A candid journey into 21st-century Southern literature——queer voices, hard truths, and the persistence behind every “overnight” success, live from Tallahassee’s Word of South Festival.

Since a half-century ago, colleges and universities around the South have established centers to study the culture of our region. The Center for Appalachian Studies in Kentucky. The Center for the Study of the American South in North Carolina. The Center for the Study of Southern Culture in Mississippi. Salvation South magazine editor Chuck Reece has some thoughts about why preserving Southern folklore matters.

The Associated Press last month published a story on new academic research which documents the ongoing disappearance of Southern accents in our region. Salvation South magazine editor Chuck Reece does not object to such stories, because they are true. But he does think curiosity is rising about what is being lost.

Nearly 200,000 Black soldiers fought for their freedom in the Civil War. And their families risked everything alongside them. Host Chuck Reece explores the legacy of these soldiers through the powerful, historical poetry of Frank X Walker, and with the help of Pulitzer Prize-winner Edda Fields-Black, historian Holly Pinheiro Jr. and Steve Phan, Park Ranger at the Camp Nelson National Monument. This episode brings to light the struggle, resilience, and enduring impact of African American soldiers in Southern history.

In the South, even in the hustle and bustle of the biggest cities, strangers still tend to tell each other "Good morning" or "Good afternoon." Or they'll at least give you a nod instead of just staring at their shoes until the elevator gets to their floor. And sometimes, a conversation actually happens. Salvation South magazine editor Chuck Reece has some thoughts about that.

Salvation South magazine editor Chuck Reece spends almost all his time thinking and writing about the American South. But sometimes, his mind starts wrestling with far bigger questions than what we Southerners read, listen to, or eat. This leads him to frustration — and sometimes, to a good lesson.

On this episode of Salvation South Deluxe: Chuck travels to the foothills of the Smoky Mountains to meet 'the Aristotle of Bacon.' Learn how Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams—a humble smokehouse in Madisonville, Tennessee—caught the attention of the fine dining industry and beyond.

Certain words in the Southern dialect are not easily rendered on the printed page — words that do not necessarily lend themselves to spellings that make sense. At a recent art exhibition in Atlanta, Salvation South editor Chuck Reece was reminded of such a word from his youth, one he found literary validation for only after he left home.