Reckon Interview

What do the election results say about the state of the South? It’s a mixed bag. John Archibald and Roy S. Johnson join hosts, John Hammontree and R.L. Nave, to break down the 2020 election and what it means for the future of the South. Archibald and Johnson also discuss the upcoming season of Reckon Radio, “Unjustifiable,” a series perfect for this moment in America. See acast.com/privacy for pri...

On the eve of the election, the Reckon Interview sits down with five people from around the South to discuss three simple questions: What's one thing you hope happens next year? What's something you hope never happens again? What do you think the South will look like in four years? No matter who wins Tuesday, it will be people like you shaping the future of the South. Show Notes 3:27 Whitney Mille...

The 2020 election has led to some of the strangest alliances in political history. Right now, political strategists who’ve previously worked for candidates as ideologically far apart as Dick Cheney and Bernie Sanders or Sarah Palin and Stacey Abrams, are united in a common goal: the defeat of Trumpism. But what happens after the election? If Trump loses, where does this energy go in January 2021?...

The Supreme Court has played a major role in shaping the South. Depending on its ideological center, SCOTUS has protected Southern governments or has intervened on behalf of vulnerable communities. Fred Smith, a professor at Emory Law, details landmark decisions in the South and major cases looming on the horizon. Lilly Ledbetter knows what it's like to lose a case before the Supreme Court, she sh...

Doug Jones was never expected to be Alabama's senator. His unexpected victory in 2017 may have set off a chain reaction in the Deep South. Suddenly national money poured into races in states like Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina. And longtime power brokers in the Alabama Democratic Party found themselves on the ropes. Political consultant David Mowery explains how Jones' election changed wh...

There’s more to this discussion than partisan politics of course but in poll after poll… we’re starting to see some of the country's most inelastic states look a little more like swing states. And we’re starting to see a few cracks in the establishment on the right and the left. Jaime Harrison, the Democratic candidate in a statistical tie with Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, joins the Reck...

America is having a long overdue conversation about policing and justice. Most of us know that the criminal justice system looks different for Black and Brown Americans. And many of us probably have a sense of why the system has always worked against them. But this week we’re examining just how expansive and damaging that system has been. Dr. John Giggie, an historian at the University of Alabama...

Earlier this year, Congress passed the biggest stimulus package in history, but who is actually getting that mone This week, we're chatting with Dr Stephanie Yates, a professor of finance at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Diane Standaert, a senior vice president of the Hope Policy Institute in Mississippi, which aims to help people in underserved areas grow wealth. Dr. Yates explains...

Football is religion in the South, to borrow the cliche. And a certain sect of fans and the establishment have always tried to separate that religion from politics. But that’s a tall order in 2020. When politics affect whether games can be safely played. When players and coaches wrestle with systemic racism and police brutality. When the president of the United States uses sports as… well a politi...

The Covid-19 exposed deep problems with the South's fragmented healthcare system. Home to some of the country's highest rates of chronic disease and illness, how did the South get to this point? Dr. Andrea Patterson explains the roots of Southerners' resistance to funding public health and Facing South's Olivia Paschal describes what the fight for quality care looks like right now. See acast.com/p...

For decades, Southerners have fought for civil and human rights. What does coalition building look like in a region divided by race? Dr. Jessica Wilkerson, a labor historian at West Virginia University, describes the labor movements led by white women in Appalachia. And Arekia Bennett, director of Mississippi Votes, shares what organizing looks like during a pandemic. See acast.com/privacy for pri...

100 years ago Southern white men and some sympathetic women nearly blocked the 19th amendment and women's suffrage. Some Southern suffragists worked for form fragile alliances with Black suffragists, others touted the 19th Amendment as a manner to maintain white supremacy. 50 years later similar efforts in the South successfully blocked the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. This week on...

If you examine how the modern Democratic Party built a new coalition with black voters after the Civil Rights movement and how the modern Republican Party transformed its party in response, you begin to see how the identities of both national parties have their roots in the South. On this week's episode of the Reckon Interview, Angie Maxwell, a professor at the University of Arkansas, explains how...

What does the fight for voting rights look like five decades after the Civil Rights Movement? Are states prepared to handle elections during a pandemic? To kick off Reckon Interview Season 3, John Hammontree and R.L. Nave speak with Prof. Carol Anderson and ProPublica's Jessica Huseman for a comprehensive look at the state of voting in 2020. Show Notes 5:00 Professor Carol Anderson @ProfCAnderson...

Southerners are setting the tempo for the 2020 elections, whether it’s fighting for racial justice, ending health disparities, pushing for voting rights by organizing people around common goals. This season on the Reckon Interview, John Hammontree and R.L. Nave are digging into the stories and people beyond the polls and partisanship. Each week, we’ll speak with the leaders, experts and fresh voic...

You've seen Zac Oyama in CollegeHumor videos and the Upright Citizens Brigade. You've heard him on Comedy Bang Bang. You've seen his dad in "Get Out." He joins the Reckon Interview for a conversation about Hollywood, the South and how a Karate empire found its surprising home in Birmingham, Alabama. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo is the director of the UAB School of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases. She joins the Reckon Interview to discuss the possibility of returning to schools, football, Alabama's mask policy and when we can expect a publicly available vaccine. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These days, everyone tells Paul Finebaum to "stick to sports." On the Reckon Interview, he shares his thoughts on pushing back on callers, his thoughts on school administrators responding to the pandemic, details about TV shows he has in the works, and why he typically avoids politics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

Elaina Plott is a one of the great profile writers of our time. The New York Times writer grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and joins the Reckon Interview to discuss Jeff Sessions' career and how being Southern helps her connect with sources. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Hilary N. Green is an expert in the American Civil War, Reconstruction and Civil War memory. She joins the Reckon Interview to discuss living through this historical moment where Americans' understanding of history is rapidly changing, addressing topics like the toppling of monuments, the removal of Gone with the Wind, and more. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn...

For years, Carolyn Kellogg was the Books editor for the Los Angeles Times. On the Reckon Interview, she shares why she dropped everything to move to the Deep South. She also offers her suggestions for books to read this summer. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Atlantic's Olga Khazan joins the Reckon Interview to discuss her new book "Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World." She and John Hammontree discuss how outsiders can build movements, including how that could relate to the Black Lives Matter movement and LGBT advocacy campaigns. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Trae Crowder, Drew Morgan and Corey Ryan Forrester have dismantled preconceptions about what 'Southern comedy' sounds like. This week on the Reckon Interview, they sit down to discuss their role as Southern white men supporting George Floyd protests, how the pandemic has affected their livelihood, and draft their all time Southern comedy teams. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informa...

Chuck Reece founded the Bitter Southerner in 2013. He sits down with John Hammontree to discuss the place he built for Southern voices and how to find the right voice for the right story. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tommy Tomlison is a brilliant writer and radio host based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2019, he published a memoir about confronting an addiction to food, chronicling his efforts to lose weight after nearing 460 pounds. His story offers insight into addiction, food culture in the South, and writing honest stories. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your...