About South

In the series finale of About South, we travel to the E.W. Shell Fisheries Center at Auburn University to discuss a subject near and dear to our hearts -- crayfish. Jim Stoeckel, an Associate Professor at Auburn, and Brian Helms, an Assistant Professor at Troy University, generously share with us their knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm for this small yet remarkable creature. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In this special short episode, we hear from several listeners who have made About South possible. Series finale airs Friday, November 15. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com

This week's guest practically needs no introduction because you've been listening to him on our show for years. Dr. Brian Horton is a professor at North Carolina Central University, a jazz history scholar, and a prolific musician. Gina calls him up to talk about all of the above and music programs at historically Black colleges and universities. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In this week’s episode, we present our first full-length phone interview with returning guest Dr. Tara Bynum, a Mellon research scholar in African American history at the Library Company of Philadelphia, and Assistant Professor at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Tara takes us back in time to an era before the Revolutionary War in Newport, Rhode Island, where we are introduced to an enslaved man named Cesar Lyndon, whose remarkable story offers us a glimpse into colonial enslavement and pre-Revolution commerce. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

This week, we keep it in the family as Gina sits down with new About South co-producer Jessica Parker. Jessica grew up in Fayette County, GA, home of the Line Creek Petroglyph, a large, engraved rock with a complicated history. Jessica first learned about the petroglyph when it became the subject of national news -- because someone had stolen it. Years later, she and Gina attempt to solve the mystery of the Line Creek Petroglyph. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In this week’s episode of About South, we travel to St. John the Baptist Parish in Louisiana to meet with Ashley Rogers, executive director at the Whitney Plantation museum and memorial site, to discuss the history of plantation enslavement in the U.S. South. As the only plantation museum in Louisiana with a focus on slavery, its rare and vital approach in exhibiting the area’s gruesome agricultural industrial complex sheds light on one of the most painfully minimized eras of American history. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

This week, co-producer Kelly Vines sits down with Dwight Billings, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Kentucky. Dwight researches social inequality and poverty, especially in Appalachia, where Kelly’s family has a long history. The pair discusses what drew the coal mining industry to southern Appalachia and the future of the region. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

This week on About South, we are joined by Dr. Calinda Lee, Vice President for Historical Interpretation and Community Partnerships at the Atlanta History Center. We dive headfirst into the topic of our hometown’s complicated past, and how we choose to tell the story of our past to others. Calinda helps us to understand the unique challenges in framing Atlanta history correctly, avoiding the pitfalls of past interpretations, and how we can plan for the future presentation of our historical understanding. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In this week’s episode, we sit down with  Hillary Holley from Fair Fight to discuss the 2018 gubernatorial election that had the whole nation watching. We cover a variety of topics, including the tactics utilized by Brian Kemp’s office to suppress minority voters in Georgia, the ensuing litigation spearheaded by Stacey Abrams, and the hope for the future of Georgia elections. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

On June 24, 1973, an arsonist set fire to the Upstairs Lounge, a gay bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Dozens of people lost their lives that night, but the event isn’t widely known about. This week, we sit down with Ryan Prechter, a visiting lecturer in Georgia State University’s History Department. Ryan studies queer history in the south, particularly in New Orleans. We revisit the tragedy with Ryan to better understand why it happened and how it relates to where we are now. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker joins as an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In honor of Randi Byrd's personal best record and the 50th Annual Coharie Pow Wow, we're rebroadcasting our talk on pumpkins-- giant pumpkins. Although Randi always had a green thumb, she only connected her interest in agricultural practice to her fascination with pumpkins in 2009. Growing a 700+ pound pumpkin is a difficult feat that often requires the support of family and friends. Randi talks about the community she found not only in fellow growers of giant pumpkins but also in the local Indigenous community as well as her online friends that encouraged her pursuit, performed ceremony on the land with her, and physically tilled the soil from which actual magic could grow. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

This week, iconic Atlanta drag performer Brigitte Bidet joins Gina for a conversation about all things drag in the South. Brigitte is a classically trained dancer, a favorite host for southern queer publication WUSSY Mag, and a founding member of Legendary Children ATL. You may even have seen her as Dolly Parton #5 in the Netflix original film Dumplin’, starring Jennifer Anniston. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In this week’s episode of About South, we present the second half of our two-part conversation with policy advocate and longtime friend Sanford Johnson. We cover a wide variety of Mississippi-related topics, including the Jackson ICE raids, the 2020 election, and the defacing of the Emmett Till historical marker. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In this week’s episode, we travel to Clarksdale, Mississippi to sit down with education policy advocate Sanford Johnson for a conversation so good, we had to bring it to you in two parts. In part one, we reminisce about student government at Auburn, discuss education reform in the Mississippi Delta, and dive into that viral video that had everybody talking about safe shoe-wear activity. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

This week, Sara Patenaude of the Handmaid Coalition of Georgia joins Gina for a discussion of reproductive rights in the state and beyond and what it means to stage a successful protest in the U.S. South. The Handmaid Coalition of Georgia formed in 2017 during a national 50 maids in 50 states protest. Georgia’s chapter is one of the most active largely because of HB481, six-week abortion ban introduced this past legislative session. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com. Photo Credit: Steve Eberhardt

In this week’s episode, we travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to sit down with Martyn Bone, a southern studies scholar and Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, to discuss globalism and a postsouthern idea on an international scale. We touch on everything from  overseas interest in U.S. Southern literature to the U.S. South’s long history with immigration, as well as our hometown Atlanta’s role in this international conversation. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

This week we’re bringing you a local story about independent community radio station WRFG-89.3FM. Gina sits down with station co-founder Harlon Joye at WRFG’s Little Five Points studio to discuss the history of station as well progressive media in the city, the region, and the nation. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

In this week’s episode, we sit down with Brian Ward, historian and Professor in American Studies at Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, to discuss his 2017 book Martin Luther King: In Newcastle Upon Tyne about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s landmark 1967 visit to Newcastle University. Brian explains what makes this brief yet historic visit to northeastern England so exceptional, and we discuss the context of King’s journey, his motivation for coming to Newcastle, and the impact his presence continues to have on race relations on the Northeast today. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an Assistant Producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

About South kicks off its farewell season with a trip to England where we talk to Dr. Gavan Lennon, a professor at Canterbury Christ Church University, about southern studies in the UK and Ireland. Gavan highlights the sense of solidarity those from Ireland and the UK might feel with the vibrant and productive history of African American resistance and cultural production in the U.S. South. Our guest also describes some of the problems with how white southerners use the term “Scotch-Irish” as well as the similarities between ultra-conservativism in the U.S. and Brexit in the United Kingdom. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Jessica Parker is an assistant producer. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.

This week we’re wrapping season 3 of About South with a conversation about the legend of Trahlyta, a pice of folklore that says a “Cherokee princess” is buried under a pile of rocks in Dahlonega, GA. Gina and Allison Yost discuss the tale’s origins, why people are so connected to it, and the ways it mirrors many troubling ideas about Native identity in the South. About South is produced by Gina Caison, Kelly Vines, and Adjoa Danso. Lindsey Baker is our Marketing Director. Music is by Brian Horton. You can find his music at www.brianhorton.com. Learn more at www.aboutsouthpodcast.com.