Chapters: 0:00 exile and displacement · 0:59 Little Five Points · 1:25 official history vs the real history · 2:23 what the project is · 3:49 why it is worth the tape · 5:21 the vibe problem · 6:20 what an interview feels like · 7:30 Angie McLean · 8:33 who should sit down · 9:42 how to get involved
It is strange to talk about other neighborhoods during my exile, my displacement.
You know what, this is a good time to ask myself how I feel.
Just fine. Because I feel confident that I will wind up back on top. Do not know where, do not know when, do not know how. I do not ask for how. I feel confident that I am going to be surrounded by everything that I need right away, or as soon as it needs to be.
This is all one ride, and there are lots of places I like to go to take that ride. Little Five Points is one of them.
The people are great. I love hanging out with the people. I love watching the people. I love the stores. I feel a little bad because a couple of those anchor restaurants are gone.
A neighborhood is an interesting thing. The official history gets written by whoever owns the paperwork. But the real history is the history of the legacy store owners who have been there for 35 or 45 or 50 years, who ran the shop in the eighties, who watched waves of redevelopment roll down Moreland. I want to try to get that version of history more on the record.
I am hosting interviews for it in partnership with WRFG and the Little Five Points Business Association. The project launched in the fall of 2025. The episodes are rolling out right now. This is not going to be a highlight reel for the Chamber of Commerce. This is going to be a set of long conversations about what the neighborhood was like, what it took to keep it strange, and what the people who were there actually remember.
What the project is
Pretty simple. I sit down with someone who has a history in Little Five Points, and I ask them questions. Business owners. Artists. Musicians. Longtime residents. People who worked there for ten years and did not get their name in Creative Loafing.
The interviews happen by phone. I meant for them to happen over Discord, but so many of you really want to interview on Zoom. We will also interview in person by special appointment. These are voluntary and free. Nobody has to prepare a speech. You do not have to sell anything unless you really want to.
I am not looking for the polished version of the story. The conversation becomes an episode. You can listen on Spotify now. Apple is to come. The series will air on WRFG as well, likely with some kind of announcement later.
Why Little Five Points is worth the tape
It is a neighborhood of a lot of firsts. It is a neighborhood of a lot of creative innovation, and I feel like innovation has not gone away. There is still room for more of it.
Most neighborhoods in Atlanta have a founding story and then a gap in time. A story about a streetcar line, a developer, a piece of land. But everything that happened after, the creative and artistic decisions that were made in those years after the development, that is the actual life of a neighborhood.
Little Five Points did not stay interesting by accident. There was cultivation. That is one of the great parts of the story. They got a council together and said, hey, who do you know here? Who do you know in person that could host a great store?
Somebody decided to rent to the weird shop instead of the safe one. Many years ago, somebody bought a chain and kept their sign. Somebody hired the kid with the weird haircut and let him run the floor. Those decisions are sometimes invisible in the memory of a city, but there is a whole reason people still get off the train at Inman Park and walk over.
When a neighborhood gets hot and gets publicity, the story gets flattened into a vibe. I used to love the word vibe, even six or seven years ago. Now the culture has changed. Vibes feel flat. What we want is a sharper and more nuanced story.
“Historic neighborhood.” “Eclectic neighborhood.” “One of Atlanta’s most beloved neighborhoods.” You might have read that sentence a hundred times, and it does not really tell you anything. It does not tell you as much as an oral history format tells you, because there is nothing like seeing events from the viewpoint of the people who live them. That is what makes this kind of programming useful for the next generation too.
If you want to keep a place from becoming a copy of itself, you need the operating instructions. A well-produced oral history is how you get there.
What an interview feels like
People hear “oral history” and picture a documentary crew with lights and a clipboard. But oral history is not like that. It is not boring. It is a conversation. A regular interview. I ask, and you talk. If you get lost in some tangent or some point off to the side, that is probably a good thing. The tangents are usually the best part.
I ask things like:
- What did the neighborhood look like the first time you saw it?
- What is the day that changed your business, for better or worse?
- Who did the work that nobody gave credit for?
- What are the sounds or smells that take you back?
- What do people get wrong about Little Five Points now?
You do not need dates. You do not need to be a good storyteller. If you cannot remember a year, that is okay. If you remember the weather and a song that was playing, that is fine. Memory is subjective.
The Angie McLean episode
We have an episode with Angie McLean, the founder of Psycho Sisters. If you have spent any time in Little Five Points, you probably know the store. It is the most stylish store in the neighborhood in certain ways. You are stepping into a very well curated time machine. It is very unpredictable. It is very personal. It is not interested in being normal.
What I liked about that conversation is the part people do not expect from a fashion story. It is about individuality, sure. It is about obeying the little voice when it speaks to you, and also about what happens when you do not. Angie’s schedule opened up very early in our production process, which was good for both of us and anybody listening. It is a very funny episode, and it is a good refresher on one of the most interesting places in town.
Who should sit down for one
The easy answer is business owners. The better answer is anybody who was part of the place.
A shop owner who has been there longer than the customers have been alive. An artist who had a table in the bazaar or the plaza or some historic area. A musician who played a venue that does not even exist anymore. Someone with an interest in the rezoning history. We love to hear about zoning here. Someone who worked a register for years and knows where everybody is buried, metaphorically speaking. Maybe you worked more than one place.
This does not just need to be the developers and store owners’ history. History belongs to all of us to share. You do not have to be a historian. You just have to have been there and be willing to say what you saw.
How to get involved
Listen and get involved. The episodes are streaming now on Spotify and your favorite podcast app. Apple is coming soon. The series is also headed to WRFG, with an announcement likely later.
If you want to be interviewed, or you know someone who should be, reach out. Email hello@ghostcoast.video. Bluesky at @brandyn.bsky.social. Phone 470-485-6431. You do not need to prepare anything. Bring a couple of interesting memories, and we will take it from there.
The buildings will change. They always do. What does not have to change is the record. Somebody has to sit down and ask. If you have been in Little Five Points long enough to remember something that is gone, you are the archive. Let’s get it on the record before it turns into a vibe.