J. A. Bowman's Personal Podcasts

This episode finalizes our conversation about religion in the American South, though it also points backwards to some of the earlier ideas we studied. The goal in putting religion at the end is to get you to think back on the earlier episodes so you can see how the current cultural wars are driven by much of the information we have studied. As I stated in the episode, the goal is not to convince you that either side I cover is 'right', but my goal is instead to simply offer an overview as food for thought. 

Image: Graham Speaking at a Crusade in Dusselfdorf. Wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Graham#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_194-0798-29,_D%C3%BCsseldorf,_Veranstaltung_mit_Billy_Graham.jpg

This episode gives a broad overview of religion in the early American South. It delves into a bit of theology, including some of the ideas and approaches that people of varying faiths/ideologies used in their attempt to reach/understand God. These concepts are linked to the growth of religion in the region, and I seek to give and overview of the topic for you so you can learn more through other lengthier resources.

Image: George Whitefield - Portrait by Joseph Badger, c. 1745. Wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield

This episode continues and expands the conversation from the prior episode by looking at musical traditions handed into the South from Africa. This is a large topic, one that cannot possibly be covered in such a short episode, but the information I have shared is intended to help you start that journey. We cover some of the early history of these musical forms, including ragtime, jazz, the blues, rock and roll, and R&B.

Image: Louis Armstrong photo from the Hulton Archive/Getty Images. Biography.com. https://www.biography.com/musician/louis-armstrong

In this episode, we cover some of the roots of music in the South, though we specifically focus on country music. Our study of this genre is intended to think about the music in a broad way, though further reading and study will certainly be necessary to understand this topic more. Nonetheless, the artists covered will give you a good starting point, plus the music I share in the episode should help you recognize some of the characteristics of this form of southern music.

Image: Jimmie Rodgers in 1929. 2020. Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JimmieRodgers_in_1929.png

In this episode, we finish our examination of the history of race in the American South by examining this history in broad terms. Again, the goal of the podcast is not to do a deep dive into this history; rather, it is to provide some inroads for you, the listener, to learn more about these topics through your own research and investigation. 

Image: Photograph of Emmett Till taken by his mother on Christmas Day 1954. 2019. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till

In this episode, I offer a broad overview of the history of race in the American South. By necessity, this is an overview and not a deep dive, but the information contained in the episode should give you the tools you need to explore further. My hope is that as you listen, you will find some hook here to spur you to learn more about the history of our region.

Image: The lower deck of a Guinea man [of war] in the last century lithograph. 2019. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-middle-passage-4688744.

In this episode, I share an overview of the topic, offering some observations about why we all need to have a discussion about race. I also pull from my experiences teaching this class for a decade in order to give some broad observations that will perhaps trigger food for thought. My goal, as I state at the end, is to get you to think about this subject and hopefully start conversations that can lead to meaningful growth.

Image: Randall Kenan (photo by Donn Young). 2020. UNC Chapel Hill. https://college.unc.edu/2020/08/randall-kenan/.

In this episode, I offer some of the philosophies and ideologies that have guided people's treatment of each other throughout the history of the American South. The purpose of this episode is to offer the groundwork needed for the next two episodes. My goal is to articulate those ideas in such a way that you can more easily understand how they shaped history.

Image: Africa Is Way Bigger Than You Think. 2015. Scientific American. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/africa-is-way-bigger-than-you-think/.

This episode went long -- very long. Nonetheless, the information contained here will give you an overview of four main categories of gender roles in the American South: white males, white females, black males, and black females. This conversation sets out a foundation for your understanding of any further reading you might do on this subject, though it also gives us the tools we will need to understand the next four episodes, which will all be on race. 

Image: Ella Baker. 2015. One.org. https://www.one.org/us/blog/7-kick-ass-women-civil-rights-leaders-you-need-to-know/.

Full acknowledgement: I used the image cited above in the hopes that you will go to the article and read about these seven extraordinary women.

This episode explores two basic terms used in the social sciences - sex and gender. Though these terms have many other definitions associated with them, my goal is to provide an overview of the specific definitions so that my audience can understand how they can be used to analyze gender in the American South. The definitions are by no means exhaustive, but they will give the framework needed for you to explore those concepts further on your own. Sex and gender (and human sexuality) are complicated ideas; this podcast episode can serve as an entryway to the study of those concepts.

Image: Will Ferrell Dresses as Little Debbie on Tonight Show. 2015. People. https://people.com/tv/will-ferrell-dresses-as-little-debbie-on-tonight-show/.