American South

American South

episodes

Interviews with scholars of the American South about their new books.

Kristen Tegtmeier Oertel, "Seeking Freedom in Indian Country: Slavery, Sovereignty, and Resistance Within the Five Tribes, 1790–1861" (LSU Press, 2026)

August 3, 2026

Seeking Freedom in Indian Country

Kristen Tegtmeier Oertel
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Dr. Kristen Tegtmeier Oertel’s Seeking Freedom in Indian Country: Slavery, Sovereignty, and Resistance within the Five Tribes, 1790–1861 (LSU Press, 2…

Virginia McGee Richards, "The Inner Passage: An Untold Story of Black Resistance Along a Southern Waterway" (MIT Press, 2026)

August 1, 2026

The Inner Passage

Virginia McGee Richards
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Some of the earliest canals in colonial America, referred to as the Inner Passage, were constructed by enslaved people living in the Lowcountry of Sou…

Robert Lee Maril, "Hungry Oklahoma: Confronting Poverty and Food Insecurity" (U Oklahoma Press, 2026)

July 30, 2026

Hungry Oklahoma

Robert Lee Maril
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

In Oklahoma, one out of every six residents is poor. One in five children lives in poverty and faces food insecurity. In Hungry Oklahoma: Confronting …

Lily Kelting, "Against Heritage: The Reinvention of Traditional Foods" (UNC Press, 2026)

July 24, 2026

Against Heritage

Lily Kelting
Hosted by Kelly Spivey

The rise of “heritage” foods—that is, the reinvention of traditional foods—has enjoyed a high profile thanks to the oft-praised efforts of chefs such …

Angela Frederick, "Disabled Power: A Storm, A Grid, and Embodied Harm in the Age of Disaster" (NYU Press, 2025)

July 18, 2026

Disabled Power

Angela Frederick
Hosted by Shu Wan

A call to place disability at the center of climate and disaster responsesEvery disaster is a disability disaster, argues Angela Frederick. Disabled P…

Gregg Andrews, "Shoe Workers in Hannibal, Missouri: The Rise and Fall of Manufacturing in America’s Hometown, 1890–1970" (LSU Press, 2026)

July 8, 2026

Shoe Workers in Hannibal, Missouri

Gregg Andrews
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Shoe Workers in Hannibal, Missouri: The Rise and Fall of Manufacturing in America’s Hometown, 1890–1970 (LSU Press, 2026), Dr. Gregg Andrews examin…

Daniel Rood, "In the Shadow of the Great House: A History of the Plantation in America" (Norton, 2026)

July 7, 2026

In the Shadow of the Great House

Daniel Rood
Hosted by Ryan Tripp

Dan Rood’s In the Shadow of the Great House (W.W. Norton & Co., 2026) is one of the first contemporary books to focus on the primary engine of slavery…

Gullah-Geechee Diasporas: Knowledge, Culture, and Black Lowcountry Legacies

July 7, 2026

Gullah-Geechee Diasporas

Muhammad Fraser-Rahim and Elizabeth J West eds.
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

Gullah-Geechee Diasporas: Knowledge, Culture, and Black Lowcountry Legacies (University of South Carolina Press, 2026) counters romantic portrayals of…

Inside the Mississippi Marathon: How Mississippi Dramatically Improved Its Education System with Rachel Canter

June 19, 2026

Inside the Mississippi Marathon

Rachel Canter
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In 2008, Rachel Canter founded Mississippi First, an education non-profit with the mission of improving educational outcomes for students across the s…

Sarah McNamara, "Ybor City: Crucible of the Latina South" (UNC Press, 2023)

June 11, 2026

Ybor City

Sarah McNamara

Decades before Miami became Havana USA, a wave of leftist, radical, working-class women and men from prerevolutionary Cuba crossed the Florida Straits…

172 David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP)

June 4, 2026

172 David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP)

David Cunningham joins John to speak about his pathbreaking article about visiting each of the 113 communities that removed or relocated Confederate s…

Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902

June 4, 2026

Paper Heroines

Mollie Barnes

In ⁠Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902⁠ (U South Carolina Press, 2026), Dr. Mollie Barnes s…

Annette Gordon-Reed ed., "Jefferson on Race: A Reader" (Princeton UP, 2026)

May 30, 2026

Jefferson on Race

Annette Gordon-Reed
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

From The New York Times–bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello, a groundbreaking collection of Thomas Jefferson’…

Ashley Rose Young, "Nourishing Networks: The Public Culture of Food in New Orleans" (Oxford UP, 2025)

May 29, 2026

Nourishing Networks

Ashley Rose Young
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

For much of the Crescent City's history, days began with the cries of roaming street vendors and the percussive thwack of butchers' meat cleavers echo…

Claudia Smith Brinson, "Stories of Struggle: The Clash over Civil Rights in South Carolina" (U South Carolina Press, 2020)

May 25, 2026

Stories of Struggle

Claudia Smith Brinson
Hosted by Matt Simmons

In Stories of Struggle: The Clash over Civil Rights in South Carolina (U South Carolina Press, 2020), longtime journalist Claudia Smith Brinson detail…

James O'Neil Spady, "Take Freedom: Recovering the Fugitive History of the Denmark Vesey Affair" (UNC Press, 2026)

May 23, 2026

Take Freedom

James O'Neil Spady
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In 1822, Black Charlestonians attempted to overthrow slavery. They were exposed before they could strike, and many were tried and executed in what…

Justin Randolph, "Mississippi Law: Policing and Reform in America’s Jim Crow Countryside (UNC Press, 2026)

May 17, 2026

Mississippi Law

Justin Randolph
Hosted by Michael Stauch

Justin Randolph, assistant professor of history at Texas A&M University, joins Michael Stauch to discuss Mississippi Law: Policing and Reform in Ameri…

Shannon McKenna Schmidt, "You Can't Catch Us: Lady Bird Johnson’s Trailblazing 1964 Campaign Train and the Women Who Rode With Her" (Sourcebooks, 2026)

May 10, 2026

You Can't Catch Us

Shannon McKenna Schmidt
Hosted by Jane Scimeca

From the author of The First Lady of WWII comes You Can't Catch Us: Lady Bird Johnson’s Trailblazing 1964 Campaign Train and the Women Who Rode With H…

Jason R. Young, "The Mask of Memory: White Racial Fantasy After the Civil War" (UNC Press, 2026)

May 1, 2026

The Mask of Memory

Jason R. Young
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

In the early twentieth century, a group of white writers, artists, and performers from the cultural hub of Charleston, South Carolina, created and cur…

Constance Bailey et al. "Get It While It's Hot: Gas Station, Roadside, and Convenience Cuisine in the U.S. South" (LSU Press, 2026)

April 25, 2026

Get It While It's Hot

Constance Bailey, Shelley Ingram, and Casey Kayser
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

Get It While It’s Hot (LSU Press, 2026) is an innovative collection that examines an increasingly commonplace belief across the U.S. South—that some o…