In Georgia, the contest to win a Senate seat is much more competitive than anyone predicted. Republican incumbent Johnny Isakson is just a few percentage points ahead of a relative unknown Democrat. And the independent, Allen Buckley, might force a runoff like he did a few years ago. We talk with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Washington Correspondent Tamar Hallerman about how the national election is influencing Georgia’s Senate race. 

Then, new data released this month from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs shows more than half a million veterans wait at least 30 days for their appointments at the VA. That’s 70,000 more veterans than last year. Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Sean Powers reports on a new effort to improve veteran care by transitioning them from the battlefield to farmland. Plus, veteran care is an important issue for Atlanta attorney Linda Klein. She was sworn in as the president of the American Bar Association earlier this month. One of her goals is to offer more legal aid to veterans. We speak with Linda Klein about her new position and her plan to help veterans.

And, beer giant MillerCoors announced this month that it bought a majority stake in Athens-based brewery, Terrapin Beer Company. The news came as a big disappointment to Paste Magazine news editor, Jim Vorrel. He wrote a commentary about the merger for Atlanta Magazine titled, "This is how Terrapin quietly sold out to Big Beer and betrayed its fans." We speak with Vorrel about the trend of big beer buy outs. Then, the watermelon season in Georgia is almost over. The fruit was once a symbol of black sufficiency but is now a racial stereotype. We talk with Pat Turner, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, about the history of watermelons and how it became associated with one race.

Tags: OST Full Show  Atlanta  Georgia