Vault: Not Everyone Is Buying the Anti-Hotlanta Movement

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Bert Show

Episode: Vault: Not Everyone Is Buying the Anti-Hotlanta Movement

Date: May 19, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, The Bert Show crew—helmed by Burt Weiss, Brenda, and their panel—delves deep into their newly launched campaign to “rid Atlanta of the term ‘Hotlanta.’” The hosts air their grievances about the nickname, dissect the viral reactions online, and field calls from both passionate supporters and vocal critics. Along the way, laughs abound as the hosts riff on the absurdity and seriousness of this heated hometown debate.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Launch of the Anti-Hotlanta Campaign

• The Trigger Event: Burt explains the campaign against “Hotlanta” gathers steam after widespread mentions and a notable social media push, including efforts to get celebrities involved.

  • “Yesterday will be the day that officially the campaign to rid Atlanta of the term Hotlanta became official.” — Burt Weiss [01:31]

• Why the Nickname Grates Locals:

  • The hosts share their visceral dislike for “Hotlanta,” calling it “nails on a chalkboard” and “such an old school phrase.”
    • “It’s not cool. It doesn’t refer to what…This is a very cool city. And Hotlanta just feels so old school and so blah.” — Burt Weiss [02:16]

• Attempting to Educate Outsiders:

  • The hosts joke about sending mass tweets to Atlanta celebrities and even international stars like Justin Bieber to promote awareness.
    • “I saw Jeff's tweets yesterday to all sort of different notables from Atlanta like Justin Bieber and Kim Zolciak and stuff. You were telling them to stop using it.” — Co-host [01:57]
    • Kim Zolciak and Collective Soul retweeted the campaign; John Mayer and Jordan Knight were also targeted.

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Local Media Picks Up the Story

• AJC’s Rodney Ho writes a column, and 11Alive covers the “death of Hotlanta,” reinforcing the campaign’s momentum.

  • “He heard someone use it on stage and it bugged him…So he writes a column about it in the AJC.” — Brenda [03:33]
  • “And then 11Alive was either listening or reading Rodney's column. And they're like, wait a minute… I told them we were going to launch this campaign. And they were like, 'Oh, we like it.'” — Co-host [04:04]

• News Segment Play-by-Play:

  • 11Alive runs a segment polling public opinion and referencing viral support on social media (“Hundreds of comments have been posted to Twitter in support of eliminating the word Hotlanta. A Facebook group has appeared…” [07:08]).
  • A web poll running 59% against “Hotlanta,” 41% for (News Reporter [08:43]).

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Pushback: Community Reactions and Critique

• Callers React

  • Opinions are split: Longtime residents feel “Hotlanta” is nostalgic or harmless, while others support the campaign:
    • “I don't see anything wrong with hot, you know, but I'm old school.” — Caller at the Varsity [08:09]
    • “You can try to tell people to stop saying it. They're just going to keep saying it anyway, though.” — Caller [08:25]
    • “That's the name of our town, Hotlanta.” — Caller [08:14]

• Criticism of the Show’s Authority

  • Some detractors accuse the show of overstepping, as none of the hosts are Atlanta natives.
    • “The email I got a couple of times yesterday and I saw posted as well was none of those guys in that studio were born here in Atlanta. So how dare they try to change any part of our city whatsoever.” — Burt Weiss [09:22]
    • “Who are they thinking they are to tell me never to say that word again…It's a radio bit. Say it all you want. We're just having fun.” — Brenda [09:36]

• Notable Hate Mail

  • “Burt, I think you have got to be the dumbest person I have ever heard of…To think you are on the radio and want Atlanta to lose the tag Hotlanta…” — Email read by Burt Weiss [09:47–10:22]

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The Racial & Cultural Undertones

• Some critics online suggest the campaign is “exerting white power,” leading to a tongue-in-cheek discussion among the hosts about racial connotations and regional nicknames.
  • “There was a thread on Twitter yesterday about how we are just trying to exert white power.” — Brenda [09:33]
  • “And they have also heard that we're soon going to be attacking Dirty South.” — Brenda [10:53]
  • The hosts joke about "Hotlanta" and "The Dirty South" as cultural signifiers, noting “The Dirty South is cool.”

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Lighthearted Moments & Side-Tangents

• The crew pokes fun at themselves, the campaign’s seriousness, and even their radio personas:

  • “You know what? Everybody is so worn out from the recession that this is what we focused on.” — Caller [09:10]
  • “I gotta tell you, you know, there is some health care reform going on, but I think that'll work itself out.” — Brenda [09:15]
  • “How about just keep it simple? Atlanta.” — Caller [08:59]

• Alternate Nicknames:

  • “Somebody on ajc, on the blog comments suggested Fatlanta, which I actually thought was funny.” — Brenda [11:24]

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Listener Engagement & Social Media

• Several listeners call in to champion the anti-Hotlanta groups popping up on Facebook:
  • “Hey. I just wanted to say that I'm actually from Atlanta, and I think that what y'all are doing is really cool. And if you could please start a campaign against 'You go girl', too.” — Caller [11:37]
  • “I made the Facebook group when y'all started talking about it…someone else agrees with me.” — April [12:11]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Burt Weiss (on the campaign's philosophy):
  “It’s our responsibility as Atlantans to just politely tell them, ‘Hey, looking forward to having you in town. Also just want to let you know…if you use that word here, it’s going to be uncomfortable because we just don’t refer to our city as Hotlanta. It’s Atlanta.’” [02:59]

• Caller at the Varsity:
  “You can try to tell people to stop saying it. They're just going to keep saying it anyway, though.” [08:25]

• Brenda (on online outrage):
  “There was a thread on Twitter yesterday about how we are just trying to exert white power.” [09:33]

• Burt Weiss (reading hate mail):
  “You would pull your head out of your ass to realize that the term Hotlanta goes back to the 70s…It was described in songs to be Hotlanta.” [09:47–10:22]

• Humor in Perspective:
  “Everybody is so worn out from the recession that this is what we focused on.” — Caller [09:10]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 01:31 — Launch of the anti-Hotlanta campaign
• 02:59 — The argument for “Atlanta” and efforts to educate outsiders
• 04:04–04:47 — Media and celebrities join the discourse
• 05:27–07:08 — Radio call-ins, local news, and social media reactions
• 08:03–08:25 — Vox pop and nostalgic perspectives at The Varsity
• 09:22–10:22 — Critique: Who has the authority to rename Atlanta?
• 10:33–11:21 — Racial/cultural overtones and inside jokes
• 11:35–12:33 — Listener engagement and Facebook group mentions

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Final Takeaways

The Bert Show’s “death to Hotlanta” campaign is a mix of civic pride, playful banter, generational divides, and the viral potential of local radio. While the word’s fate remains undetermined, the show’s segment captures both the humor and complexity embedded in hometown slang—reminding listeners that even what seems trivial can ignite a city-wide debate.

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Transcript

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[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

The Birch Show.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

All right, so I think yesterday will be the day that officially the campaign to rid Atlanta of the term Hotlanta became official.

[Caller or Guest]

I mean, it was everywhere. I'm sorry to sound shocked, but it was everywhere.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

We really have been very shocked by not only the momentum of it, but some of the pushback also. There really has been some pushback on this whole thing.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

It's bizarre.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Panelist]

Why? Who wants to keep it? I saw Jeff's tweets yesterday to all sort of different notables from Atlanta like Justin Bieber and Kim Zolciak and stuff. You were telling them to stop using it.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Let's just reset this real quick, okay? The idea is that when people refer to Hotlanta for all of us in Here, at least. It's like nails on a chalkboard. I mean, it's just such an old school phrase.

[Co-host or Panelist]

It's not cool.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

It's not cool. It doesn't refer to what a. This is a very cool city. And Hotlanta just feels so old school and so blah.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

What. What the hell do you know? You're from California and your radio show

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

sucked, which was some of the, the, the backlash we got yesterday.

[Co-host or Panelist]

Alabama is cheesy, but the only people

[Caller or Guest]

that say it anymore are people who are visiting.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

You're not even from here. You're from Tennessee and you're a lesbian.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

If you're going to Seattle, what do you know?

[Caller or Guest]

And you're not a mom, so you don't know nothing.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Have you ever been in a war?

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

What if you've got friends that are, you know, like from Seattle? They'll email you and say, I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend in Hotlanta with you.

[Co-host or Panelist]

Your eyes like, yeah, not cool.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

So the idea is, look, they don't know any better. So it's our responsibility as Atlantans to just politely tell them, look, I just want to let you. Hey, looking forward to having you in town. Also just want to let you know before you get here, if you use that word here, it's going to be uncomfortable because we just don't refer to our city as hot land. It's Atlanta. And we heard that's the, that's the beginning of the campaign there. So we asked Janet Jackson to do it a couple of days ago because she has roots here. We got John Mayer coming on Monday, so we'll ask him also to tweet about it, cuz he has 2 million followers. So yesterday was really starting to build

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

some momentum and it just happened that Rodney Ho, who writes for the AJC and for the radio TV column for Access Atlanta, was at an award show, I think it was the Soul Train Awards. And he heard someone use it on stage and it bugged him. And it's just been in the back of his brain since then. He's like, God, why? And then he hears us do it and he's like, oh my God. That's just like. He's been looking for a place to kind of vent about it. So he writes a column about it in the AJC. And then 11Alive was either listening or reading Rodney's column. And they're like, wait a minute.

[Co-host or Panelist]

I talked about it with them on Tuesday on our Skype hit.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Okay, so maybe that's.

[Co-host or Panelist]

I told them that we were going to launch this campaign. And they were like, oh, we like it.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Somehow it got on 11Alive's radar. So yesterday we had Rodney's column in the AJC. Burke did an interview with 11Alive. Like Jen said, I sent it out to any Atlanta celebrities that I have on my Twitter thing. So Kim Zolciak from Real Housewives retweeted it to her 60,000 followers. Collective Soul retweeted it to. I don't know how many followers they have. Justin Bieber hasn't responded yet. But, I mean, come on, get over your CD coming out, kid. Let's get back to the real stuff.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

And he's new to Atlanta, so he may not understand that he may be one of the guys that's referring to Atlanta still as Hotlanta because he's from

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Toronto, he's from Coldana, so he didn't know any better. Right. And then John Mayer's gonna be the big get if we can get a buy in from him. Jordan Knight tweeted it yesterday because Big

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

time offender, because he used it.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

And then in the column that Rodney did on the ajc, he actually referenced. We read his tweet on the air and he referenced that. So Jordan linked up to the column and said, hey, guys, I get it. I'll see you on Friday, and tweeted that. So that was cool.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

So that's our responsibility. When celebrities come in here and they refer to us as Hot land, and the first thing we got to do is say no, that's not what we're all about. Hey, Ben, good morning. You're on Q100 morning.

[Caller or Guest]

Just so you guys know, the male anchor on CBS is Atlanta News. This morning referred to it as Hotlanta. We said Sony was moving from North Carolina down to Hotlanta.

[Sherwin Williams Advertiser]

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[Co-host or Panelist]

No, no.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Melissa, you got a little New Moon winner right there. I know.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

In our own hometown, with our own media brethren, this was some of the 11 alive piece they did. They came over to my. Chris came over to my house yesterday and they said, they're doing a segment on it. And I said, really? And it ended up being like a three minute piece.

[Caller or Guest]

If you've heard anything about Atlanta, you've probably heard the most popular nickname for it, Hot Lana. But a morning radio show here in town is pretty tired of that nickname. Our Chris Weigerts and our website are now following this Hot Topic Chris.

[News Reporter]

Well, that's a good one. Brenda, the host of Q100's the Bird show is a pretty popular morning radio show here in Atlanta. Well, frankly, they're sick and tired of the word Hotlanta, and they're taking their campaign against that word to the airwaves and online. It's a hot topic on the morning radio airwaves, but it was a perfect

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

opportunity to start our campaign against Hotlanta.

[Co-host or Panelist]

We have to have the death of Hotlanta because it's not a cool word anymore, but people outside of our city still use it all the time.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

It's nails on a chalkboard to us.

[News Reporter]

Burt Weiss is the host of Q100's the Burt Show. He says he and his crew touched a nerve in their quest to eliminate the word Hotlanta from the American lexicon.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Hotlanta just seems so old school and cheesy and yesterday that it just sort of drives us nuts because nobody in the city really uses the word Hotlanta. It's mostly people outside the city referring to Atlanta, and they just don't know any better.

[News Reporter]

If you follow the conversation online, you'll find that many people agree. Hundreds of comments have been posted to Twitter in support of eliminating the word Hotlanta. A Facebook group has appeared, and the number of members to that group is growing rapidly. Follow the conversation online and you get the sense that many agree Hotlanta has got to go.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

It's ridiculous.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

So you know what? The echo in there, you can really hear how enormous your house is. That was a really good way to. Because I figured you probably knew that you were. So you did that in the larger of your three living rooms, right?

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Well, it was the second home that we have, right? Yeah, it's the larger.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

You're actually standing in your fireplace. Well, yes. Hold on. I'd love to talk to you about Hotlanta. Where's my soup?

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

So they weren't done. So Chris from 11 Alive goes down to the Varsity and starts asking people if they want the word Hotlanta, you know, sort of eliminated. And that's where you start to see some of the pushback. Okay.

[News Reporter]

But if you head out to the Varsity and Atlanta landmark, you get a much different response. Do you like that word Hotlanta? Yeah.

[Caller or Guest]

I don't see anything wrong with hot, you know, but I'm old school.

That's the name of our town, Hotlanta.

But I can remember as a teenager hearing that word Hotlanta, and I think it used to be a club many years ago when I was a teenager that was called Hotlanta.

You can. You can try to tell people to stop saying it. They're just going to keep saying it anyway, though.

[News Reporter]

Whether you call this city atown, the atl, Hotlanta or something else, it seems that all of the words are terms of affection. But for many, it would seem nicknames are out.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Here's a crazy concept for something that might work. Atlanta.

[News Reporter]

So here's what we want to know. We want to know what you think. It's one of the most popular articles on our website right now, this topic of Hotlanta. We also have a web poll on our website. So just go to the article, click on it. We want to know, what do you think of Hotlanta? Right now the vote is 59% against Hotlanta, 41% for it. Brenda?

[Caller or Guest]

Yeah, There's a novel idea from Bert. How about just keep it simple? Atlanta.

[News Reporter]

Atlanta.

[Caller or Guest]

Yeah, that's what it is.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

We're all bored. We're tackling the hard issues.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

You know what?

[Caller or Guest]

Everybody is so worn out from the recession that this is what we focused on.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

I gotta tell you, you know, there is some health care reform going on, but I think that'll work itself out.

[Caller or Guest]

But hot laugh makes me mad.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

The email I got a couple of times yesterday and I saw posted as well was none of those guys in that studio were born here in Atlanta. So how dare they try to change any part of our city whatsoever.

[Co-host or Panelist]

That's what the post you said. They were really angry.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Yes. People are like people writing stuff like who are they thinking they are to tell me never to say that word again? Like you guys. It's a radio bit. Say it all you want. We're just having fun.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Bert, I think you have got to be the dumbest person I have ever heard of. This is in an email. To think you are on the radio and want Atlanta to lose the tag Hotlanta. You would pull your head out of your ass to realize that the term Hotlanta goes back to the 70s. In the rebelling music times, it was described in songs to be Hotlanta. And with the music trend changing, Atlanta was to become a great music source. Now go back to your 17 magazines and when you want celebs to represent your state of Georgia, how about you actually get celebs who are from this state, you non talented waste of space sellout.

[Co-host or Panelist]

Shut up. Really?

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Brian Penderski, thank you very much for that. Appreciate that Brian's angry.

[Co-host or Panelist]

It's very easy to hide Brian behind your computer.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

There was a thread on Twitter yesterday about how we are just trying to exert white power.

[Co-host or Panelist]

What?

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Yes.

[Co-host or Panelist]

You've got to be kidding me.

[Caller or Guest]

That's what I do every Day I try to exert my white power.

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[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

We're starting with Hotlanta. We're going to remove Hotlanta.

[Co-host or Panelist]

Oh, no.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

And they have also heard that we're soon going to be attacking Dirty South.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Oh, now it's about race.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Yes.

[Co-host or Panelist]

The Dirty south is cool. And if it was about a white thing, we wouldn't like the A or atl. Right, Right.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

I personally think Hotlanta is. Couldn't have been. It's gotta be from a white person.

[Co-host or Panelist]

It sounds. I think it sounds too white.

[News Reporter]

The atl.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

I think that I'm like, that's hip. That's cool. Hotlanta.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

That's a white person.

[Co-host or Panelist]

Yes.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

That's the Allman Brothers. I mean, they did a song, Hotlanta.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Somebody on ajc, on the blog comments suggested Fatlanta, which I actually thought was funny.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Good morning. Q100. Hi.

[Caller or Listener]

Hello.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Hello.

[Caller or Guest]

Hey.

[Caller or Listener]

Hey. I just wanted to say that I'm actually from Atlanta, and I think that what y' all are doing is really cool. And if you could please start a campaign against. You go girl, too. Yes. I think that should die as well.

[Co-host or Panelist]

Again, it will be sexist.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

You go girl.

[Caller or Guest]

Oh, but you know, I violate that. I've said, you go girl. And then after I said, I thought, what the hell did I just say?

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Like, 1992.

[Caller or Guest]

I'm not exerting my white power right now.

[Co-host or Panelist]

That's fantastic.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Good morning, April. You're on Q100.

[Caller or Listener]

Hey, guys. I think they mentioned my Facebook group.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Which one's that?

[Caller or Listener]

Death to Hotlanta.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Did you start this one a long time ago or did you just start this?

[Caller or Listener]

I just started. Me and my friends actually talked about it. Like, how we hate when people use it. Cause my family's all from California, but everyone's just like, yeah, right, whatever. No one's gonna do that. So I made the Facebook group when y' all started talking about it, because I was like, oh, my God, someone else agrees with me.

[Burt Weiss (Host of Q100's The Burt Show)]

Yeah, we're totally boosted.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

There's a couple of them. There's.

[Caller or Listener]

Aah.

[Brenda (Host of The Birch Show)]

Atlanta's against Atlanta. I think it's great. The Birch show

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