Search results for

Coming soon from South Carolina Public Radio: South of Spooky, a lighthearted exploration of history and culture through the lens of local legends and their impact on communities across our region.

The Old South Pittsburg Hospital in Pittsburg, TN is said to have menacing ghosts that roam its empty halls. On this episode of South of Spooky, hosts Gavin Jackson and AT Shire join the team from South Carolina Paranormal Research and Investigations to explore the notorious haunted abandoned hospital.

Boo hags, haints and other spirits are found throughout Lowcountry Gullah folklore. A boo hag is said to use witchcraft to steal energy from the living while they sleep. They steal a living person’s skin and wear it to move among the world of the living without suspicion. In this episode of South of Spooky, hosts Gavin Jackson and A.T. Shire learn about boo hags and their connection to Gullah culture. Could it be possible they've run into a boo hag and didn't know it?

A mid 1800s forbidden romance led to the secret engagement of Alice Flagg and her star-crossed lover. After becoming ill, Alice’s disapproving brother tore the hidden engagement ring from a ribbon tied around her neck. Now, Alice Flagg is said to haunt her grave at the historic Hermitage in Murrells Inlet... or is it her grave at All Saints Church? On this episode of South of Spooky, hosts AT Shire and Gavin Jackson investigate the story and ask the question, "Where in the world is Alice Flagg?"

There are unexplained sightings at Poinsett Bridge in Landrum, thought to be the oldest bridge in South Carolina. Mysterious forces at this fourteen-foot, Gothic style bridge are reported to keep cars from starting and, and stories of bizarre screams and lights abound. Join hosts Gavin Jackson and AT Shire as they investigate the complicated history of the Poinsett Bridge and try to find the source of these legends.

November 11th is currently celebrated as Veteran’s Day in the United States. But it was first known here, as it still is around the world, as Armistice Day – the day in 1918 when Germany and its allies signed the armistice to end World War I. Armistice Day is still a very important day of commemoration throughout Europe.In 2014, the 100th anniversary of the start of The Great War, Paul MacKenzie, the Caroline McKissick Dial Professor of History at USC, an expert on the war, joined us to look back on the beginning of The War to End All Wars.

In 1985, Mark Bryan heard Darius Rucker singing in a dorm shower at the University of South Carolina and asked him to form a band. For the next eight years, Hootie & the Blowfish—completed by bassist Dean Felber and drummer Soni Sonefeld—played every frat house, roadhouse, and rock club in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, becoming one of the biggest independent acts in the region.In Only Wanna Be with You (2022, USC Press), Tim Sommer, the ultimate insider who signed Hootie to Atlantic Records, pulls back the curtain on a band that defied record-industry odds to break into the mainstream by playing hacky sack music in the age of grunge.He chronicles the band's indie days; the chart-topping success—and near-cancelation—of their major-label debut, cracked rear view; the year of Hootie (1995) when the album reached no. 1, the "Only Wanna Be with You" music video collaboration with ESPN's SportsCenter became a sensation, and the band inspired a plotline on the TV show Friends; the lean years from the late 1990s through the early 2000s; Darius Rucker's history-making rise in country music; and one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the century.Tim Sommer shares the Hootie story with Walter Edgar.- Originally released 06/17/22 -

With his book, Crécy: Battle of Five Kings (2022, Osprey), Michael Livingston, professor of medieval history at The Citadel, has authored a remarkable new study on the Battle of Crécy, in which the outnumbered English under King Edward III won a decisive victory over the French and changed the course of the Hundred Years War.The Battle of Crécy in 1346 is one of the most famous and widely studied military engagements in history. The repercussions of this battle, in which forces led by England’s King Edward III decisively defeated a far larger French army, were felt for hundreds of years, and the exploits of those fighting reached legendary status. Yet new, groundbreaking research by Michael Livingston has shown that nearly everything that has been written about this dramatic event may be wrong.Michael Livingston talks with Walter Edgar about how he has used archived manuscripts, satellite technologies and traditional fieldwork to reconstruct this important conflict, including the unlocking of what was arguably the battle’s greatest secret: the location of the now-quiet fields where so many thousands died.

The Open Space Institute’s mission is to protect scenic, natural, and historic landscapes to provide public enjoyment, conserve habitat and working lands, and sustain communities. Over the past 40 years, the institute has saved 2,285,092 acres of land through direct acquisition, grants, and loans. Having begun by focusing on land in New York State, they have in recent years saved significant, complex, and large-scale tracts in South Carolina, Florida, and New Jersey through direct acquisitions.OSI’s Vice-President and Director of the Southeast, Maria Whitehead, joins Walter Edgar to talk about the acquisition and about the Institute’s plans for land protection in the state.

When the 11- and 12-year-olds on the Cannon Street YMCA all-star team registered for a baseball tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, in July 1955, it put the team and the forces of integration on a collision. White teams refused to take the field with the Cannon Street all-stars, the first Black Little League team in South Carolina.The Cannon Street team won two tournaments by forfeit. If they won the regional tournament in Rome, Georgia, they would have advanced to the Little League World Series. But Little League officials ruled the team ineligible to play in the tournament because they had advanced by winning on forfeit and not on the field, denying the boys their dream. This became a national story for a few weeks but then faded and disappeared altogether as Americans read of other civil rights stories, including the horrific killing of 14-year-old Emmett Till.Chris Lamb, author of The 1955 Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars and Little League Baseball’s Civil War (2022, University of Nebraska Press), and John Rivers, who played shortstop on the All-Stars, join Walter Edgar to tell the story of the Cannon Street all-stars.