by Farai Chideya

Hey folks:

As Geoff mentioned in the previous post we're here on the ground in Hotlanta, which TOTALLY is not living up to its name today. Its 44 degrees! I mean, my blood has thinned since I moved from New York to California four years ago, but it's not just that I'm cold ... it's that I'm cold in Atlanta.

Okay, enough whining. I love being out in the field. There is nothing that compares with seeing how people live where they live. This is such an amazing and diverse country and I wish more of us would get out and see it. My guesstimate is that I've been to forty-five of the fifty states in the course of my twenty years of reporting. I definitely have not been to the Dakotas or to Wyoming.

As far as cities go, Atlanta is a great place to report on and from. The city's dealing with the real estate market; a drought; and a budget shortfall. On the positive side it has some of Americas best historically black colleges (HBCUs), a strong black business and arts community, and a great news culture (the Pulitzer-winning Atlanta Journal-Constitution and CNN just to name a few).

We'll keep feeding you tidbits from the road ... and if you're in the ATL and have ideas for us to cover OR want to attend one of our live shows on Wednesday or Friday, please let us know.