Brutal South

Every December, my friend the sportswriter Michael Baumann joins me for a festive exchange of Wikipedia articles we gathered through the year. We’ve been exchanging them informally for well over a decade now, but in recent years we decided to make a podcast out of it.

Mike covers baseball for FanGraphs.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @MichaelBaumann.

If you’d like to follow along, here are Baumann’s picks:

* Southern Victory

* Corinne Diacre

* Quebec Biker War

* Goncharov

* List of -gate scandals and controversies

Here are mine:

* Dave Matthews Band Chicago River incident

* The Truman Show delusion

* Loukanikos

* Devil Eyes

* Ghost Army

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

My guest is Aaron Carey of the West Virginia black metal band Nechochwen. Aaron is a true Appalachian hesher who's also trained as a classical guitarist, and he's been using his musical project to retell and reinterpret indigenous history in his part of the world. He learned growing up that he was descended from some prominent members of the Shawnee and Lenape tribes, and he frequently talks about the history of those tribes, both in his lyrics and also in what he describes as non-lyrical tone poems.

The latest Nechochwen album is called Kanawha Black, which you can stream or download or buy on a vinyl record via Bandcamp. If you're interested in learning more about the band, the music journalist Brad Sanders had an excellent profile earlier this year in Bandcamp Daily.

The Brutal South podcast is an extension of the weekly newsletter of the same name, which you can read and sign up for at brutalsouth.substack.com. The theme music is by The Camellias.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

My guests today are Amber Campbell-Moore and Dr. Matt Cressler with the Charleston Area Justice Ministry, a good, radically inclusive organization working for social and economic justice in Charleston, S.C., and the greater Charleston area. As we speak today, the ministry is gearing up for its biggest public-facing event of the year, the Nehemiah Action.

Every year at the Nehemiah Action, members of religious communities bring their protests and demands to local politicians. It’s exciting, it’s strange, it’s genuinely a lot of fun to be part of — and it gets the goods. Year after year I’ve seen the group behind it, the Charleston Area Justice Ministry, push for successful changes in our city, county, and school district governments. They make some enemies along the way — including the mayor of North Charleston, who threw a hissy fit one year — but when they get in trouble, it’s always good trouble, as the saying goes.

The 2022 Nehemiah Action will take place on Monday, April 4th from 7-9 p.m. at the Charleston County School District 4 Regional Stadium (3659 West Montague Ave., North Charleston, SC). Here is the link to register and add it to your calendar: https://charlestonareajusticeministry.org/event/2022-nehemiah-action/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

I have a new piece of short fiction out today in the Charleston City Paper Lit Issue. It’s called “Possum Island,” and you can read it online or pick up a paper if you’re in the area.

I thought it would be fun to make an audio version, so that’s what I did. Enjoy!

If you’re looking for more stuff to listen to, check out the Brutal South podcast on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.

If you’re a possum aficionado, you might enjoy this thinkpiece I wrote about possum memes last year with the help of the novelist George Singleton:

That’s all for this week. The possum drawing is by my daughter. The music in the episode is by The Camellias.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

We're gathered here today to speak of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a tremendous beautiful bird that is gone forever ... or so some people think.

Hey. Welcome to Episode 29 of the Brutal South Podcast. The ivory-billed woodpecker has been on my mind again since late September when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed moving it and 22 other species from the endangered species list forever, effectively declaring the bird extinct.

It's been called the Lord God Bird, supposedly because of the things people would exclaim when they encountered this big, elusive bird in the American wild. The last universally accepted sighting was in 1944 in northeast Louisiana. Hobbyists and professionals alike kept searching, though, keeping the faith that it was out there, but hiding, like a cryptid. This bird has been the subject of songs, novels, endless speculation, and long expeditions in the swamps and forests of the Southeastern United States.

My guest this week is Matt Drury, who's currently working as a resource management coordinator for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. In the course of his career he's done all kinds of fascinating and vital work in the woods in this part of the country, including a stint leading the search for the ivory-billed woodpecker in old-growth swamplands across South Carolina. I don't want to give too much away, but I learned so much from him. There's a lot to mourn, but a lot we can still save, too.

To learn more and support Matt’s work, visit appalachiantrail.org and southernspruce.org.

If you liked the podcast, please leave a nice review wherever you do that or just share it with your friends. Also, if haven't yet, check out the Brutal South newsletter at brutalsouth.substack.com. I've been publishing at least one interesting thing a week for more than 2 years on labor, ecology, parenting, art, and just about everything else from my little perch here in South Carolina. I think you might find something you like. One piece you might appreciate is this one from June 23 on camping in fragile places with young children during the Anthropocene:

The episode art is an engraving of ivory-billed woodpeckers, Campephilus principalis, by John J. Audubon.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

My guest on the pod is Michael Smallwood (@mikeluvsgushers), an actor, director, podcaster, and screenwriter from Charleston. He recently appeared in the biggest movie role of his career as the character Marcus in Halloween Kills, the latest installment of the Michael Myers saga. If you've seen it, you'll recognize him as the guy in the doctor costume from the first 20 or so minutes of the movie. He was great. I screamed when I saw him.

Michael and I have crossed paths a few times over the years here in South Carolina, but we'd never gotten to sit down and talk at length. As cool as it was to see him in a big Hollywood production, I was even more excited to talk to him about his original short film What a Beautiful Wedding, which deals with the underlying current of horror in weddings that take place on former slave plantations. We'll get into that in the second half of the show.

If you want to see Halloween Kills, I don't need to tell you how to find it; it's the No. 1 movie in America. If you want to see What a Beautiful Wedding, it's currently only available to stream via the Octopunk Media Patreon page at patreon.com/octopunkmedia. Worth it.

Over on the newsletter at brutalsouth.substack.com, my latest piece is about the state of the death penalty in Missouri, Alabama, and Oklahoma. Coming soon, I've got some juicy details on former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's weird, bespoke, neo-McCarthyite think tank and how it's blowing millions of dollars on Facebook ads.

If you’d like to support my work and get access to some exclusive content, subscriptions are $5/month at brutalsouth.substack.com/subscribe.

Exciting stuff on the way, y'all. Have a lovely spooky season.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

Welcome back to the Brutal South podcast, Episode 27.

I guess this was inevitable: We're going to talk about critical race theory, both as an actual framework for understanding the world and as a mostly unrelated buzzword that conservatives have been screeching about nonstop since this summer.

It's been more than 3 months since I put out an episode, and customarily this is where I as a podcast host would apologize or make some retroactive announcement that this is actually season 2 or whatever. Honestly I was just busy and tired. But I'm glad to be back at it, and this was a banger of a topic to jump back in on. I wrapped up recording with my guests the other night and I remembered what a joy this was — learning, talking to people, expanding my horizons.

My guests today are AJ Davis (@Anjene1976) and Dr. Davíd G. Martínez (@FromFireToTable). AJ is an educator and community education advocate here in Charleston County, and Davíd is an assistant professor in the College of Education at my alma mater, the University of South Carolina, where he studies education funding and policy. I brought them on because they each had a unique perspective on this latest right-wing freakout from their vantage points in K-12 and higher education, respectively. I also knew them a little bit from my previous work as an education reporter in South Carolina, and they're the kind of people I would interview and think, "Man, I wish everybody could hear this entire conversation."

One piece of reporting I did during my podcast hiatus was an August 25 piece in the newsletter called “Blueprint for a race panic."

Basically, I was trying to figure out why and how South Carolina's superintendent of education, Molly Spearman, put out a blanket condemnation of "critical race theory" earlier this year, so I put in a Freedom of Information request for her emails on the subject, fought back against some petty price gouging for public records, raised the money to pay for the records, and put them all out there for anyone to read. Here's one of the truly unhinged constituent emails she received on May 22:

Critical race theory is already in our schools. It is absurd that it even exist … It’s time to stand and do what we are paying you to do. LETS DO IT TOGETHER AND RALLY PARENTS UP TO BACK US ON IT!!!!!! FIRE ALL PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS THAT BELIEVE IN ALL THIS CRAP!! FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE THEM ALL FIRE THEM ALL NOW MAKE THEM WORK IN A BLUE STATE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE THEM ALL!!!!!  NOW!!!!!!

So, these are the kind of philosopher kings we're dealing with right now, and that's the tenor of the public debate we are trying to intervene in today.

One bill I'll be keeping an eye on come January 2022 is South Carolina House Bill 4325, which states that public schools may not "direct or otherwise compel students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to the tenets of critical race theory." This slapdash reactionary bill was introduced this May and is sitting in the Education and Public Works Committee right now waiting for the General Assembly to come back. Its sponsors include Rep. Rita Allison, the chairwoman of the Education and Public Works Committee.

Folks, I don't love it, and I'd love it if you joined me in raising holy hell about this obvious attempted censorship.

***

The episode art is “Three Woman Figures” (1930) by Kazimir Malevich.

The theme music for the podcast is “Crooked Cross” from the album Words Are Fragile Vessels by my band, The Camellias, which you can stream or purchase at camellias.bandcamp.com.

Brutal South is an independent podcast and newsletter recorded, written, and produced by me, Paul Bowers, at home in lovely North Charleston, South Carolina. If you would like to support this work and get access to some exclusive content as well as some cool vinyl stickers that I'll send you in the mail, subscriptions are $5 a month at brutalsouth.substack.com/subscribe.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

My guest is Shane Claiborne, a Christian activist fighting against war, gun violence, and the death penalty. I got to meet him recently at a death penalty abolitionists' meeting in Columbia, S.C., and he graciously set aside a little time to talk about the struggle to end state-enforced killing in my state and across the country.

On a personal note, Shane's writing has meant the world to me. His first couple of books, The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President, helped me understand the teachings of Jesus as radical, countercultural "good news for the poor" as the Good Book tells us. His more recent books include Executing Grace and Beating Guns.

Talking with Shane was a breath of fresh air after my previous interview with Fred A. Leuchter Jr., the man who earned the nickname "Mr. Death" because he sold so much death chamber equipment to states in the '80s. I published that interview in Luke O'Neil's Welcome to Hell World newsletter (there's also an excerpt up at brutalsouth.substack.com if you want to check that out).

Here's a clip from the interview when I asked Leuchter for his opinion on firing squads, which South Carolina just authorized for executions this year:

“I’d rather be electrocuted, if you really want to know. But one of the things I found out, and I didn’t know this when I started, but I found out after being involved in it for over 30 years, is that the human body as I told you earlier is designed to protect itself and not allow you to kill it. And because of that, and everybody’s body is different, we can design a system that is completely flawless and works all of the time and does everything exactly right, but you’re gonna get, 20% of the time, you’re gonna get somebody who’s not gonna fit the mold, and he’s gonna be an issue. So even when we do everything right, we have a problem that we shouldn’t have had, and it’s because of an unknown physiological condition in the person that we’re executing. My feeling is that if we’re gonna execute people, we need to do it right and humanely. Other than that, we shouldn’t be doing it. If I can’t do the execution right 100% of the time, maybe we shouldn’t be doing it. So I’m not a proponent of capital punishment.”

I'm skeptical of Fred Leuchter's claim that he's not a proponent of the death penalty. He may have done more singlehandedly to aid and abet the execution of imprisoned people in the U.S. than any other person in the second half of the 20th century, and he went out of his way to do so without a medical license or formal training in electrical engineering.

The Leuchter interview was difficult and strange for me. I didn't want to lend credence to what he was saying, but I felt it was important to highlight his central role in the making of the modern death penalty regime in the U.S.

My interview with Shane, on the other hand, was a great relief. I went from talking about the practical and mechanical issues of killing another person to the life-giving work of loving our neighbors. Shane stands with an executed savior, and so do I.

While I've got you here, please go rate and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen, or just tell a friend about an episode you liked. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at brutalsouth.substack.com/subscribe. It's free every Wednesday, or you can sign up as a paid subscriber at $5 a month to help support this work and get access to some exclusive issues as well as some sweet vinyl stickers I will send you in the mail.

In other news, I have a Freedom of Information Act request awaiting a response from the South Carolina Department of Corrections. I’m seeking information on the purchase, inspection, and maintenance of electrocution equipment in the state's death chamber. If and when they send me some information, I’ll keep you updated via the newsletter.

The episode art is “The Magpie on the Gallows” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1568).

Twitter // Bookshop // Bandcamp // Apple Podcasts // Spotify Podcasts

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

Quick note in case you missed it: I’m trying to decide on a T-shirt design for Brutal South, and my friend CJ Bones came up with three metal-inspired logos to choose from. Click here to check them out and let me know which one you like the best.

***

Brood X is upon us. I'm talking about a brood of cicadas that emerges mature from the earth just once every 17 years. They scream, they mate, and they die in a matter of weeks, leaving the next generation to arise from the earth in another 17 years. You may have heard them from your porch.

My guest on the podcast is Eddie Newman, whose one-man black metal project Prosperity Gospel put out a compelling album earlier this year featuring field recordings of cicadas. You can see cicadas in the logo, too, which is just a classic, gnarly, root-inspired metal logo by the artist Vojtech Doubek.

There is something distinctly metal about cicadas. I was reading about Brood X this week and I found this early description of the same 17-year brood written in 1766 by the Quaker naturalist Moses Bartram:

“Viewed through a microscope the moment they are hatched, they appear in every respect as perfect as at the time of their last transformation, when they rise out of the earth, put off their scaly covering, expand their wings, display their gaudy colours, dart forth their eggs, and after a few days existence, to fulfil the wise purposes of their maker, close the period of their lives by an early death. How astonishing therefore and inscrutable is the design of providence in the production of this insect, that is brought into life, according to our apprehension, only to sink into the depths of the earth, there to remain in darkness, till the appointed time comes when it ascends again into light by a wonderful resurrection!"

Eddie doesn't use such religious language to describe his awe and horror at a swarm of cicadas, but he has an appreciation like I do, and I think it comes through on this album.

The album is called "Violently Pulled from Bliss," and it feels like summer does here in South Carolina: oppressively hot and murky with the occasional breeze that feels like a triumph. I listen to it often while I'm writing or running or doing chores. It rips.

You can find his album on streaming platforms or buy it on Bandcamp. You'll also hear clips from the album throughout this episode.

We are all shedding our exoskeletons in a way this summer, emerging from the earth after a deadly pandemic. We all feel like screaming about it sometimes. This album is a perfect catharsis for me, and I loved talking to Eddie about how and why he made it.

If you haven't already, go to brutalsouth.substack.com to subscribe to the newsletter. It's free every Wednesday, or you can chip in 5 bucks a month to get some exclusive newsletter issues and podcast episodes and some sweet Brutal South stickers that I'll send you in the mail.

Twitter // Apple Podcasts // Spotify Podcasts // Bookshop // Bandcamp

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com

My guest is Amethyst Ganaway, a chef and writer from North Charleston, South Carolina.

Amethyst has been working in the restaurant industry for about 12 years, and during the past year she got deep into researching the history of food from our part of the country. She has published a few great pieces on what she's learned.

The articles we'll be discussing are "Black Communities Have Always Used Food as Protest," from Food & Wine magazine; and a tribute to the late culinary giant Martha Lou Gadsden of Charleston, which ran on Today. The New York Times recently published Amethyst's recipe for Lowcountry Okra Soup, which I'll be trying out as soon as okra season hits.

One word you'll hear a few times in this episode is Gullah. If you aren't familiar, Gullah people are the descendants of formerly enslaved West African people who developed a unique language, culture, and cuisine on and around the sea islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The longer I've lived in South Carolina, the more I've realized how central Gullah culture is to the way of life here. I'm glad I learned a few new things from Amethyst.

Amethyst and I have some friends in common, and we grew up in the same area and even went to the same college and had stories to share about a professor we both had in the religious studies department — but we hadn't actually met somehow. I admired her work from afar, so I'm glad she accepted the invitation to talk.

Follow Amethyst on Twitter at @ExcuseMyFly or on Instagram at @Thizzg. Her website is waterwhippin.com.

This podcast is an offshoot of the Brutal South newsletter, which you can get for free every Wednesday at brutalsouth.substack.com. For $5 a month, you can get access to some exclusive newsletter issues and podcast episodes as well as some sweet Brutal South logo stickers while I've still got them. If you can subscribe, that's great, but if not, please just spread the word. I depend on word of mouth, so if you enjoy my work, please tell your friends.

The episode art is a picture of an okra cross-section by Prathyush Thomas, published under a GNU Free Documentation License.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brutalsouth.substack.com