Story Made Podcast
Exploring how stories make a difference in our lives.
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Chloe Maxmin & Canyon Woodward
03/10/2024
Chloe Maxmin & Canyon Woodward
Our conversation this week is with Chloe Maxmin & Canyon Woodward. Chloe is the youngest woman ever to serve in the Maine State Senate. She was elected in 2020 after unseating a two-term Republican incumbent and (former) Senate minority leader. In 2018, she served in the Maine House of Representatives after becoming the first Democrat to win a rural conservative district. Canyon is a political strategist, author, and trail runner who served as Chloe's campaign manager in Maine. Together they wrote "Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On It" and founded Dirtroad Organizing, where they continue their work empowering the next generation of rural organizers, staff, and candidates. They are both children of rural America, Chloe from Nobleboro, ME and Canyon from Franklin, NC and the North Cascades. In this episode we talk about the long history of Chloe & Canyon's special friendship, their deep love of their home, family, and the natural world keeping them grounded, finding their way into organizing and political action at Harvard, the brain-drain in rural places, the circle from going away to coming home, listening to stories as a campaign strategy, curiosity replacing fear, understanding moral communities, telling more unified stories to beget social change, and the great work Chloe & Canyon are doing with Dirtroad Organizing. Check out Chloe & Canyon's work: Read their book! Chloe's appearance on Canyon & Chloe in the film Mentioned in this episode: by Cecilia Cornejo Sotelo by Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas — Terry Tempest Williams
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Hilda Downer
02/25/2024
Hilda Downer
Our conversation this week is with Hilda Downer. She's an Appalachian poet, retired psychiatric nurse and English instructor at Appalachian State University, member of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative, and most importantly, a child of Bandana, NC. In this episode we talk about Hilda's love for Bandana, the mica and feldspar mines as a haven, seeing beauty in what others see as ugly, walking and tasting nature, seclusion as a reason to get together, an infinite connection through landscapes and music, poets projecting themselves into the future, finding her place at Wiley's Last Resort and SAWC, the life and legacy of Jim Webb, poets as legislators of the world, and attention as the rarest form of generosity. Location: Hilda's home in Sugar Grove, North Carolina Read Hilda's work: Mentioned this episode: by Kathryn Savage by Hilda Downer by Issa Kobayashi by T.S. Eliot by Adrienne Rich
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Vivian Gibson
02/11/2024
Vivian Gibson
Our conversation this week is with Vivian Gibson. She's the author of 'The Last Children of Mill Creek' - a bestselling memoir about growing up in the 1950s in a segregated St. Louis neighborhood, a life-long entrepreneur, the Missouri Library Association's 2022 Missouri Author of the Year, a 2020 Missouri Humanities Council Literary Achievement Award winner, and most importantly, a child of Mill Creek in St. Louis, Missouri. In this episode we talk all about Vivian's memoir, why the story of Mill Creek is so important, writing the story you want to read, the lasting influence of her mother and father, the suprising connections people across the world have to her memoir, sharing Mill Creek through a child's eyes, how Vivian developed her self-definition and confidence, The Last Children making it on syllabi, and the continued fight for recognition and understanding of her home. Location: Vivian's kitchen table | St. Louis, Missouri Buy Vivian's book! Check out Vivian's website: Go see Watch & listen to Vivian's TED Talk, Visit Mentioned in this episode: in Franklin, NC by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
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Annie B. Jones
01/28/2024
Annie B. Jones
Our conversation this week is with Annie B. Jones. She's the owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia, host of the 'From the Front Porch' podcast, and child of Tallahassee, Florida. In this episode we explore the power of ordinary stories, the beauty and challenges of small-town life and business, how faith built The Bookshelf, her evolution as a From-Away in Thomasville, work as humility, her wonderful team of booksellers and communal support, an honest (and refreshing) take on Amazon, and the strength given by "weak ties" inside a bookshop. Visit Mentioned in this episode: and by Louisa May Alcott by Kurt Vonnegut by Marilynne Robinson by Patrick J. Carr and Maria Kefalas by Jade Snow Wong and by CJ Hauser by Emily Dickinson in Seaside, Florida by Jesmyn Ward
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John T. Edge
01/14/2024
John T. Edge
Our first conversation of 2024 is with John T. Edge. He's an acclaimed author, the host of TrueSouth on ESPN/SEC Network, Director of the Mississippi Lab at the University of Mississippi, the founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, resident of Oxford, Mississippi and child of Jones County, Georgia. In this episode John T. takes us back to his childhood in Clinton, Georgia, talks about the infuence his mother and father have had on his life, explores the vicissitudes of his career, shares his fascination with lost worlds and underworlds and Underground Atlanta, gives us a lesson on change, and recounts how Oxford, MS became his true homeplace. All things John T. Edge: Mentioned in this episode: by Luc Ferry by John T. Edge | Oxford American by Alice Walker by Ernest Matthew Mickler by Kurt Vonnegut by Elaine McMillion Sheldon by Dave Tell by Lee Stockdale by W. Ralph Eubanks
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Garrett Martin
09/11/2023
Garrett Martin
Our conversation this week is with Garrett Martin: award-winning filmmaker, owner of VentureLife Films production company, and child of Hamilton, Virginia. Martin has worked on numerous documentaries with his last feature, UNBOUNDED, receiving multiple international awards and has been shown around the world. His current feature, THE RIVER RUNS ON, is making its rounds through the film festival circuit and will premiere in 2023. His clients include organizations such as BBC, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, National Parks Conservation Association, Eastern Band of Cherokee and more. Listen to us talk about Garrett's journey to becoming a filmmaker, the mystery and magic of nature, learning to break the rules, chasing after god, searching for meaning and identity with a camera, learning to film while hitchhiking from Newfoundland to Canada, sharing happiness, stories of unreal human generosity, the adventure of a lifetime on the Greater Patagonian Trail, and using film to open people up to the magic of the world. Location: Garrett's home | Asheville, NC Mentioned in this episode:
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Elaine McMillion Sheldon
08/28/2023
Elaine McMillion Sheldon
Our conversation this week is with Elaine McMillion Sheldon: Academy Award-nominated, Peabody-winning, and two-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and daughter of West Virginia. She premiered her latest feature-length documentary, KING COAL, at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. She is the director of two Netflix Original Documentaries - "Heroin(e)" and "Recovery Boys" - that explore America's opioid crisis. In 2013, she released "Hollow," an interactive documentary that examines the future of rural America through the eyes and voices of West Virginians. Listen to us talk all about KING COAL, the highlight of her life/career, film and processing grief, fiction as a way to be honest, self-definition and creativity, learning to watch your tone, overcoming limiting narratives, the struggle of memory and change, the power of having death in your mind, a strange and beautiful funeral, Louise McNeill and other unknown artists, stories as salvation, and the mythic character of Elaine’s Paw Paw. Location: Elaine's office at the University of Tennessee | Knoxville, TN Find the rest of Elaine's films on ! Mentioned in this episode: by Bruce Chatwin by Mary Oliver by James K. Crissman by Flannery O’Connor by Lousie McNeill
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Nina Parikh
08/07/2023
Nina Parikh
Our conversation this week is with Nina Parikh - Director of the Mississippi Film Office, filmmaker, producer of Sundance award-winning film 'Ballast', and child of Mississippi. Listen to us talk about a timeless love story, searching for and deepening roots, the making of 'Ballast' and loving words from Roger Ebert, launching a career in Eudora Welty's living room, 25 years of connecting the world & Mississippi through film, how to get stuff done in a polarized world, belonging and not being enough of anything, and seeing the story in everything. Location: Mississippi Film Office; Woolfolk State Office Building | Jackson, MS Selected passages from by Arrell Gibson
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H.C. Porter
07/24/2023
H.C. Porter
Our conversation this week is with H.C. Porter - Vicksburg-based photographer, painter, printmaker, owner of H.C. Porter Gallery, and child of Jackson, Mississippi. Listen to us talk about her initial joys in life, combining artistic interests, seeing Millsaps Avenue, the influence of Studs Terkel and Eudora Welty, the stories behind 'Backyards and Beyond' and 'Blues @ Home', and learning how to tell stories outside of Mississippi. Location: H.C. Porter Gallery | Vicksburg, Mississippi Buy and Follow HC Porter on and
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Brent Martin
07/10/2023
Brent Martin
Our conversation this week is with Brent Martin - author, conservationist, educator, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy, 2022 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award winner, and longtime beloved member of the Cowee community in Macon County, NC. Listen to us talk about Brent writing a book on the wild and beautiful life of George Masa, William Bartram's story and what he can still teach us two centuries later, the vicissitudes of conservation work, seeing difference differently, finding common ground in the wild, nature and the numinous, and finding/maintaining hope as a member of a horrible species. Location: Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center | Macon County, North Carolina. Buy Brent's book! Mentioned in this episode, for you to explore: by George Ellison and Janet McCue by Tom Alexander by Ben Grosscup and Wilbur Zeigler by Tyler Green
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Julyan Davis
05/29/2023
Julyan Davis
Our conversation this week is with Julyan Davis - artist, writer, narrative painter of the American South and West, explorer of lost stories, child of England and citizen of the world. “If you’re able to find beauty in what everyone else doesn’t consider for a second, there’s a great richness in that. In a way you’ve made your own discovery.” In 1988, Julyan wandered into Sotheran’s Rare Books in London, England and discovered ‘Stars Fell on Alabama’ by Carl Carmer. Transfixed by the state’s history and a 19th century colony settled by Napoleonic exiles, he followed his curiosity to the source. After a few months spent working odd jobs and saving money, he set off on a great adventure from England to the American South – the untidy land of wistful melancholy that would shape his art and life. He’d eventually settle in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, finding in them a strange kinship and connection to his homelands. When he was struggling to earn a spot at an art school, Julyan decided to take his own advice. He found the meeting point of all his particular interests and created a life there. He pursued his dream with conviction and certainty for so long that by the time he realized how difficult it would be, it was too late. He was an artist. In this episode you’ll hear Julyan talk about his great adventure from England to Alabama, walking as a lifestyle, finding beauty where others don’t look, the never-ending story of American Ghosts, connecting Appalachia and the Scottish borders, the art of creating for yourself, creating a timeless children’s story for his son, and much more. Location: Julyan's home | Asheville, NC Buy his debut novel, Mentioned in this episode, for you to explore: by W.J. Cash Excerpts from by Willa Cather by Walker Percy by Carl Carmer by Harper Lee on Netflix by William Ferris by Willa Cather by Flannery O'Connor by Common Market by Macklemore by John Steinbeck by Miguel de Cervantes by Rubin Herman by Robert Macfarlane
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Elon Justice
05/15/2023
Elon Justice
Our conversation this week is with Elon Justice - filmmaker, writer, creator of the Appalachian Retelling Project, and child of Pikeville, Kentucky. "Challenging the narrative of Appalachia - one story at a time." Raised in Eastern Kentucky, Elon heard stories from her family that taught her who she is and where she comes from - and to be proud of it. But she also saw firsthand how negative, steretypical images of her home had the power to cause harm to the people and places she loved. So she decided to do something to change that. Rooted in co-creation, the Appalachian Retelling Project shares stories that lift unheard voices and give an honest glance into what it means to be from the mountains. The people of Appalachia are tired of others talking about who they are, so this is a space for them to talk back. "Mountains stories, on our own terms" - as they should be told. In this episode, Elon talks about growing up in Pikeville, the influence of her family, her first recollections of Appalachian stereotypes, moving away for college, her wild and powerful journey to the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT), why she started the retelling project, co-creation and community-based storytelling, and much more. I hope you listen! and Mentioned in this episode, for you to explore: by Travis Rountree General William Ratliff by Harriette Arnow (book, 1954) by Katerina Cizek and William Uricchio
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Suzi Altman
05/01/2023
Suzi Altman
Our conversation this week is with Suzi Altman: photographer, caretaker of folk-art treasure Margaret's Grocery, and Mississippian by way of Youngstown, OH and New York City. "I couldn't just let that be forgotten or overlooked." When Suzi moved to Mississippi, she received the gifts of friendship with James Meredith, "Preacher" Dennis, and Margaret Rogers Dennis. She didn't take them for granted, working tirelessly to honor, preserve, and amplify James' rightful place in history and save iconic folk-art site Margaret's Grocery. In spite of everything, Suzi keeps going because she keeps her promises. She doesn't wait for the miracle. She sees it and shows up for it every day. In this episode you'll listen to Suzi's journey to Mississippi, how a photograph started a special friendship with James Meredith, the simple beauty of Preacher and Margaret, her fight to save Margaret's Grocery and her own life, the power of saying 'yes', and much more. Location: Suzi's home in Brandon, Mississippi. Mentioned in this episode: by Robert Penn Warren by Victor Frankl by Bill Minor Willie Tankersley by Tom Rankin Anson Sheldon, pro-segregation rioter at the University of Mississippi in 1962 by Checky Herrington
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Lee Stockdale
04/17/2023
Lee Stockdale
Our conversation this week is with Lee Stockdale - acclaimed poet, Army veteran, and winner of the 2022 United Kingdom National Poetry Prize. For 10 years, Lee felt a slab on his head - to infinity in every direction - weighing him down. His father, Grant Stockdale, was close friends with John F. Kennedy and, overcome by grief, jumped to his death ten days after the assassination. Due to the shame, stigma, and guilt, he didn't talk about it. But with the help of an extraordinary therapist, a chance enounter with Patti Smith, and cab ride with Jackie Kennedy, Lee felt the weight lift; the loneliness give way to connection. He started doing the things his father did. He finished college, got married, had children, and built a life worth living. And just like his mother, Alice Boyd Stockdale, he started writing poetry to move through the grief and into joy and healing. In this episode you'll hear Lee talk about that journey to joy and healing, how writing brought him close to his father again, the influence of his mother's poetry on his life, the unsung wonder of Alice Notley, and some other fun stories featuring Bing Crosby, Yoko Ono, and Bob Hope. Location: Lee's living room in Fairview, NC. Mentioned in this epsiode: by Robert Frost Quote from by Jeffery Smith by Lee Stockdale by Alice Notley
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Castel Sweet
04/03/2023
Castel Sweet
Our conversation this week is with Castel Sweet: Hip-Hop lover and scholar, Sociologist, Director of Community Engagement at the University of Mississippi, and child of Memphis, Tennessee. So much good stuff in this episode: Hip-Hop feeling like home. The influence of Big K.R.I.T. and Outkast. The struggle of staying true to yourself. Music opening worlds and reminding you who you are. The disconnect between universities and their local communities. Turning theory into practice. How to make space for everyone. Why representation matters. Sharing knowledge and listening to lived experiences. Consistent curiosity and endless discovery. Read Castel's Castel's SouthTalks: Check out Mentioned in this episode: and by Cecilia Cornejo
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Jordan Rushing
02/27/2023
Jordan Rushing
Our conversation this week is with Jordan Rushing, Warren County's Old Court House Museum historian and child of Vicksburg, Mississippi. How can you play and still accomplish something cool? I love that question. We talk in this episode about life-changing teachers, the legacy of Gordon Cotton, learning and work as play, Eva Whitaker Davis and the story of the Old Court House Museum, clandestine county seat swaps, iconic election-day debates on the courthouse lawn, Reconstruction and diversifying Vicksburg, and much more. This one goes out to all the teachers who sparked my curiosity and imagination. I owe my life to you. Location: Old Court House Museum | Vicksburg, Mississippi Mentioned in this episode: by Willa Cather
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Tema Stauffer
02/13/2023
Tema Stauffer
Our conversation this week is with Tema Stauffer - photographer, Associate Professor of Photography at East Tennesse State University, curator, writer, and child of Kalamazoo, MI (and North Carolina, technically). Her most recent work, Southern Fiction, explores settings that shaped the literary imaginations of 20th-century Southern writers. (welcome back to our trusted friend, Eudora Welty!) This episode will take you many places. Listen to us talk about: The power of just showing up somewhere. Moments of special feelings. The many paths of Southern Fiction. Finding essay writers & serendipity. Artistical influences. The church with no name. Tema's interest in the history of places. The Welty-Evers connection. Driving around and finding out. CITY 2000 police ride-alongs. Bonding with strangers through photography. Location: Tema's home in Asheville, NC at ETSU's Reece Museum until March 1st at MTSU's Baldwin Photo Gallery March 10th-April 13th Mentioned in this episode, for you to explore: by Casey Cep by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers by Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
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Julian Rankin
01/30/2023
Julian Rankin
Our conversation this week is with Julian Rankin - Executive Director of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, former Director of the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art, author of Catfish Dream: Ed Scott's Fight for His Family Farm and Racial Justice in the Mississippi Delta, and child of both Mississippi and North Carolina. Lots of good stuff in this episode. The monumental life of Ed Scott. Learning to listen. Taking the call to adventure. Finding your own voice. The everyday influence of great Southern writers. Quiet contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. The nefarious history of agricultural agencies. And a fitting end to Ed Scott's story. Location: Walter Anderson Museum of Art | Ocean Springs, MS Buy and read Julian's book! Mentioned in this episode, for you to explore: by James Baldwin
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Ellen Rodgers Daniels
01/16/2023
Ellen Rodgers Daniels
We're kicking off 2023 with the wonderful Ellen Rodgers Daniels - Executive Director of the Mississippi Book Festival, Lemurian elder, photographer, and child of Rolling Fork. This episode is full of good stuff. The magic of books. Ellen's serendipitous path to leading the MS Book Fest. The realness of John Evans and Lemuria. Meeting your heroes as a job. Loving on libraries. Children's authors doing the absolute most. Vibes and civil discourse. Mississippi most definitely has somethin' goin' on. Location: Ellen's mystical black home library. Jackson, Mississippi. Mentioned in this episode, for you to explore: by Jesmyn Ward by Terry Tempest Williams by John Steptoe by Willa Cather by Charlotte Bronte by Toni Morrison by Jean Toomer by Mary Shelley by Rita Mae Brown by James Baldwin by Louise Erdrich by Jonathan Lethem & by James McBride by Jeffery Smith by Madeleine L’Engle
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W. Ralph Eubanks
12/19/2022
W. Ralph Eubanks
Our final conversation of 2022 (!) is with W. Ralph Eubanks - acclaimed author, professor at the University of Mississippi, former director of publishing at the Library of Congress, and fellow University of Michigan graduate. "The bookmobile opened up the world to me". When those wheels hit the gravel on the road to his childhood home, Ralph found refuge in the cool air and stories contained inside. It was in the bookmobile he learned, dreamed, and imagined the world outside of Mississippi - where he escaped the summer heat and warzone of the Civil Rights era. It was also where he first read William Faulkner and thought someday he, too, could become a great Mississippi writer. And he did. Though he left Mississippi, he found his way home again (as Mississippians are wont to do). Like many writers, Ralph takes on the responsibility to tell real stories about his "old home place", to give something back to the people and place that made him. There's lots of good stuff in this episode. The impact of a bookmobile. Ralph's unique family history. Civil Rights movement & war strategy. The "burning house" of school integration. Myth, memory, and history. Parchman & finding the denominators. And more than a few books for you to read. Checkout Ralph's work and buy his books! Mentioned in this episode: by William Maxwell by Delmore Schwartz by Esther Forbes by Albert Payson Terhune by Thomas E. Ricks by James Baldwin by Ralph Eubanks
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Katie McKee
12/05/2022
Katie McKee
Our conversation this week is with Katie McKee, Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. What fascinates you? Answering this question honestly can lead to a life of constant learning and lifelong company from some interesting people - even if they're long gone. For Katie McKee, one of those people is Reconstruction-era writer Sherwood Bonner. Unconventional and impassioned, Sherwood transgressed cultural norms to live and write on her own terms (even if that got her in trouble with the Transcendentalists). She did this all in a period of intense transition for the United States and her home state of Mississippi. This coincidence of an intriguing human and time in American history became Katie's fascination, and she turned it into a great book. In this episode, you'll learn more about the life and work of Sherwood Bonner, Katie's perspectives on teaching literature and film, the significance of the Center of the Study of Southern Culture, and why Katie still believes in the transformative power of literature. Mentioned in this episode: Gentleman of Sarsar by Sherwood Bonner
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Jen Harr
11/15/2022
Jen Harr
Our conversation this week is with Jen Harr, founder of Cornbread & Roses, an LGBTQ+ community space and therapy center in Sylva, North Carolina. "bread for all, and roses too." CBR is a space for people who don't feel like they belong in this world. Rather than stand idle and passively decry the place she was raised, she came home and started building to make it better. By carving out the space she needed for herself, she made one for everyone. It's one of the greatest acts of love I've ever seen. Thank you, Jen. In this episode you'll listen to more about the history and work of CBR, Jen's journey back home, the uncritical love of a Rabbi, and plenty of books that shaped Jen's life.
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Dawn Gilchrist
10/25/2022
Dawn Gilchrist
Our conversation this week is with Dawn Gilchrist, devoted teacher, marvelous writer, attender to words, and advocate for social change in her home of Western North Carolina. "What possibilities lie dormant that can be teased out if I can figure out what engages their mind?” This sums up Dawn's life and career. In every single human story she sees shared humanity. She wonders about people and attends to their words when they decide to share who they are. There's no limit to the impact of a teacher who pays attention to their students. Dawn knew this and knows this still -- the power of curiosity. The depths of a single human story. In this episode you'll listen to Dawn talk about words as bridges, what happens when we get to know someone we think we hate, seeing and listening to students, and the awesome power of books to change lives. You'll also hear us discuss our "personal canons" with some fun commentary on Willa Cather, 'Deadwood', and 'The Good Lord Bird'. Mentioned in this episode:
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Clinnesha Sibley
10/10/2022
Clinnesha Sibley
Our conversation this week is with Clinnesha Sibley: child and mother of McComb, Mississippi, playwright, poet, literary arts educator, and purveyor of real stories. Who are you accountable to? A simple question brought Clinnesha Sibley back home to do the same thing she did when she was a child: write and tell stories. She thought about the most powerful stories she’d ever heard, and they weren’t on Broadway or at universities. They were in her father’s truck or at a dinner table with family. These are the stories she wants to honor and document. And it's children in McComb she wants to teach and help see the best in themselves. In this episode you’ll learn about Clinnesha’s journey away from and back to McComb, the value of art and expression in the home, her transition from success stories to love stories, why she decided to work for her hometown schools, and her focus on ordinary people we ignore in popular stories. Clinnesha's Work: Mentioned in this episode:
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Ebony Lumumba
09/26/2022
Ebony Lumumba
Our first conversation of the season is with the honorable Ebony Lumumba, Ph.D. -- mother to her babies Alaké and Nubia, Department Chair and Professor of English at Jackson State University, and loving champion of her home community in Jackson, Mississippi. Motherhood is powerful. In all matters of life, Ebony embodies and shares the love mothers gave to her. In this episode you'll hear Ebony talk about the framework to her life, everyday black mothering as resistance, stories as salvation, balancing and completing narratives, and the importance of documenting black lives. Please read her monumental work on black motherhood here: Mentioned in this episode:
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Note Drop: On Liking What You Cook
09/19/2022
Note Drop: On Liking What You Cook
A prelude to Season 2, where words from Oseola McCarty and an unforgettable scene from the movie "Pig" bring me back to ground. Our first conversation of the season drops next Monday! You won't want to miss what our first guest has to share.
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B. Brian Foster
06/26/2022
B. Brian Foster
Our conversation this week is with the illustrious storyteller, award-winning writer, and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia, B. Brian Foster. "How can you love something and not like it at the same time?" This question was the center of Brian's monumental book, "I Don't Like the Blues". The better part of five years he spent living in Clarksdale, Mississippi listening to black people talk about their experiences and persective on the Blues - as music, an economic reviatilization effort, and a way of knowing. In that book and everything else he does, Brian exumes and gives life to the stories of black folks in the rural South that don't get their just due. Like any good ethnographer, Brian goes to the places that are talking so he can listen. In his words: "The dirt remembers. The spirit hollers." To catch the spirits you need a vessel and time. Brian is a vessel, and if you give him time to listen he'll continue to holler so we can hear and know more stories that have long been buried underground. In this episode you'll hear Brian talk about his own story, his seminal book, defiant challenges to the academe and the "blue-chip" scholar ideal, and how he uses storytelling as a powerful teaching tool. I hope you enjoy listening to him as much as I did. Buy Mentioned in this episode: by Kevin Quashie by Kimber Thomas
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Curtis Rayborn
06/19/2022
Curtis Rayborn
Our conversation this week is with Curtis Rayborn, a living history lesson on Tuskegee, Alabama. He's a former student and employee at the Tuskegee Institute, retired Alabama Army National Guard member, volunteer at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, and marvelous storyteller. "I was dying of curiosity." This is what Curtis remarked about his encounters with one woman who he eventually learned was an important part of the Tuskegee Airmen Experience. He had so many questions. He needed to know more. But he understands that all the knowledge he's gained since moving Tuskegee in 1967 is worth nothing if he doesn't share it. That's how he's lived for over 50 years, learning about the place that shaped him and spreading the word to anyone who will listen. I met Curtis during my April 2021 visit to Tuskegee at the Rayborn Manor Bed and Breakfast, owned and operated by his wife Leoncia (also an amazing person). His immense love of Tuskegee and its history lit me up so much that I, too, had to know more. So I returned to listen to Curtis share his everyday experiences with the Tuskegee Airmen, the history of the Tuskegee Institute and its impact on him and the world, and so many more cool stories about "little Ol' Tuskegee". Mentioned in this episode: by Alice Walker by William Hardin Hughes and Frederick D. Patterson by John Carlin by the National Park Service by B.D. Mayberry by Jade Snow Wong
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Renea Winchester
06/13/2022
Renea Winchester
Our conversation this week is with author, herbalist, and supreme champion of reading and literacy, Renea Winchester. "When you see people, what are you going to do with it?" Renea asks this powerful question, and her own answer is to write stories of the unseen. Her debut novel, "Outbound Train", crystallized when she saw a young girl looking at her through the window of a trailer in her hometown of Bryson City, NC. That girl wouldn't let Renea go, and she knew deep inside that's the story she had to tell. So she wrote to honor what she saw, where she came from, and the people who made her. Renea's book teaches us to be rather than to seem. Instead of focusing on images through a screen, we must look directly at what's real in front of us. Who knows what you'll see. You might not write a novel about it, but you can do something to help other people see it, too.
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John Evans
06/06/2022
John Evans
Our conversation this week is with John Evans, founder and owner of Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi. "It's all about the book, baby." For John, life really is that simple. He built Lemuria as a place to share books, not sell them. Only minutes from his childhood baseball fields, he created a space for people to discover, connect, dream, and remember. He brought the world of words to his hometown and books to life for people to experience together. But he couldn't do it alone. The wonderful booksellers and writers and community members and patrons from across the globe are the joy of his life's work. They're what make it real, and that's all he ever wanted. In this episode, you'll learn the history of Lemuria Books, hear stories about John's writer friends (feat. Eudora, Leonard Elmore, and Jim Harrison!), get a window into the beauty he sees in Jackson, and find a model for how to live well and true. Thanks for sharing your life with us, John.
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