Reconsider the Oyster
Tracking a single oyster from the Gulf to Bourbon Street, to a 1,300-ton pile of shells, provides a tour through Louisiana’s precarious coastal economy.
thesouth
A collection of 28 issues
IH8YRST8
Studying drivers across the country for signs of license-plate prejudice—or, why everyone loves Vermont drivers and hates Texans.
Crimewatcher
The victim of a robbery starts attending trials in New Orleans to understand the system while her burglar serves time in jail. Then he gets out.
A Heritage of Hate
Why it’s the duty of every white American to burn a Confederate flag.
Voices of the Walmart
There are eight million stories in a city. How many are there at Walmart? Random telephone calls made to hear about life inside.
The Death of Clemency
Clemency is supposed to be a “fail-safe” in our judicial system. Thanks to a handful of powerful, well-paid political appointees, that notion is proving lethally incorrect.
Back to Skol
NFL star Randy Moss is now a high school coach. A Vikings fan explains how watching one childhood hero move on with his life helps him say goodbye to another.
Happiness Is a Pink Gun
Mainstream country music is dominated by bros singing about girls in cutoffs and drinking tequila. But some female country artists are ready to exchange fire.
Grandpa
Passing the summer days in North Carolina’s low country often meant sitting on the porch with Grandpa and his radio. Today, it doesn’t take much to go back there.
A Few Brief Remarks
Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg was short: only three minutes long, following a moving, two-hour performance by famed orator Edward Everett. It also was nearly meaningless.
Lots of Oil Fields Around Here
A special Fourth of July edition of our series where an editor randomly calls people in small towns around America to see what’s happening.
A Closer Walk With Thee
For residents of Patsy Cline’s hometown of Winchester, Va., the struggle over how to remember the famous country singer begins with deciding what sort of a legacy she left—and whether they want it.
Tony Horwitz
Our man in Boston sits down for a frank accounting with Tony Horwitz, author of beloved works like Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches From the Unfinished Civil War. Here they chat about his new book on John Brown—still a divisive figure in America, particularly in these days of terrorism—and the
Ron Rash, Redux
Our man in Boston talks with writer Ron Rash about his latest book, America's great regional voices, the high percentage of readers in New Zealand and Australia, and the misery that accompanies putting a novel together, where it's rather more fun to stick pencils in your eyes.
The Type We Do Here Is for Self-Defense
Continuing our series of randomly calling people around the U.S. to find out what's going on in their towns, this time we focus on the Olympics—how do folks who come from the same communities as America's Olympians feel about their star athletes?
Big Blue Nights
Victory has many faces—some of them just happen to be painted. A story of violence, true love, the road from New York to Lexington, and the religion that is college basketball.
Our French Connection
A two-week journey across the US—specifically towns named Paris, with a clipboard and a hundred questionnaires—to uncover what Americans think about the French.
The Storm Comes Around
Tornado season is a distant concept for most people. For some, it’s a scary but known part of life. Then there’s what happens when one of the South’s deadliest storms in history destroys your house.
Our French Connection
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Other people simply prefer "freedom fries." A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Part three of four.)
Our French Connection
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Other people simply prefer "freedom fries." A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Part two of four.)
Our French Connection
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Others simply prefer "freedom fries." A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Parts one through three of four.)
Smoke the Fire
Hank Williams III blew the doors off country music last fall when he released three ambitious, experimental albums all on the same day. A conversation about tradition, hardcore, and punishment.
Burn All the Liars
An unfinished autobiography and a 1980s biopic turned Frances Farmer, one of the great golden-era stars, into a lobotomized zombie. The main trouble: Frances Farmer wasn’t lobotomized. An investigation to set one of Hollywood’s most convoluted stories straight.
Tallahassle
Florida is America’s most-abused state, and Tallahassee its biggest target for bi-coastal writers who pick low-hanging fruit—rednecks, old people—and wouldn’t know an alligator from their elbow. The slander has gone far enough. On behalf of every Tallahussey and T-Town man, let the corrections begin
Northern Belle
New York is supposedly the home of the willful and headstrong, the forthright and brassy--but when a cousin from Nashville rolls into town, everyone else seems meek.
The Peril of Ceiling Fans
In South Carolina’s beach country, not having air conditioning, nevermind fans, is these days downright strange. A personal memoir of worried grandmothers and infant decapitation.
Concerning My Neighbors, the Hicks
It's easy for Yankees to see the South as a swamp, full of evangelist in-breds and Fox-fed yokels, when the media reinforces the stereotype.
Where I'm Coming From
Southerners routinely get trashed up north, where they're either derided as racists or hayseeds, or the offspring of siblings.