City of Kingsport Launches Podcast Featuring City Manager

The City of Kingsport is exploring a new way to communicate with citizens by launching a podcast. “From the City Desk,” hosted by City Manager Chris McCartt, premiers its first episode this Thursday, September 19.

“One of my priorities as Kingsport’s new city manager is figuring out the best way to keep citizens informed,” McCartt said. “The Communications Department and I decided a podcast could be a fun new way to make local government feel a little more personal.”

McCartt will join staff member Hannah Purdy each week to discuss the latest in city news: updates on current projects, recaps of Board of Mayor & Aldermen meetings and things you might not know about how the city works. Once a month, the show will take a closer look behind the scenes of local government to explore a specific topic more in-depth.

“When I was developing this project, I couldn’t find any city governments of our size doing anything like this,” cohost Purdy said. “Our hope is that ‘From the City Desk’ will make staying on top of city news interesting and easy for a lot of people.”

New weekly episodes will drop every Thursday, and deep dive-style episodes premier on the first Monday of the month. The first episode dropping on September 19 takes a look at the role of a city manager and what Chris McCartt’s goals are during his tenure as Kingsport’s city manager.

This podcast comes as part of McCartt’s larger strategy to stay in contact with citizens. He has also launched social media channels where citizens can follow him to stay up-to-date. Find McCartt on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @KingsportCM.

You can subscribe to “From the City Desk” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts, or listen to episodes directly on the “Government” page of kingsporttn.gov. Click here to listen to the trailer and new episodes when they drop.