It's hard to know where to start talking about former Alabama U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance. She's a fixture on MS Now, and she's been on PBS's Overheard with Evan Smith. The midterm elections are also just a few weeks away, and Vance is out with a new book titled "Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy.” Bear with me; I'm just getting warmed up. 2026 is also the 30th anniversary of the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. Vance helped build the legal case against bomber Eric Rudolph after a similar attack in Birmingham. We'll start off by talking about her connection to a national award-winning investigation right here at Alabama Public Radio. All of that and more on APR Notebook.

This week, Don reviews Murder on a Girls’ Night Out by Anne George.

BrightPath spotlights the visionary people and research shaping the state's future. The series debuts with hosts Lisa Jones & Johnnie Aycock speaking with The University of Alabama President Dr. Peter Mohler, exploring how UA is training future leaders and driving groundbreaking innovation across the state.

Most of us define ourselves by what we do for a living, and that label can stick long after the job is gone. Commentator Cam Marston met a man in Chicago this week who was struggling to let go of his, and the conversation hit closer to home than Cam expected.

When Alabama visits Mississippi State, it's usually a bad day for the Bulldogs. Quarterback Kamario Taylor's dynamism and recent effectiveness in the clutch has provided Mississippi State's cowbell-ringing fans hope that perhaps Saturday will be different from every other time these teams have met since 2007.

Long before Christa Pike was brought into Tennessee’s execution chamber, prison leaders reviewed and approved a backup plan detailing exactly what to do if the first attempt at lethal injection failed. Alabama reportedly has its own “plan B” procedures if a lethal injection fails. But, after a series of botched executions, the state switched to nitrogen gas suffocation, although the constitutionality and acceptance of the process reportedly remains an issue.

Jason Isbell is returning to the Shoals this weekend for ShoalsFest at McFarland Park in Florence, bringing a lineup that includes Jeff Tweedy, S.G. Goodman and Willow Avalon. The weekend will also feature a reunion nearly two decades in the making. Isbell will join his former Drive-By Truckers bandmates for a performance of the band's 2003 album Decoration Day in full.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance both hit the campaign trail, but they headed to heavily Republican areas to shore up lagging enthusiasm in their party ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Trump travels to Mobile after stops in Texas and Oklahoma, to kick off what the president said will be a 32-day campaign blitz leading up to November 3rd.

Police in Mississippi continue investigating the deaths of two students attending Ole Miss. Detectives The stimulant powder known as kratom were reportedly found at the locations of both fatalities. Investigators don't know if kratom contributed to either death, but the incidents have helped to put the drug back in the news. Alabama has listed kratom as a Schedule one controlled substance, the same league as heroin and opioids.

Alabama and two other Republican states went to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to challenge abortion “shield laws” protecting providers in three Democratic states, escalating the legal conflict over pills that account for a majority of abortions

A 77-year-old Florida man convicted of beating a woman to death with a hammer is scheduled Tuesday to become the 16th person executed this year in the nation's busiest death chamber. Authorities began searching for Curtis Wilkie Beasley after a witness reported seeing him driving what turned out to be the victim’s car. Investigators determined Beasley had traveled to Miami and later relocated to Alabama,

This week, Don reviews 20 over 60: Short Stories edited by Beth Weinhouse and David Galef.