A Tennessee children's hospital changed its name to Dolly Parton Children's Hospital.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program provides free books to kids.

Dolly Parton consistently declined opportunities to align herself with politicians.

Dolly Parton hosted two separate variety television shows called 'Dolly.'

Dolly Parton teamed up with country star Porter Wagoner in 1967 as a cohost on his popular TV show.

Dolly Parton initially declined her nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, though the Hall inducted her anyways.

Dolly Parton jumped to Hollywood in the 1980s, where she became a bona fide movie star.

Explore the best Dolly Parton songs, including 'Jolene,' '9 to 5,' and many more.

Dolly Parton released her first recording at age 13, a rockabilly number she cowrote called 'Puppy Love.'

Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' was partly based on a real woman who flirted with Parton's husband.

Before becoming a country superstar, Dolly Parton recorded girl group-style singles as a teenager, including one that became a hit outside the US.

Dolly Parton produced the original 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie.

A young Dolly Parton felt confined by her partnership with country star and TV host Porter Wagoner.

Elvis Presley wanted to record 'I Will Always Love You,' but Dolly Parton refused.

As disco grew more popular, country star Dolly Parton experimented with the genre.

Dolly Parton recorded two albums with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris under the name Trio.

Read a 1984 interview with Dolly Parton, conducted by artist Andy Warhol.

Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' is a widely covered standard that's been a No. 1 hit multiple times.

'9 to 5' was Dolly Parton's first No. 1 pop hit.

A 2026 survey found that Dolly Parton is far more popular in the US than the world's politicians.

Dolly Parton wrote the song '9 to 5' on the set of the movie '9 to 5.'

How Nashville became Music City

Nashville didn’t just earn the nickname “Music City”—it grew into it. From early settlers and the Fisk Jubilee Singers to the Grand Ole Opry and Jefferson Street’s R&B scene, this breakdown looks at how a city on the Cumberland River became a global center for music across every genre.

'The Grand Ole Opry' turned Nashville into the country music capital

By 1932, country was being broadcast to 30 states and parts of Canada. That influence turned the Tennessee city into a destination for those interested in working in the budding industry.

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' 'Islands in the Stream' was written by the Bee Gees.

Renaming the peak of the Great Smoky Mountains

After two years, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' petition to rename Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, finally succeeded. In 2023, the peak's title officially returned to its original Indigenous name, Kuwohi, which means "the mulberry place." Read to learn more about the mountain's significance as a sacred site for the Cherokee people, who have used the area for prayer, reflection, and gathering mulberries for medicinal purposes.

Dolly Parton's 'I Will Always Love You' was written as a goodbye for her musical collaborator, Porter Wagoner.

The body of Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, is preserved and kept on display at the National Museum of Scotland.

'The Grand Ole Opry' radio show debuted in 1925

The Grand Ole Opry began as "The WSM Barn Dance," broadcasting from downtown Nashville. The name changed when its host, transitioning from the station's previous program, said, "You've been up in the clouds with Grand Opera; now get down to earth with us in a shindig of Grand Ole Opry!"

Nashville's economy is benefitting from bachelorette parties at what some say is a cultural cost

In the past decade, Tennessee's capital has gone from a destination known for its music scene to the country's bachelor/bachelorette party hub. This podcast episode reveals that despite the financial benefits that bachelorette tourism brings, residents worry about how these specific tourists could threaten Nashville's reputation as a music city.

Diphtheria was once a leading childhood killer before antibiotics and vaccines

In 18th- and 19th-century outbreaks, some New England families lost as many as eight children to diphtheria, and fatality rates in hospitals often topped 60%. The invention of antitoxins, penicillin, and vaccines dramatically reduced deaths.

A 1974 Science News article proclaimed that within a decade, light therapy would be on par with traditional drugs.

The first successful organ transplant was performed in 1954

The successful kidney transplant procedure, at what's now-called Brigham and and Women's Hospital, ushered in a new medical era and gave hope to patients with organ failure. The recipient, 23-year-old Richard Herrick, lived eight more years after receiving the donated organ from his living twin brother, Ronald.

'Islands in the Stream' was another massive crossover hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

In 2023, the FDA approved gene therapy for sickle cell disease, enabling one-time infusion bespoke treatments that use a patient's own stem cells to effectively cure a painful condition that disproportionately affects people of African American descent.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular national park

The Tennessee park attracted more than 12 million visitors in 2024, nearly three times the amount Zion National Park, the number two most popular park, brought in. The least visited park was the famously remote Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska, which posted only 11,907 visitors.

BTS was the 2020 Time Entertainer of the Year

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a lot of good fortune to BTS, who were able to reach audiences worldwide with their talent, appearance, and messaging. This Time profile of the group reflects on the epoch-defining group and how they stood out from other musical acts by being more socially progressive and uplifting. Their success is recognized as a triumph for Asian representation and the boundless popularity of K-pop idols.

Connecticut recently became the first state to create and launch a baby bond program, a government-funded savings or investment account that is seeded when a child is born.

Country musicians grappled with the outlaw archetype on screen

As country grew more popular, some of its biggest stars leapt to the silver screen, with Johnny Cash in "Five Minutes to Live," Kris Kristofferson in "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," and Dolly Parton in "9 to 5." Kristin Hunt notes that all of these films featured country stars toying with the outlaw archetype, a prevalent theme throughout the history of country music.

The 1927 'Bristol Sessions' birthed the modern country industry

Country music has been around since the early American colonies, but the modern country industry began in 1927 in a small town on the Tennessee-Virginia border. Here, Ralph Peer recorded songs from the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and a dozen more artists through a 12-day stint called "The Bristol Sessions."

Turning a profit with terminal illness

After Amanda Riley was diagnosed with cancer, her social media followers rallied to raise funds to ensure their favorite religious influencer could afford one miracle after another. As more than $100,000 of donations poured in, Riley shared glimpses into her health struggles, posting evidence as fake as her diagnosis. Pulling from years of journalistic investigation, this eight-episode podcast series dives into Riley's reality.

Watch legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt talk to her team at halftime

Pat Summitt won eight NCAA titles at Tennessee, with every eligible player graduating under her watch. This behind-the-scenes look from the halftime of the 2007 Final Four shows how she made that happen: She was confident, calm, and communal, even concluding her halftime speech by asking her players what they'd noticed on the court.

Stranger pays for a family's breakfast tab and writes heartfelt note praising the father of three kids

In Fort Worth, Texas, an Emergency Room doctor wearing scrubs was enjoying a meal with his wife and three children. While getting ready to pay, the family learned that their $85 bill had already been settled, with a kind note left behind. The message was signed by "a retired Army Medic" who thanks the man for being a good father.

Eight British children have been born via mitochondrial replacement therapy

In July 2025, a decade after British lawmakers signed off on allowing three-parent IVF, scientists announced that eight healthy babies had already been born using this approach. The news was included in a pair of research articles published in a peer-reviewed journal that noted the oldest kids were already more than two years old, and that they were hitting developmental milestones as expected. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Gene therapy for a rare type of deafness is allowing deaf children and adults to hear for the first time, according to research results reported in April 2026.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in immunizations in the US and worldwide

Public health funds and resources that were diverted to COVID-19 response reduced efforts to combat polio and vaccinations for polio and other diseases declined during the pandemic, putting more people at risk for polio.

The Tonys got their name from Antoinette Perry

In 1946, trailblazing director Antoinette Perry died after decades of creative success. The following year, Perry's professional partner, Brock Pemberton, founded a series of awards to honor her. While handing out an award at the first ceremony, Pemberton referred to it using Antoinette's nickname of "Tony," and the name caught on.

Private equity's expansion into healthcare has been criticized for raising patient medical costs

Between 2000 and 2018, PE's total investment in healthcare ballooned from $5B to $100B. While healthcare systems originally began consolidating as a solution to navigating complex regulations (and to make working with insurance companies easier), research suggests that private equity has both increased patient costs and decreased the quality of care in hospitals and doctors' offices.

How personalized gene-editing saved a baby's life

KJ Muldoon had a 50% chance of surviving a genetic mutation until doctors developed a one-of-a-kind gene-editing therapy. In an interview with one of the researchers behind the treatment, learn what it will take to make personalized genetic medicine possible for everyone.

A scientist successfully treated her own breast cancer by injecting the tumor with lab-grown viruses.

A pediatric journal ran 138 fictional case studies, and 61 were cited as real stories

The Canadian journal Paediatrics & Child Health issued corrections to 138 case studies published since 2000, acknowledging the cases were entirely fictional—a practice intended to protect patient privacy that was never disclosed to readers. At least 61 of the fabricated reports were cited as fact in other peer-reviewed journals a combined 218 times, including a 2006 Lancet article alleging an infant died from opioid-laced breast milk.

Taylor Swift's family encouraged her interest in music from a young age, and moved to Nashville before she reached high school so she could be close to the country music industry.