Richard Banks
Morning Edition Host & Senior Reporter
Richard Banks has worked in print, digital, and broadcast media throughout his career. He’s covered agriculture and climate (including a nine-part series on how Israel is attempting to mitigate its water scarcity), race and politics, culture and adventure sports, even who has the best pies in the South (in one, three-day stretch, he sampled 17 pies, as well as some Pepto-Bismol).
Banks earned his journalistic chops at his high school and college radio stations. He later became the editor of his hometown magazine, Memphis.
In 2000, he and his family moved to Birmingham to work for Southern Progress and its parent company Time Inc., where he was the first online editor at Southern Living and helped develop the magazine’s early forays into video.
Now, at WBHM, Banks is thrilled to be back in front of a mic and working with an absolutely top-notch team, dedicated to fact-based coverage of the news and service to a community he loves ... just as long as he’s not asked to do stories about pie.
Advocates hope Alabama’s execution moratorium leads to change but say the blame is misplaced
Equal Justice Initiative Director Bryan Stevenson says Alabama’s failed executions were “shocking, torturous conduct that provided justice to no one.”
Racist wording is still in the Alabama Constitution. Voters can erase it
The Alabama Constitution of 1901 contains racist language regarding slavery, poll taxes, and school segregation. If approved by voters, a recompilation measure on the November 8, 2022 ballot will remove that language, as well as reorganize the constitution.
Here are the 10 statewide amendments voters will see on the ballot in November
From "Aniah's Law to economic development, the November 8 ballot will give Alabamians the opportunity to vote for 10 statewide amendments.
Martin Luther King’s 1963 Birmingham arrest spurred a Supreme Court case. The ruling still matters
The case is Walker v. City of Birmingham, which ruled on the legal principles that allowed Bull Conner and Birmingham to jail Martin Luther King Jr. on Good Friday, 1963. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy explains why the case continues to impact legal thinking during these tumultuous times.
Musicians say The World Games is shorting their payment for performances during the opening and closing ceremonies.
According the American Federation of Musicians, The World Games changed the contract for orchestra performers after the fact, causing payments to musicians to be reduced by about one-third.
Combating gun violence remains a top focus of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
As violent crime in Birmingham and the surrounding area continues to increase, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Prim Escalona, uses a variety of tools and strategies to get firearms and bad guys off the street.
Bill Clark has a knack for making comebacks. Will he make one more?
Bill Clark has had to overcome some serious hurdles during his career at UAB, as well as in his personal life. He not only resurrected a football program that had been neglected—and then out-right killed—he’s also been fighting through what he’s called a serious injury since childhood.
Acclinate Races Against The Clock To Increase Diversity In Clinical Drug Trials
A lack of racial diversity in clinical trials can make new drugs and treatments less effective for people of color. According to one recent study, 78% of trial participants were white. Acclinate, a new Birmingham-based company, is trying to correct that imbalance by connecting underserved populations with researchers.
A Remembrance of John Floyd, Former Southern Living Editor-in-Chief
The former editor of Southern Living died this week from cancer.
