Salvation South

This is what happens when a New Orleans saxophonist draws his inspiration from Sweden. Meet the virtuosic Randal Despommier.

George Lancaster describes how he and his friend Bill built a committed and lasting friendship — despite their religious and political differences.

Plus, Chuck runs down the three cracking good stories we’re publishing in Salvation South this week.

Two New Orleans restaurants trace their origins directly to the famed Cajun dining spot, K-Paul’s: Brigtsen’s and Gabrielle now carry the late chef’s torch.

Atlanta writer Nelson d. Ross always followed his heart, but he recently learned that his ticker needs some repair. He has high hopes for what comes next.

Two hundred years ago, a freed Charleston slave named Denmark Vesey attempted to lead a rebellion. To many Black people, he is a hero, but his name is still anathema to many whites.

When a band of yellow flies attacked Jennifer Kornegay in the coastal Alabama woods, she got intimately acquainted with some of the nastiest critters in the Southern ecosystem.

This week, we explore the country of hearts, avoid nasty yellow flies and learn some critical Southern history.

It’s a week of variety and food for thought at Salvation South.

Zeniya Cooley is a young Black writer who grew up loving “Gone With the Wind.” Today, she reckons with a world where books imagining a more inclusive world are banned while Old South tomes like “GWTW” go unchallenged.

An Arkansas native poet brings us pieces that remember an important figure in Southern Black history and that evoke the scorching heat of summer days.

Ernestine Crowell is the self-described “militant Black woman” who rides herd over the 105 members of Alabama’s House of Representatives. She is feared. She is beloved. She is one of a kind.