Starting Tuesday, October 15, Jad Abumrad and WNYC Studios debut Dolly Parton’s America, a nine-part podcast series that will retrace the path of Parton’s rise to near-universal appeal.
The series features intimate recollections and insights from a range of people in the “Dollyverse”—starting with Parton herself. Culled from over 12 hours of interviews, the singer opens up on her life, her music, her business empire, faith, politics, and the afterlife.
Here is a partial list of interviewees:
• Dolly’s nephew and bodyguard, Bryan Seaver, takes Jad to the beloved Tennessee mountain home so often referenced in her lyrics—but thought by some to be myth
• Jane Fonda, 9 to 5 costar and longtime friend, gives her take on the 2017 Emmys moment
• Gloria Steinem, finds a kindred spirit in Dolly, and illustrates Dolly’s revolutionary level of control in her decisions, whatever they may be
• Students of the “Dolly Parton’s America” class at UT-Knoxville open up about how Dolly’s vision of the South is both empowering and diminishing to their sense of identity
• Dr. Naji Abumrad, a physician who advised Dolly after her 2014 car accident (and Jad’s father), describes his journey from Lebanon to the United States, and how Nashville became home
• Rhiannon Giddens talks about the migration of instruments over the last several centuries and how country music is the soundtrack of migration
• Charlie Hurst, manager of the Cas Walker grocery store where Dolly first performed, shares his memory of seeing her sing and getting her hair done for the first time at age 13
• Sarah Smarsh, author, scholar, and media commentator on socioeconomic class, politics and rural issues, believes that when it comes to feminism, Dolly’s actions speak much more loudly than words
• Journalist Aisha Harris, whose story for Slate “Springtime for the Confederacy” scrutinized Dolly’s dinner theater and contributed to the controversial removal of the word “Dixie” from its title
• Patricia Resnik, screenwriter of 9 to 5, shares how Dolly’s character in the film was based on a secretary who shared her painful story, and how she herself was ultimately “9 to 5’ed on the set of 9 to 5”
• Cole Tipton, Knoxville-born Young Farmers of America member and a budding drag queen, whose debut performance was a tribute to Dolly
