stress, and All Trips' annual travel insurance plan can help you tackle every trip you take this year with confidence. Learn more at AlianzTravel Insurance.com. From the Mighty 990 Broadcast Center, you're waking up in Starnes Country with Todd Starns. All right, if you woke up in a fog, it's not you.
It is a little foggy out there. Hello, everybody. Welcome to Starnes Country this morning. I am Todd Stearns. Thank you for hanging out with us today in the Principal Toyota Memphis studio, 48 degrees.
Laura Huckabee is going to be along just a little while later with your forecast. By the way, heads up, Thursday, Friday could be a little rough with the weather. We're keeping an eye on a big system. Looks like it's going to be really bad in Middle and East Tennessee, but we've got a pretty good shot at things getting a little nasty here. No worries, because when severe weather breaks out, we're going to break in and we'll provide you with the very latest information to keep you and your family safe at home and on the roadways.
So we have a lot to talk about today. I mean, a lot to talk about. And I want to get started with this crazy story.
Someone sent me a story and they said, What in the world is going on in Memphis? And I thought, Oh, geez, a loo. You know, we've been in the national news so many times, and it's usually not for good stuff. And, you know, here lately, though, everybody's been behaving themselves. But there is a story that is a little embarrassing.
You know, yesterday on our national show, which you can hear 11 to 2, we told you about what happened with Hilton Hotels, one of their independent franchisees. Doubled down or really tripled down and refused to provide rooms for ICE agents, even though the hotel had a contract with the federal government to do that. And of course, now that hotel chain, they've lost all affiliation with Hilton and corporate stepped in and said, Yeah, we're not going to tolerate this.
So, anyway, that's being taken care of. But we have a similar situation here.
So, Channel 3 did this story, and I was very familiar with this diner, I guess, if you want to call it. They want to call it a restaurant. Uh that's a bit of a stretch. Uh this is a um it's a diner in Orange Mound. And they've sort of become a gathering place for the woke leftist crowd.
And they hate They hate the National Guard. They hate the Memphis Safe Task Force. And, of course, they're all complaining. They're crying now that they're all victims. And Channel 3 went in.
And this story has now gone national, which is why I want to talk about it because we've got to set the record straight here. We're going to listen to the Channel 3 report. Then I'm going to tell you what Channel 3 failed to report. Take a listen. The business owner repeatedly asked them to get off the f ⁇ Property and they refuse.
This video circulating on social media has many confused as law enforcement agents are seen standing in front of DeSalmon's shop unwilling to leave the property despite protests. I have no idea what made them make that choice. I pulled up as a business owner, asked them to remove their vehicle from right in front of my door. And 60 seconds later, it was 40 National Guard outside. I'm just a business owner, man.
I'm a citizen. Why are y'all doing this to me? They here to help God. Can I get an ass to anybody? I asked Brown if the officers were denied service and he said no.
But he also told me he wouldn't serve them even if they asked for service. As a business owner, it's my right, man, to let them people know that I did not want them here, regardless of whether they liked it or not, like they needed to move. One man who filmed the situation calls it a clear violation and an intimidation tactic. For them to completely ignore a business owner's request to get off the property, I mean, that's sending a message that we don't care about your rights. You saw federal agents flood in, you saw Memphis police flood in, and they protected themselves.
They looked out for them, not your average judge. This is normal. This is living in the city of Memphis as a black man. The whole situation lasted a little over 30 minutes, with the guard and law enforcement eventually leaving without making any arrests. Rob Brown told me he's experiencing PTSD as a result of the situation and says he has not been contacted by law enforcement.
Enforcement since. I reached out to Memphis Police and the U.S. Department of Justice for a comment on the situation and have not heard back. All right, that was channel three. I got into PTSDs.
No, no, sir. You do not have the PTSD. You may have acid reflux based on the menu, but you don't have PTSD.
So, a couple of things here. There's a lot of video. And by the way, you heard those nasty foulmouth. Are those the defecate Memphis people? I think that may be who that was.
Again, I don't want there are a lot of leftist groups out there. But anyway, they've got signs up, and this guy clearly hates ICE. They hate the National Guard. They hate the Memphis Safe Task Force. And I'm just going to, no, I haven't eaten there.
What is it called again? Duh Sandwich. Shop, d spot, okay, da sandwich. Spot. That's the name of the the fine eating establishment there in Orange Mound.
You know, the guy said this is the black man's reality in what, Memphis? No, sir. The black man's reality in Memphis is getting shot by another black man. That is your reality, sir. And we're trying to stop that.
Right.
So, um, many things that the channel three report did not get into that I just want to set the record straight here because we, there are some questions, and but I'm going to play this other clip of audio. And this is the guy, the owner, walking out of the diner. And it's kind of in this run-down strip mall, and the sign of the sign, they have like a I don't know if they went to the printing store and they printed out a banner and they taped it to the, or I don't know, it's right and then it's like folded over.
So you can see all of this in the actual video, but the guy goes out to confront the. The National Guard troops, who are, by the way, you can, they're scattered over the entire area.
So it's very clear they're on patrol in Orange Mound. And I know that Tammy Sawyer and all those people say that Orange Mound is actually safer than Germantown, that Orange Mound is the new Germantown. But we all know that is just simply not true. There's a lot of crime, there's a lot of violence here, and it's not fair to the people who own homes in Orange Mound.
So the National Guard troops are out there, and they're just patrolling this strip mall, and this little diner is right there in this little tiny strip mall.
So here's the owner. Take a listen. Did y'all ever get to charge it for me? Y'all ever get the sergeant for me, whoever I suppose been talking to? Where are you at?
Your supervisor? Yeah. What's the issue? Why y'all out here like this in front of my space? Oh, you moved the name?
I appreciate that. I told you about that. I'm just asking that because, like, y'all still very aggressively inside of this space. Very aggressively inside. As a citizen, I'm saying that right now I feel very unsafe because of you all's presence.
And that doesn't bother y'all.
Well, you're the extreme minority with that one. No, I don't because I'm the only person up here right now. We can ask anybody else that's up here in this immediate vicinity: do they feel safe space? That's top notch. Y'all ain't in front of their space.
Y'all ain't over there. Y'all right here.
Okay. Y'all right here.
So I'm saying for personally, just meet up. Yeah. So y'all don't care that y'all making me feel unsafe? It means then, yeah. It is what it is, right?
It means nothing. We're told to patrol this area, so we're going to patrol this area right here in front of this dough. Hey, do you have we look again like you asked me? I'm just asking like but your body's still in front of it. All right.
And it goes, it's fifteen minutes. 15 minutes. And you heard the guy very aggressive, storming out of his little rundown diner there, which, by the way, is an activist location. They do a lot of activist work.
So there's a lot more to this story that Channel 3 failed to report and put it into context.
Now, we reached out to the Memphis Safe Task Force as well. I just said, hey, we need some context here. Can you give us the rest of the story? But when you see the video, You know exactly what's going on. These guys were on patrol, and they're not they're literally not standing in the front, in the front door of this restaurant.
That is not happening. They're not intimidating. As a matter of fact, it's the exact opposite. It's the store owner who came out. And confronted the National Guard folks, and you heard the supervisor there.
He sounded like, did he sound angry to you? Did he sound intimidating? I got to PTSD. No, I don't think you do, sir. I really don't think you do.
So look, it if you don't want to serve ice agents in the National Pod did you hear that though? Oh, I serve everybody. I ain't serving them. No, wa wait, what? There's a big sign on their door that says stop no ice access in this business.
Notice to all law enforcement and immigration agents. Kind of hard to miss. But you know what? They're not in his restaurant. And he kept talking about being the owner of the restaurant.
That's all well and good. My question is: sir, are you the owner of that strip mall? That's the question. But these guys have a right. The National Guard has a right to patrol wherever they want to patrol.
And I wish they'd come on down to East Memphis because we got a whole lot of crime happening down at East Memphis now.
So, anyway, we're going to give you an opportunity. Maybe there is a restaurant here in the Memphis area that actually supports law enforcement and welcomes law enforcement. We're going to let you guys give them a shout-out this morning. I want you to write down our telephone number: 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926.
I don't see anything that these guys are doing. And quite frankly, If I'm a restaurant owner or a business owner in Orange Mound, I'm gonna bring out some iced tea and lemonade to the National Guard troops. God bless you guys. And how many times have we heard that from citizens literally all across the city? They are so glad, and we know that because what President Trump said, what crime down over 70% in our city.
I I just think that's a wonderful thing. But again, this guy at Dot Samitch. Spot in orange. I want to make sure I get it. I want to pronounce it correctly.
It's on Park Avenue. DA sandwich. No, there's not a D in this sandwich. S-A-M-M-I-C-H spot. All right.
We're going to take a quick break here. We'll get to your calls coming up. Let's check in with 901-260-5926, our number. That's 901-260-5926. Commander Chuck, standing by.
All right, 48 degrees, 20 minutes past the hour. Welcome to Starnes Country and the principal Toyota Memphis studio. By the way, I want to give a shout out to our Patriot of the Week, a store clerk at the quick check on Alcy Road near Perry Road. Apparently, a bad guy came in Sunday. Pulled out a gun and demanded that the store clerk hand over the cash.
Instead, the store clerk pulled out his own gun and shot the suspect.
So, well done, store clerk, and that's the way you do it, folks. This is why you should engage in your Second Amendment rights lawfully. And be sure to take a be sure to make sure you get your license and take the classes. But well done to the store clerk at the quick check store. And here's one thing we can guarantee.
That suspect is not going to go back into that store anymore. That's it. All right, let's go to the phone lines here: 901-260-5926. Tim in South Memphis. Tim, good morning to you.
Hey Todd. Yeah, I'm willing to drive up. I live just down Pendleton from Park. I'm going to drive up to the sandwich shop. and give the guy one hundred bucks provided he use it to feed ICE agents exclusively.
I'll give them cash, but it's stipulation Wow.
So you th do you think that he would actually feed? Because I mean, there's a big sign that says ICE agents are not allowed on the premises.
Well, you know, he's being totally ridiculous, first of all. And I agree with you that that whole PTSD thing is just that's Absurd. And I just want to kind of call them on it. And the only way I could think to do it was say, okay, buddy, here's $100. But you gotta feed ice atriums.
I don't know what he would do. What do you think he'd do? I don't probably call Papa John's. I don't know. It's.
You know, Tim, I would say this. If you do that, I love that. No, no, no. Look, I get where you're coming from, and you sound like a great patriot. If you do that, I would ask for receipts and proof of food service.
So there needs to be like a photograph of the National Guard troops getting the food. We're going to have to see proof. Right, right.
Well, I would hang out, you know, or something. Yeah, I agree with you. has to be proven that he does it. But I I I suppose the bad part about it is I'm provoking him, you know. No, I think he's provoking this, and I think these activist groups are trying to provoke something.
You know, we had the Collins on, the guy running for county mayor, and he was talking about how, well, I don't like the National Guard troops, you know, that the uniforms.
Okay, well, what if they were like in civilian clothes? Is that okay? What's the big deal here? Yeah, what's the big deal? They're trying to stop crime.
That's what they're doing. What is wrong with that? Yeah, exactly. And there's nothing wrong with it. And I can Tim, I can promise you there are more people in Orange Mound who are thankful that the National Guard is patrol are patrolling the streets there than these Yahoos.
Yeah, yeah. Anyway, great talking to you, Todd. Keep it up. All right, Tim, thanks for calling in in South Memphis. And it's really simple, folks.
That's how you do it. Just pick up the phone. Give us a call, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Of course, the Memphis Flyer is all over this, and they're siding with the radicals.
They're also siding with the people that were protesting outside Kustoff's office. By the way, I want to share these numbers real quick. A new civics poll is out. They asked Tennesseans about President Trump and 40. Only 43% of Tennessee residents disapprove of the President's job performance.
51% approve. 6% don't feel one way or the other. Those between the ages of 18 and 34, most unfavorable. 50% to 64%, most favorable at 63%. By the way, um Want to share some news from the Shelby County Republican Party last night.
They had, they're telling me the reports I'm getting, and if you were at the meeting, you can call in and verify this information that I'm about to share with you. But I've been hearing reports that it was one of the largest crowds ever to show up for a Shelby County Republican meeting, and it was just almost standing room only. A lot of people deciding to throw their name into the hat. Let me just say something. I know there are a lot of frustrated Republicans.
They don't see a lot of Republican names on the people that have filed paperwork yet.
Well, the Republican Party can't go up and put a gun to somebody's head and force them to run. That's on You.
So you need to be really doing some soul searching here. And if we're going to change the direction of Memphis and Shelby County, we're going to need bold patriots willing to stand up and run for office. We can't force you to do that. That's something that you're going to have to be willing to do. And I know it's a lot of work, but you know what?
You're going to have a lot of good people behind you working alongside you to get you across the finish line.
So, anyway, there's been a change in leadership. Worth Morgan, who was just recently elected chair, resigned effectively immediately last night at the meeting. Worth's wife has been going through a pretty serious health crisis. And, of course, they have a newborn child on top of that. Family comes first, folks.
I mean, that's the reality. Family comes first. And so he's doing what he needs to do as a husband and as a father. And he's taking care of his wife and his child. And I want you to do me a favor.
I don't care who you are, if you're a Democrat, Independent, Republican, Libertarian, one of those purple-haired people in the Yasubaroos. I want you to say a prayer for Worth and his wife and their family. They need that, and they're good, decent people, and we need to be lifting them up in prayer. I truly believe in the power of prayer. And let's just pray that God would work a wonderful miracle there.
That being said, there is an interim chair, and her name is Rachel Wall. I'm just going to say this. I've met her multiple times, and she is one of the Top political strategists and minds in the Mid-South. I mean, just a brilliant mind. There will be a vote in a couple of weeks to make that official.
And whoever's going to be running, we'll get them on, and you'll be able to talk to them and ask questions and whatever.
So that's what we do here. But I'm just telling you, she is sharp, and the Republican Party is in very, very good hands.
So we'll keep you updated on all those developments. But again, we need people that are willing to run. You know, all you folks complaining about the school board will do something about it.
Well, Todd, you know, I got I got I got no, no, no, no, you're a taxpayer. You've got a problem with something, put your name in the hat. Get out there. Make a difference. All right.
Remember we told you Austin P was in the national headlines a couple of weeks back, well, a couple of months back. There was a professor saying awful things about Charlie Kirk.
Well, the professor was fired. But now we have an update. It turns out they rehired the professor and they gave him a lot of taxpayer cash. Take a listen. Massive settlement for an APSU professor suspended after sharing an article quoting Charlie Kirk.
We just learned the university paid half a million dollars to Darren Van Michael. Van Michael was suspended from Austin Peace State University back in September after he shared an article quoting Kirk's own thoughts about gun violence. APSU eventually decided to bring Van Michael back after an apparent threat of a lawsuit. The university is now paying him $500,000 to prevent any potential lawsuit, including First Amendment claims. The university also agreed to apologize for not following the tenure termination process.
And there you go. We're going to talk more about that on the national show. Wanted to give you a little tease there of that crazy story. Also, I got to give a shout out to the owner of Peace's Italian Deli. It's over in the forum.
If you've been to Poplar, those big brown buildings over on the, you know what I'm talking about, right? As you're heading to Germantown. Mm-hmm. There's a great little Italian deli that just opened up a couple of months back. That place is insanely good.
Dropped by, grabbed a sandwich. And it turns out the guy is a big fan of K-Wham. He listens to the national show. He said he can't call in because he's so busy making the meatballs. I think that's a pretty good reason not to be able to call into the Todd Stern show.
You got to make the meatballs. Anyway, go over and say hello to him. Pieces Italian Deli in the forum off of Poplar. Hang tight. We've got our buddies at Strategic Financial Partners coming up on Starns Country, the principal to go to Memphis Studio.
Oh, that's terrible. Oh, geez, we got to watch those microphones. You never know. We have conversations during the commercial break. Welcome back, everybody.
This is Starns Country in the Principal Toyota Memphis studio. I've got to tell you, Shanklin, our good buddy, he writes our parody stuff. He said, I got to get, he says, you got to hook me up with Lochner, Todd Lochner, over at Principal Toyota. They're getting a new vehicle. And so I'm glad to be able to do that.
But I'm wondering, does Lochner give me like a finder's fee over at Principal Toyota? We're going to have to work on that. Maybe our friends at Strategic Financial Partners can work out the actual lingo and the language. Adam Martin, financial advisor, Chris Loftus, financial services rep, and the website strategicfinancialpartners.com. I am actually, I'm leaving behind the Cadillac, and I'm going to get something small and sporty.
There you go. Convertible. That I can fit into.
So not a Subaru. Maybe a Midsummer. No, no, no. I don't, yeah. My blinker doesn't cut that way as they say.
I'm going to be in trouble. We have a, let me just say, we love Subaru drivers. And there's a guy in Eads, and every time I talk about Subaru drivers, he calls and says, Todd, we're good church-going Baptists. I feel so bad. I'm just.
Wow. Can we see that? It's all good fun. Absolutely. All good fun.
All good fun. It's a new year. Indeed, it is a new year. Guys, we've got a lot to talk about. And I am telling you, everybody is so excited about the economy.
We ended 2025 in some really good territory. And it looks like we're just going to have an exciting year financially here in the. Here in the country. Of course, right now, though, everybody's working on getting ready for tax season. And let's talk about preparing for your taxes and tax funding.
What do you guys recommend folks do?
Well, first, I'm going to disclose that we aren't tax advisors. We always say go to your tax professional, your CPA. That's their specialty. That's what they know best. We help strategize around tax-efficient investment strategies that coincide with what your CPA recommends.
But yeah, this is definitely the period where we have up until April the tax filing deadline to look at things. You know, if we want to do prior year contributions to retirement accounts, we can still do that.
So this is a great period of time where you can work with your financial professional and you can work with your CPA and really put together a plan that We always say Uncle Sam's our business partner, but we try to fire him every chance we can. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I got to tell you, my poor accountant, I get the email like, I got it like last week, and they're like, we need your taxes now because they know I procrastinate.
So, you know, so they'll have him in by the 15th in April if they start bugging me about it right now. Yeah. Let's talk about some of those strategies, Chris. What are some of the tax strategies that people may be overlooking? They may not even know about.
Absolutely. Well, the main thing that we like to focus on when it comes to people is, A, what Adam was talking about, getting started early, not really waiting until the last second where you are, again, procrastinating, waiting around for that mail to come, waiting for, oh, I need to wait for this. Oh, I need to go ahead and call my CPA the week that everything is due. Go ahead and start now, first and foremost, because that will allow you to actually get everything in a row and allow yourself to start giving yourself the benefit of that strategy, giving yourself the benefit of planning. Planning out what that year is going to look like, what happened this previous year, what you'll be able to do that will be able to put you ahead of the 1% or the majority of the other people and put you in that 1%.
Long story short. But I think Adam and I have work with a lot of different people when it comes to strategies. I think Adam works more primarily in that world than I do. What do you typically see with that, Adam? I just want to use a personal story.
I mean, just the other day, it was December the 28th, and I'm getting a call right after Christmas. And so this tells me that. During a major holiday, people are still thinking about these things. It's still on their mind.
So the question was: hey, what do I need to do before the 31st? And I was able to ease their mind by saying, listen, you have until April. We don't have to make this decision today. But that just tells me they're thinking about this in 2025, and then they're going to go into 2026. And it's their opportunity to make the changes that they're wanting to make.
And this is that grace period where we have the opportunity to do things prior in the prior year and still be ahead in 2026. I love something President Trump said. They were doing a debate once, and they were blasting him for not paying taxes or not paying a lot of taxes. And he says, yes, that should be the goal of every single American, right? And that's why you need to have a plan going in to help lower that tax burden.
Well, I mean, these lawmakers, they Make these laws not to just benefit the citizens of the United States, but to benefit them.
So we're playing the same game that they're playing.
So, and that's what I try to tell my clients: listen. There are tax-efficient ways that we can do this. And a lot of the things, too, is not so much the taxes that you may owe in the previous year or this year, as much as future planning tax strategies.
So we have the three-bucket strategy that we always tell people: why should we save to the IRA?
Well, it's tax-deferred dollars, or the 401k is tax-deferred. You don't pay taxes today. It grows tax-deferred, and it comes out taxable when you take distributions.
Well, what about that Roth IRA?
Well, this is our opportunity for you to pay the taxes today.
So we know what the tax rate is today, and it grows tax-free and comes out tax-free. And same for the, you know, like a brokerage account that's only taxed at long-term capital gains. And this is why you need to give Adam and Chris a call because they can help you guys work through all of this. And, you know, I know a lot of you have already started looking ahead to April. Strategic FinancialPartners.com is the website.
That's strategicfinancialpartners.com. I want to give about Adam's number and Chris's number, 901-260-2100. 2438, that's for Adam, and Chris Loftus, 901-657-3324.
So, if you want to reach out to them and they're going to be able to help you and give you some great advice here, I want both of you guys to kind of tackle this one. What do you say to listeners who want to make 2026 the year they finally decide, you know what, I'm going to get proactive about taxes. You know, we want to start saving for the future. We want to start building a plan leading to retirement. What do you say to those folks?
My simple as this, I'm a pretty straightforward guy. I can always lead a horse to water, but I can't make it drink.
So make 2026 the year that you drink the water. You know, let's take, sit down, let's talk about a strategy and implement the plan. You know, let's get out of being a dreamer and start being a doer. I think it goes into valuing advice, right?
So many times we are very much hesitant to just go off and do what everybody else is doing or everybody else says. We want to make it unique to ourselves. what we would like to recommend to people is, hey, start building your team. What does that look like? Hey, who's your CFO in your life?
Who's your chief financial officer? Who's your C chief of operations? Hey, everybody needs a CPA, right? If your situ situation Necessitates that, you need a CPA.
Well, guess what? A financial advisor goes hand in hand with that as well. Same with your doctor, same with your lawyer. If you've got people that you're going to for certain things, why are you leaving all your financial decisions up to chance by going, oh, I'll see what's going on online, or I'll see what Chat GPT says about it? We want to make sure that, hey, you're valuing the advice you get, where you're getting it from, and you're being proactive by Putting that into your regular plan as you make it, and not to where it's set in stone and you're obligated to it, but it's changing as you change with your life.
It's so smart. And again, it's common sense things. And sometimes we just forget about those very simple common sense approaches. And that's what I appreciate about you guys. It is about common sense.
Strategicfinancialpartners.com. Go check out the website. Give Adam and Chris a call. They can also reach out to you on the website. Absolutely.
Okay, very cool. Yeah, I saw y'all smug shots.
So you remember back in the day, I don't know if, were those like glamour shots or was that just like, you know, point and shoot? You know, this is pretty crazy how technology's evolved. That's not a professional headshot. That's just a regular camera phone that's got a professional background put behind it.
So back in the 80s, this is a long time ago, guys, we used to have these things at the mall where you could go and get a glamour shot. You know, that was like all the rage. Did you put your hand on your chin? Oh, yeah. Had the feathered hair right down the middle.
I was looking, got the eyes odd, you know, the Nike blue. They only had like blue, and I think blue, black, and red were the only options. Available.
So back in the day. By the way, big news for Ole Miss. Are you guys Ole Miss fans at all? Quite the opposite. Quite the opposite.
Mississippi. Jesus Hello. All right. Hail State.
Well, this is not going to mean anything to you guys.
So I'm at the, I had to get my drugs yesterday. And my, I go to Germantown Pharmacy for my drugs and my chicken spaghetti from Oh Great. It's a weird combo, but you can get anything in that joint. Anyway, Tammy, we'll give a shout out to Tammy at who she's listing this morning. She's my, not my dealer, she's my druggist.
Ha ha ha ha ha. Try like drying. Can we start over? Anyway, yeah, I'm going to start the year over.
So, anyway, she's heading out to Phoenix for the big game. And so, this is sort of exciting. I know Delta and Southwest have announced that they're adding nonstop flights to their schedule just for Ole Miss fans.
So, they're going to be shuttling a lot of people from Memphis International to Sky Harbor there in Phoenix. I'm really rooting for an Indiana Ole Miss national championship. Would that not be great? That would be great. My grandfather was born and raised in Indiana, so I will personally be pulling for Indiana.
Wow, that's and our thoughts and prayers are with the Auburn Tigers. Man, they keep getting screwed at that call last night. Oh, my gosh. They never get a break. No, it's just not good.
It's not good. This is coming from a Tennessee fan. All right. Strategic FinancialPartners.com. Guys, always good to see you.
And we appreciate the great advice you're giving our K-Wham listeners. Happy to be here. All right. Staying tight, everybody. Got to take a break.
We'll be right back. You see, I knew I was going to get it wrong. I don't speak Italian, it's pesches. or Pesci's Italian deli. It's at 6750 Poplar Avenue, and they're just, I got the roast beef, the hot roast beef sandwich, which was pretty spectacular.
But they also have pasta, homemade sauces. They call them gravy, I think is what they call it. But man, that stuff is a lot of fun. And I love supporting our fellow conservatives. And I know they're big fans of K-Wham, and I know you're going to love it.
Pop over there. It's a small little place, but they have some, you can eat there, or you can get it to go, or you can eat outside. It's going to be, what, 70-something degrees today?
So you can certainly do that. I have a question for you, and only because, and I need some quick advice here. We've got a lot of folks coming to town, bringing in some folks, and they're going to be in town for like four days. And Two of them have never been to to Memphis before, and I need a list of places that we should take them and perhaps places that we should eat that are not barbecue related. I already know we've got the barbecue thing taken care of.
So I'm curious, do you have any recommendations, first-time visitors to Memphis, what they need to see? I know I have Stacks Museum on my list. But I need you guys to help us out here.
So give us a call if you have a recommendation for a great restaurant. We got bog and I got bogged and barley on the Well no, I don't have duh sandwich. Spot on the list, Helen. I don't have that on the list. I do have Bach Barley on the list.
So, anyway, give us a call this morning. If you have some recommendations, some must-do things when my guests are here from out of town, 901-260-5926. Again, that's 901-260-5926.
So, the New York Times. has uh published A big piece on Memphis, and they've named Memphis to the prestigious 52 Places to Go in 2026 list. And I thought, oh, that's pretty cool because, you know, we do have, I mean, we've got a great river, you know, we've got the river boats, you've got the Bass Pro shop, and you know, we've got a lot of great stuff to do, Peale Street.
So I'm reading this piece here in the New York Times yesterday, and it turns out that that's not why we're on the list. According to the New York Times, Memphis is a must-visit destination. Because of our Museums I hmm. Yeah. According to the New York Times, Memphis is looking to 2026 as a moment of renewal and reflection following last year's devastating arson attack at Claiborne Temple, the historic headquarters of the 1968 sanitation workers' strike, supported by Dr.
King. Have we established, I mean, they're making it sound like this was some sort of an attack on civil rights. Have we determined who was actually responsible? Was it burned down because I don't know the Klan was in town? Is that who was responsible?
It was just the framing of the story is just a little off, is what I'm trying to get at. From that tragedy has emerged a renewed commitment to preserving history while creating space for deeper understanding and dialogue. This spring, the National Civil Rights Museum will unveil a redesign of its legacy building. They're going to include five new galleries. And they're going to be exploring themes like poverty, education, housing.
Gender Equity and Nonviolence. And I think, though, that most people, if they're going to go to the museum, are probably going to look to buy, I don't know, a souvenir or a t-shirt, not necessarily sit down for A Lesson on Gender Equity. I may be wrong, but I'm just saying. Also, One of the exhibits will examine the Poor People's Campaign. and modern civil rights movements.
The New York Times also highlighted milestones across the arts and cultural landscape. Not the Orpheum. Nope, not the Halloran Center. Nope, nope, nope, not theater, Memphis. Nope, nope, nope.
Not playouts on the square. Mm-hmm. And their dancing drag queens and the Wizard of Oz. Nope, that's not it. It's the Hattiloo Theater.
the only freestanding black repertory theater in a five state region.
So they're celebrating that. And then, of course, they're celebrating what now is going to be known as the Memphis Art Museum. They ditched the word Brooks. And they're promoting the Dystopian museum that's being built. On overlooking the Mississippi River.
Have you seen the designs for that place? It's just. I don't know, it's just weird, man. But that's just me. I'm not an architect, but it looks like something you would see in the old Soviet era.
Nothing that says, you know, oh, come inside. Have some lemonade. Look at our pretty pictures.
So anyway, that's the New York Times. It just seems to me if you're going to do something like this, I'm not sure that people are people going to come to Memphis. To attend a gender equity exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum. Who was it?
Somebody called in. It was a long time ago and said, Todd, that museum is as woke as the day is long. And that's disappointing, but I'm not surprised. I'm really not surprised.
So, anyway, there you go. And again, if you this week, just give me some advice, give me some guidance on things that we need to take our folks around to see. Because, I mean, I've done the traditional stuff. You know, I had been here six back home. I'd moved back home six years, I'd never been to the Saks Museum.
And it was remarkable and spent a lot of time there. Of course, KWAM has a very rich history. And has a very important role. In the musical heritage of Memphis and the Mid-South. This station started in Arkansas, in West Memphis, then moved across the river.
And we've had Lord knows how many artists have had shows on K-WAM, going back to Johnny Cash, B.B. King, and of course, Elvis Presley, who played for the very first time on the radio on K-Wham back in the day.
So just a great history. And of course, Jerry the King Lawler was a DJ. Here on this radio station, back when we were over on Flickr Street, if you remember those days, we're still sort of compiling the history of. Of K-Wam. And if you have any nuggets, if you have any stories about K-Wam or any photos, old photos of K-Wam, we would love to see those.
Just give us a call. Drop us a line, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. And I've got to give a shout out to David Taylor, who is one of the finest photographers. This guy sends us photos and lets us share the photos on our social media pages.
And he said the correct pronunciation of the Italian deli is Pesci's. See, I'm really, that's my kryptonite. I'm just horrible at name pronunciation.
So my apologies, Pesci's, over at the forum. Yeah, no, try the meatballs too. No, I just had the roast meat, but the meatballs are great as well. And be sure to, and who knows, he may be playing K-Wham in the building when you drop by. All right, let me tell you what's happening today on the Todd Stern Show coming up at 11 o'clock.
We've got a Jam-Pack program. Yesterday, we had a terrific interview with a young man who escaped communism in Venezuela.
Now, a doctorate has a PhD in economics. A great story. You're going to hear a little bit more of that conversation along with some very special guests. 11 o'clock, right here on the Mighty 990. Get out there.
Have a great day, everybody. Be safe.
