A12: The story of Charlottesville A gripping new podcast from Miller Center scholar Nicole Hemmer About the podcast On August 12, 2017, Charlottesville became a hashtag. But before that day, there were centuries of trauma and resistance. Nicole Hemmer's podcast "A12" recovers that history in an attempt to answer the question "Why Charlottesville?" About Nicole Hemmer Hemmer is an expert on the history of American politics and media. An assistant professor in presidential studies at the Miller Center, she works in the Presidential Recordings program, focusing on the Nixon administration and its media relations. Episode 1: The Summer of Hate This episode begins with August 11, then moves back in time to the beginning of the Summer of Hate, setting up the major themes of the podcast: trauma, memory, and resistance. Episode 2: The city behind the hashtag This episode flips the dominant story of Charlottesville as Jefferson’s city, and instead looks at it through the lens of Native American, black, and Jewish Charlottesvillians. Episode 3: The statue at the center of the world How has Charlottesville memorialized its history? The Lee, Jackson, and Lewis & Clark statues—and the slave auction block memorial—show us which stories are remembered and which are forgotten. Episode 4: The alt-right A dive into the history of the alt-right, particularly how white nationalists rebranded themselves in the digital age, and why they chose Charlottesville as the place to move from the internet to the real world. Episode 5: Who watches the watchers? An analysis of the role of policing and law in the events of August 11 and 12, including the function of the university, debates over the First and Second Amendments, and impending lawsuits. Episode 6: The aftermath How the city of Charlottesville has responded and healed in the year since the violence: unpacking the Heaphy report, the growth of community activism, and the political fallout.
