This episode turned into a monster, so be prepared for a longer account than usual. It is because there is so much ground to cover on any given topic, so the one topic I did pick -- the idea of race -- offered a lot of ground to cover. Nonetheless, I skim through many important writers and what they have to say about the experience of race in the American South. My goal is to show that the South has a rich literary tradition with a great deal of complex, compelling works that challenge, undermine, or influence how we understand the history of this region. My list is not exhaustive, but I attempted to use my time to give you, my listener, an idea about how to start your journey into writing about this region.

Image: Angelou reciting "On the Pulse of Morning" at the First Inauguration of Bill Clinton. 1993. Wikimedia Commons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Pulse_of_Morning#/media/File:Angelou_at_Clinton_inauguration.jpg.

In this episode we examine the role that art plays in any given culture, and we then use a story about the American South to consider how one particular author, William Faulkner and his "Odor of Verbena", can reflect and challenge traditions from the region. The goal of this essay is to help you to see why we must study writing as a part of any culture. By understanding this goal, you will have a better grasp of the role literature and art play in a culture. 

Image: Carl Van Vechten - William Faulkner. 1954. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carl_Van_Vechten_-_William_Faulkner.png.

In this episode we're going to give an overview of the economy of the South. To be clear, this episode is not intended to get into the granular details of the South's economic history -- there is no way to do this in 30-40 minutes -- but the episodes does offer the tools you will need to 1)  analyze how the economic basis of a society governs its culture and 2) information you will need to understand this concept in relation to the South. 

Keep in mind I skim through a lot of information here because my goal is to give a wide overview. For more details, I would strongly suggest doing supplemental reading that will help you to understand date ranges, famous people associated with the economy (e.g. - Eliza Lucas or Henry Grady), and the details associated with specific locations (such as rice in South Carolina).

Image: A Postcard Image Titled A Southern Tobacco Field. 2011. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D-885._A_Southern_tobacco_field_(5756038806).jpg.

In this episode, I offer an overview of culture, including some definitions that will be useful, a thought experiment that will serve you well on your journey into culture, and some specific examples of culture from around the world. The goal of the episode is to get you to think about how pervasive culture is in all our lives and how it can influence all of our thinking, perhaps even in negative ways.

Photo: Me! This is from a backroad in Stanly County, North Carolina. 

This is a long episode, but it captures the four main groups discussed in the reading, and it provides some inroads you can use to further explore those groups. As I noted at the end, this podcast is by necessity brief, and I wish I could speak for an hour about each of the ones I cover. Since I tried to keep it short, use what I shared as a springboard to read and learn more.

For anyone who is interested, here is some additional information:

Episode 1 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv_6IjzVm2E&feature=emb_logo 

The textbook from our course: https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Culture-Introduction-John-Beck/dp/1611631041/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=southern+culture+an+introduction&qid=1610381549&sr=8-1

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Map of the Black Belt. 2017. NCRP. https://www.ncrp.org/publications/as-the-south-grows/on-fertile-soil/on-fertile-soil-voices-from-the-deep-south. Accessed 11 Jan. 2021.

We covered a lot of ground in this podcast series, but one important question is worth returning to here at the end (or the beginning?): Why in the world does this content matter? With math we can balance our checkbooks, with accounting we can make sure we never bounce a check, with science we can stop space rocks from destroying us, and with public speaking we can move the masses. But what about literature? Why bother? This episode addresses that important question, though keep in mind that I offer the fair warning that this is very much my opinion.

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Me. I took this one of one of my bookcases.

In this episode we briefly explore two of America's greatest poets, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Though our introduction is short, I share some of the common themes that run through their work, and I talk give a few keys to help you as you read through their poems. These poets are well worth your time, especially since they explore topics we have seen much in the prior content of the course. 

This is also the final episode in the first season of this podcast channel. As I note towards the end, it has been great fun to make these, and I hope you have found them useful. I will be shifting to a new 'season' soon as I cover content for other courses.

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Hollyer, Samuel. Image of Walt Whitman for Leaves of Grass. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass#/media/File:Walt_Whitman,_steel_engraving,_July_1854.jpg. Accessed 9 Nov. 2020.

In this episode, we examine the contributions to American literature made by Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass. Though the episode does not break down the plot of these texts, it does provide an overview of some of the common themes running throughout their works. Use the information here to better navigate those texts and to understand why we ought to study their works as an important part of our educational journey through the writings of this time period. 

Also, and as I said at the end of the episode, please don't hesitate to email me for suggested resources for this subject. A half hour isn't nearly enough time to cover the impact that these two individuals had upon the United States.

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Warren, George Kendall. Image of Frederick Douglass. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass#/media/File:Frederick_Douglass_(circa_1879).jpg. Accessed 2 Nov. 2020.

In this episode I provide some foundation for your study of Emerson and Thoreau. Though I cover a lot of ground, there is still much, much more to study. These are not easy texts, so my goal is to give you the foundations you need to properly engage with the texts rather than, as with some of the prior readings, walking you through them point by point. As you listen, consider how the ideas in the texts challenge your understanding of the world, reality, and worship. By seeing these concepts as a living part of our world, you will undoubtedly find yourself returning to them throughout the rest of your life.

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Maxham, Benjamin. Image of Henry David Thoreau. Mental Floss, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/82020/11-simple-facts-about-henry-david-thoreau. Accessed 25 Oct. 2020.

Our studies have recently shifted to people who are writing for the sake of evoking an American character in their work. Irving and others sought to capture the new nation through monsters and folksy tales, and those tales are now embedded in our national consciousness. The focus now shifts to those who continue that tradition while seeking to defy some of the optimism of the Enlightenment. These authors, such Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, reveled in the unknown, thereby implicitly arguing that there is something unreachable in nature, what might possibly be termed the 'noumenon' of Kantian transcendental idealism. This episode focuses on Hawthorne's work so that it might show the way this author manifests those goals in his short fiction.

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Dore, Gustave. Dudley Street, Seven Dials. Victorian Web, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/london/7dials.html. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.