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Walter Edgar's Journal Archive

Walter Edgar's Journal - Archive (2008-2014)

2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008

2014

August 2014

The Minus Times Collected- Hunter Kennedy
August 29, 2014

(Originally Broadcast 02/28/14) - Begun as an open letter to strangers and fellow misfits, The Minus Times grew to become a hand-typed literary magazine that showcased the next generation of American fiction. Contributors include Sam Lipsyte, David Berman, Patrick DeWitt, and Wells Tower, with illustrations by David Eggers and Brad Neely as well as interviews with Dan Clowes, Barry Hannah, and a yet-to-be-famous Stephen Colbert. With sly humor and striking illustrations, The Minus Times has earned a fervent following as much for its lack of literary pretension as its sporadic appearances on the newsstand. All thirty of the nearly-impossible-to-find issues of this improvised literary almanac are now assembled for the first time, typos and all, in The Minus Times Collected, by Hunter Kennedy (Featherproof Books, 2012).

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: Plain Folk on the Home Front
August 22, 2014

(Originally broadcast 03/21/14) - Dr. Melissa Walker is the author of numerous books on the Civil War and is co-editor of Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War (USC Press, 2011). She will talk with Dr. Edgar about the role of “plain folk”—especially women—during the war.

This presentation was recorded at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on January 28, and was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


The South Carolina Botanical Garden - Patrick McMillan and John Bodiford
August 15, 2014

(Originally broadcast 03/28/14) - The South Carolina Botanical Gardens, located on the campus of Clemson University, is a diverse 295-acre garden of natural and manicured landscapes within the South Carolina Piedmont ecosystem.  Director Patrick McMillan and Manager John Bodiford will join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Gardens. They will also discuss the ongoing restoration following the remarkably heavy rain which flooded the Garden and its related facilities in 2013.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: The War at Sea
August 08, 2014

(Originally broadcast 03/07/14) - Dr. Craig L. Symonds is a retired professor of history at the United States Naval Academy and the author of The Civil War at Sea (Oxford University Press, New York, 2012) ) and numerous other books. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the navies on both sides of the conflict, the impact of emergent technologies, the effectiveness of the Union's ambitious strategy of blockading, the odyssey of Confederate commerce raiders, the role of naval forces on the western rivers, and the difficulty of conducting combined sea and ground operations against the major Southern port cities.

The presentation was recorded at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on February 4, and was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


The Whiskey Baron: John Sealy; The Last Original Wife: Dorothea Benton Frank
August 01, 2014

With its unforgettable characters and evocative setting, Jon Sealy’s first novel, The Whiskey Baron (Hub City Press, 2014) is a gripping drama, set it South Carolina during Prohibition, about family ties and bad choices, about the folly of power and the limitations of the law. Sealy has been hailed as a “grand new talent” (Bret Lott) and a “significant new voice in Southern fiction” (Ron Rash). He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his book, and about what it takes to write and publish a “first novel” today.

And, Dorothea Benton Frank joins us to talk about The Last Original Wife (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2014), which was recently published in paperback. The last original wife of the title is Leslie Anne Greene, the lone remaining first spouse in her husband's circle of friends. It only takes a relatively minor accident to snap her to the realization that what had seemed like a singular mark of distinction had become over the span of years a hollow symbol. To retrieve and replenish her life, she retreats to the pristine sands of South Caroline's shores. There she finds more than she ever imagined. A classic summer vacation read from the inimitable Dorothea Benton Frank.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


July 2014

Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: Lincoln’s Re-election
July 25, 2014

(Originally broadcast 02/21/14) - John C. (Jack) Waugh, author of numerous books on the Civil War, including One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln’s Road to the Civil War (Harcourt, 2007), joins  Dr. Edgar for a public conversation about the Civil War, specifically the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864. The presentation was recorded at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on January 21, and was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Truth in Cold Blood: Tom Tisdale and Richard Futch
July 18, 2014

The nearly forgotten story of a southern Episcopal bishop murdered by one of his own peers in 1928 surfaces this summer at the historic Dock Street Theatre, less than a hundred feet away from where the incident occurred.

Thomas Tisdale’s original play, Truth in Cold Blood, dramatizes for the first time the story of the shooting and death of Bishop William Alexander Guerry and the events leading up to it. Tisdale and director Richard Futch talk about the play and the history behind it.

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Deadly Censorship - James Lowell Underwood
July 11, 2014

South Carolina’s Lt. Governor shoots to death the editor of The State newspaper in downtown Columbia? And is acquitted of all criminal charges? Yes, it did happen—and not so long ago. James Lowell Underwood, author of Deadly Censorship Murder, Honor, and Freedom of the Press (USC Press, 2013) tells the story.

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Declaring Independence - Establishing a Global Public Square
July 04, 2014

On this Independence Day episode of Walter Edgar's Journal, we'll read the Declaration of Independence--the document that started it all.

And, Walter will talk with social critic Os Guinness, author of The Global Public Square: Religious Freedom and the Making of a World Safe for Democracy (Intervarsity Press, 2013)

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


June 2014

Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: Lee’s Miserables
June 27, 2014

(Originally broadcast 02/07/14) - Never did so large a proportion of the American population leave home for an extended period and produce such a detailed record of its experiences in the form of correspondence, diaries, and other papers as during the Civil War. Dr. Tracy Power’s book, Lee’s Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox (UNC Press), offers a compelling social history of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during its final year, from May 1864 to April 1865—a history based on research in more than 1,200 wartime letters and diaries by more than 400 Confederate officers and enlisted men.

Dr. Power joined Dr. Edgar for a public conversation at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on January 14, 2014. The event was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Riverbanks Zoo and Garden: 40 Wild Years
June 20, 2014

What began in the mid-1960s as a modest dream of a few business leaders to create a small children's petting zoo has evolved into today's nationally ranked Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, visited by more than one million guests annually and supported by a membership base of more than thirty-three thousand households. Recognized today as one of America's best zoos, Riverbanks Zoo and Garden celebrated its 40th anniversary April 25, 2014.

Palmer "Satch" Krantz and Monique Blanchette Jacobs tell the remarkable story of this unique place in Riverbanks Zoo and Garden: Forty Wild Years (USC Press, 2014) through anecdotal stories and nearly two hundred brilliant photographs and illustrations, making it easy to see why Riverbanks is recognized as one of the nation's great zoological parks and botanical gardens.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Seeking - Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green
June 13, 2014

(Originally broadcast 09/27/13) - Renowned South Carolina artist Jonathan Green's work has inspired a wide range of artists around the world. In Seeking - Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green (USC Press, 2013), co-editors Kwame Dawes and Marjory Wentworth gather some of their responses, in works of poetry, prose, and memoir.

Seeking's evocative power lies in the intimacy of this dialogue, which speaks to the shared sense of landscape and culture that Green stirs in these writers, ranging from close friends and fellow artists from his home state of South Carolina to nationally established authors who regard Green's work as an important cultural institution. Jonathan Green, Kwame Dawes, and Marjory Wentworth talk with Dr. Edgar about these "responses," and the art that provoked them.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Greenville Chautauqua: Robert Smalls
June 06, 2014

Robert Smalls was born into Slavery April 5, 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina. At age 23, he was a crewman on the steamer Planter, an armed transport in service to the Confederate defenders of Charleston. On May 13, 1862, Smalls, with a crew of other enslaved men, embarked on a daring dash for freedom. Before dawn, without alerting the guards, he piloted the Planter from Southern Warf to North Atlantic Wharf. Near this spot, he picked up his family and guided the vessel past the harbor defenses to the Union ships blockading Charleston harbor. This heroic act of bravery made him a national hero and contributed to the Union war effort.

Smalls story is being brought to life at the 2014 Greenville Chautauqua, in June. Dr. A.V. Huff, professor emeritus of history, Furman University; Robert Smalls portrayer Donald Sweeper; and, Greenville Chautauqua Director Caroline McIntyre join Dr. Edgar to talk about Greenville Chautauqua and about Robert Smalls.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


May 2014

Dixie Bohemia: A French Quarter Circle in the 1920s - John Shelton Reed
May 30, 2014

(Originally broadcast 01/10/14) - In the years following World War I, the New Orleans French Quarter attracted artists and writers with low rent, a faded charm, and colorful street life. By the 1920s Jackson Square became the center of a vibrant but short-lived bohemia. A young William Faulkner and his roommate William Spratling, an artist who taught at Tulane, were among the "artful and crafty ones of the French Quarter." In Dixie Bohemia: A French Quarter Circle in the 1920s (LSU Press, 2012) John Shelton Reed introduces Faulkner's circle of friends ranging from the distinguished Sherwood Anderson to a gender-bending Mardi Gras costume designer and brings to life the people and places of New Orleans in the jazz age.

Dr. John Shelton Reed is the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was director of the Howard Odum Institute for Research in Social Science for twelve years and helped to found the university's Center for the Study of the American South and the quarterly Southern Cultures.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


A History of Greenville and the Upstate - A. V. Huff
May 23, 2014

This week Walter Edgar's Journal focuses on Greenville and the Upstate of South Carolina. Walter’s guest is Dr. A. V. Huff, Professor Emeritus of History at Furman University.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


The Riley Institute at Furman University
May 16, 2014

The Richard W. Riley Institute Government, Politics, and Public Leadership, named for former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education Richard Riley, is a multi-faceted, non-partisan institute affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University. The Institute is unique in the United States in the emphasis it places on engaging students in the various arenas of politics, public policy, and public leadership.

Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the Riley Institute and its programs—including the OneSouthCarolina initiative—is the Institute's Executive Director, Donald L. Gordon.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Furniture in the Lower Southern Piedmont
May 09, 2014

The topic is Furniture in the Lower Southern Piedmont. And Dr. Walter Edgar talks about the history of this often overlooked area of material Culture with Dale L. Couch, Curator of Decorative Arts at the Georgia Museum of Art, and John Sherrer, Director of Cultural Resources for Historic Columbia. Dale Couch will be giving a lecture entitled “Furniture in the Lower Southern Piedmont: New Findings and Projected Projects” at the Columbia Museum of Art, Tuesday, May 13, 6:30 PM.  The event is being sponsored by the South Carolina Fall Line Consortium. (For more information, contact John Sherrer, jsherrer@historiccolumbia.org.)

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


A Conversation about the South
May 02, 2014

Walter Edgar’s Journal listeners have a front row seat for a public “Conversation about the South,” held in March of 2014 by the American History Book Club and Forum at the Upcountry History Museum – Furman University, in Greenville, SC. Long-time friends and colleagues, Professor James Cobb of the University of Georgia and USC Professor Emeritus Walter Edgar have a wide-ranging conversation about the American South—past, present, and future.

Production of this episode of Walter Edgar's Journal is made possible by a grant from the Jolley Foundation.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


April 2014

Brown v. Board of Education - Landmark Court Ruling to End Public School Segregation
April 25, 2014

In 1949 Thurgood Marshall and NAACP officials met with Black residents of Clarendon County, SC. They decided that the NAACP would launch a test case against segregation in public schools if at least 20 plaintiffs could be found. By November, Harry Briggs and 19 other plaintiffs were assembled, and the NAACP filed a class action lawsuit against the Clarendon County School Board.

Briggs v. Elliott became one of the cases consolidated by the Supreme Court into Brown v. Board of Education, the case in which the Court made its landmark ruling in 1954 to end segregation in public schools. Fifty years on from Brown v. Board, Dr. Jon N. Hale, of the College of Charleston, and Dr. Millicent E. Brown, of Claflin University, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the road to school desegregation and civil rights in South Carolina.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Pat Conroy and Family - The Death of Santini
April 18, 2014

In his 2013 memoir, The Death of Santini (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) author Pat Conroy admits that his father, Don, is the basis of abusive fighter pilot he created for the title role of his novel, The Great Santini, and that his mother, Peg, and his brothers and sisters have all served as models for characters in The Prince of Tides and his other novels. Now, for the first time, Pat gathers with four of his surviving siblings, Kathy, Tim, Mike, and Jim, to talk about the intersection of “real life” and Pat’s fiction, and what it was like to grow up with “the Great Santini” as a father.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: Lee’s Miserables
April 13, 2014

Sunday, April 13, only

(Originally broadcast 02/07/14) - Never did so large a proportion of the American population leave home for an extended period and produce such a detailed record of its experiences in the form of correspondence, diaries, and other papers as during the Civil War. Dr. Tracy Power’s book, Lee’s Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox (UNC Press), offers a compelling social history of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during its final year, from May 1864 to April 1865—a history based on research in more than 1,200 wartime letters and diaries by more than 400 Confederate officers and enlisted men.

Dr. Power joined Dr. Edgar for a public conversation at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on January 14, 2014. The event was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


It’s our Spring Membership Drive!
April 11, 2014

Today we'll be listening to clips of some of our favorite past shows, and offering you a chance to pledge your financial support to Walter Edgar's Journal.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


An Evening with Pat Conroy
April 04, 2014

Pat Conroy, author of The Water is WideThe Great SantiniThe Prince of Tides, The Death of Santini, joins Dr. Walter Edgar for an event celebrating the author’s life;  his work; and One Book, One Columbia’s 2014 selection, My Reading Life (Nan A. Talese, 2010). The conversation was recorded before an audience of over 2000, at Columbia’s Township Auditorium, on the evening of February 27.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


March 2014

The South Carolina Botanical Garden - Patrick McMillan and John Bodiford
March 28, 2014

The South Carolina Botanical Gardens, located on the campus of Clemson University, is a diverse 295-acre garden of natural and manicured landscapes within the South Carolina Piedmont ecosystem.  Director Patrick McMillan and Manager John Bodiford will join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Gardens. They will also discuss the ongoing restoration following the remarkably heavy rain which flooded the Garden and its related facilities in 2013. 

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: Plain Folk on the Home Front
March 21, 2014

Dr. Melissa Walker is the author of numerous books on the Civil War and is co-editor of Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War (USC Press, 2011). She will talk with Dr. Edgar about the role of “plain folk”—especially women—during the war.

This presentation was recorded at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on January 28, and was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


“What I Came to Tell You” - Tommy Hays
March 14, 2014

Since his mother died earlier this year, Grover Johnston has watched his family fall to pieces as his father throws himself into his work rather than dealing with the pain. Left to care for his younger sister, Sudie, Grover finds solace in creating intricate weavings out of the natural materials found in the bamboo forest behind his North Carolina home, a pursuit that his father sees only as a waste of time.

But as tensions mount between father and son, two unlikely forces conspire to lead the Johnstons on a new path -- a presence that seems to come to Grover in his darkest moments and new tenants in the rental house across the street who have come from deep in the Carolina hills and plopped themselves right into Grover's life.

Tender, touching, and utterly compelling, What I Came to Tell You (Egmont USA, 2013), the first middle-grade novel from critically acclaimed Asheville author Tommy Hays, is a story of grief, love, and hard-won redemption. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, and about his career.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: The War at Sea
March 07, 2014

Dr. Craig L. Symonds is a retired professor of history at the United States Naval Academy and the author of The Civil War at Sea (Oxford University Press, New York, 2012) ) and numerous other books. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the navies on both sides of the conflict, the impact of emergent technologies, the effectiveness of the Union's ambitious strategy of blockading, the odyssey of Confederate commerce raiders, the role of naval forces on the western rivers, and the difficulty of conducting combined sea and ground operations against the major Southern port cities.

The presentation was recorded at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on February 4, and was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


February 2014

The Minus Times - Hunter Kennedy
February 28, 2014

Begun as an open letter to strangers and fellow misfits, The Minus Times grew to become a hand-typed literary magazine that showcased the next generation of American fiction. Contributors include Sam Lipsyte, David Berman, Patrick DeWitt, and Wells Tower, with illustrations by David Eggers and Brad Neely as well as interviews with Dan Clowes, Barry Hannah, and a yet-to-be-famous Stephen Colbert. With sly humor and striking illustrations, The Minus Times has earned a fervent following as much for its lack of literary pretension as its sporadic appearances on the newsstand. All thirty of the nearly-impossible-to-find issues of this improvised literary almanac are now assembled for the first time, typos and all, in The Minus Times Collected, by Hunter Kennedy (Featherproof Books, 2012).

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: Lincoln’s Re-election
February 21, 2014

John C. (Jack) Waugh, author of numerous books on the Civil War, including One Man Great Enough: Abraham Lincoln’s Road to the Civil War (Harcourt, 2007), joins  Dr. Edgar for a public conversation focusing on the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864. As late as August of that year, Lincoln's prospects seemed grim. Most observers predicted that the failed commander of the Army of the Potomac, George McClellan, would win the presidency, and negotiate a peace with the Confederate States.

The presentation was recorded at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on January 21, and was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


“A Brush with Deception” - Christian Thee, Artist
February 14, 2014

Joining Dr. Edgar today are Columbia artist Christian Thee and Mana Hewitt, artist and McMaster Gallery Director at USC's Department of Art, who will talk about Thee's art. Thee is recognized as one of the premiere practitioners of trompe l’oeil ("fool the eye") art. He is also a magician and professional stage designer.

Christian’s career in theater began in Columbia as a set designer for the Town Theater while he pursued his undergraduate education at the University of South Carolina. He earned a master’s degree in stage design from Columbia University, which allowed him to study with renowned scenic designer Lestor Polakov. He went on to create sets for more than 30 shows on and off Broadway.

He has created trompe l'oeil murals in public spaces, in homes, and in the Kenan Chapel of Columbia's Trinity Cathedral. In 2004, he won the South Carolina “Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award for Outstanding Individual Artist,” which is considered the highest honor for an individual artist in the state.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Conversations on the Civil War, 1864: Lee’s Miserables
February 07, 2014

Never did so large a proportion of the American population leave home for an extended period and produce such a detailed record of its experiences in the form of correspondence, diaries, and other papers as during the Civil War. Dr. Tracy Power’s book, Lee’s Miserables: Life in the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Appomattox (UNC Press), offers a compelling social history of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during its final year, from May 1864 to April 1865—a history based on research in more than 1,200 wartime letters and diaries by more than 400 Confederate officers and enlisted men.

Dr. Power joined Dr. Edgar for a public conversation at the University of South Carolina’s Capstone Conference Center, in Columbia, on January 14, 2014. The event was part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1864,” presented in January and February, 2014. The series is sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


January 2014

More Than a Likeness: the Enduring Art of Mary Whyte
January 31, 2014

More Than a Likeness: The Enduring Art of Mary Whyte (USC Press, 2014) is the first comprehensive book on the life and work of one of today's most renowned watercolorists. From Whyte's earliest paintings in rural Ohio and Pennsylvania to the riveting portraits of her Southern neighbors, art historian Martha R. Severens provides us with an intimate look into the artist's private world.

With more than two hundred full-color images of Whyte's paintings and sketches as well as comparison works by masters such as Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and John Singer Sargent, Severens clearly illustrates how Whyte's art has been shaped and how the artist forged her own place in the world today.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


A Different Sun: A Novel of Africa - Elaine Neil Orr
January 24, 2014

Elaine Neil Orr talks with Dr. Edgar about her first novel, A Different Sun: A Novel of Africa (Berkley Books, 2013). Orr was born in Nigeria to medical missionary parents and spent her growing-up years in the savannahs and rain forests of that country.  She left West Africa at age sixteen and attended college in Kentucky.  

Orr is an award-winning Professor of English at North Carolina State University and serves on the faculty of the brief-residency MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University.  She reads and lectures widely at universities and conferences from Atlanta to Austin to San Francisco to Vancouver to New York to Washington D.C., and in Nigeria.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Remembering Marian McPartland
January 17, 2014

Pianist, composer, and radio host Marian McPartland died in August of 2013 at the age of 95. Born in England, she became a fixture of the post World War II American jazz scene. In 1978, she became host of ETV Radio’s series Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, which went on to become NPR’s longest running music program. Joining Walter Edgar to remember Ms. McPartland’s life and career are ETV Radio’s Shari Hutchinson and the Seattle Times’ Paul de Barros, author of Shall We Play That One Together? - The Life and Art of Jazz Piano Legend Marian McPartland (St. Martin’s Press, 2013).

Shari Hutchinson is General Manager of South Carolina ETV Radio and TV Programming. She is an award-winning producer of ETV’s national radio programming, including Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, Song Travels with Michael Feinstein, Piano Jazz with John Weber, and Chamber Music from the Spoleto Festival USA.  Seattle Times music coordinator Paul de Barros has written about jazz and pop music for the paper since 1982 and is also the author of Jackson Street After Hours: The Roots of Jazz in Seattle.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Dixie Bohemia: A French Quarter Circle in the 1920s - John Shelton Reed
January 10, 2014

In the years following World War I, the New Orleans French Quarter attracted artists and writers with low rent, a faded charm, and colorful street life. By the 1920s Jackson Square became the center of a vibrant but short-lived bohemia. A young William Faulkner and his roommate William Spratling, an artist who taught at Tulane, were among the "artful and crafty ones of the French Quarter." In Dixie Bohemia: A French Quarter Circle in the 1920s (LSU Press, 2012) John Shelton Reed introduces Faulkner's circle of friends ranging from the distinguished Sherwood Anderson to a gender-bending Mardi Gras costume designer and brings to life the people and places of New Orleans in the jazz age.

Dr. John Shelton Reed is the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor Emeritus of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was director of the Howard Odum Institute for Research in Social Science for twelve years and helped to found the university's Center for the Study of the American South and the quarterly Southern Cultures.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Benjamin Dunlap, President Emeritus of Wofford College
January 03, 2014

(Originally broadcast 09/20/13) - In July of 2013, Dr. Benjamin Dunlap retired after 13 years as president of Wofford College. He was only the 10th chief executive in the 150-year history of the school. A Rhodes Scholar and Harvard PhD, Dr. Dunlap joins Walter Edgar to talk about his years working in higher education, at Wofford, the University of South Carolina, and at Harvard.

See Benjamin Dunlap in his "Cinematic Eye" days at SC ETV.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


BACK TO TOP

 

2013

December 2013

Jefferson’s Freeholders
December 27, 2013

(Originally broadcast 06/28/13) - Dr. Christopher Curtis’ new book, Jefferson's Freeholders and the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion (Cambridge University Press, 2012), explores the political transformation of citizenship from an agrarian republic to a 19th century, slave-owning state.  Curtis, former chair of the Department of History and Sociology at Claflin University, talks with Dr. Edgar about the manner in which changing conceptions of property and changes in the legal system at once underpinned and reinforced changes in politics and the political order in one key southern state.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Protests, Prayers, & Progress: Greenville’s Civil Rights Movement
December 20, 2013

Walter Edgar’s Journal drops by the Upcountry History Museum - Furman University, in Greenville, SC, to talk with the Museum’s Dr. Courtney Tollison; Dr. Margaree Crosby, Professor Emeritus, Clemson University; and Greenville City Councilwoman Lillian Brock Flemming.  The discussion centers on an upcoming exhibition that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Greenville County schools. Protests, Prayers, & Progress, January 18 through June 5, 2014, details the people, events, and culture of Greenville’s Civil Rights Movement through oral histories, artifacts, images, and children’s activities.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


The Weight of Mercy - Deb Richardson-Moore
December 13, 2013

Deb Richardson-Moore, a middle-aged suburban mom and journalist was inspired to become a pastor after writing a story exploring God’s call in our lives. Seven years ago, a recent graduate of Erskine Theological Seminary, she took a position as pastor of the non-denominational Triune Mercy Center, an inner-city mission to the homeless in Greenville, S.C. “What I found there absolutely flattened me,” she says. It also inspired her. Today, she and a dedicated staff continue to build a worshiping community that focuses on drug rehab, jobs and housing for the homeless.

Walter Edgar visits Pastor Richardson-Moore in her study at the Center to talk about the growth of its ministry and her journey, as well as her recent memoir, The Weight of Mercy: A Novice Pastor on the City Streets (Monarch Books, 2012)

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


A Grand Tour of Gardens - Anne Sinkler Whaley LeClercq
December 06, 2013

From Italy to Switzerland, Germany to Spain, and Philadelphia to New Orleans, Anne Sinkler Whaley LeClercq describes the beauty of different historic gardens in her collection of essays, A Grand Tour of Gardens: Traveling in Beauty through Western Europe and the United States (USC Press, 2012). LeClercq shares with Dr. Edgar stories of her visits to historic gardens around the world.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


November 2013

Art Expert Miller Gaffney; Newt Gingrich
November 29, 2013

This week Walter Edgar talks with Miller Gaffney—art appraiser and consultant. Trained at Sotheby’s, and a veteran of the PBS television programs Market Warriors and Antiques Roadshow, this Greenville native is in demand around the world as an advisor, appraiser, and broker of fine art.

Later in the program: a visit with a former history professor turned politician, Newt Gingrich, who stopped by our studios a while back, on his way to visit the Revolutionary War battlefield at Cowpens.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Reimagining Greenville - Knox White
November 22, 2013

Greenville's downtown is widely recognized as one of the best in America. In Reimagining Greenville: Building the Best Downtown in America (The History Press, 2013), authors John Boyanoski and Mayor Knox White tell the story of the careful, deliberate efforts by city and community leaders who banded together to build something special from a decaying city center. Greenville Mayor Knox White invited Walter Edgar's Journal to City Hall to talk about the reimagining of downtown.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


The Storied South
November 15, 2013

The Storied South - Voices of Writers and Artists (UNC Press, 2013) features the voices of twenty-six of the most luminous artists and thinkers in the American cultural firmament, from Eudora Welty, Pete Seeger, and Alice Walker to William Eggleston, Bobby Rush, and C. Vann Woodward. Masterfully drawn from one-on-one interviews conducted by renowned folklorist William Ferris over the past forty years, the book reveals how storytelling is viscerally tied to southern identity and how the work of these southern or southern-inspired creators has shaped the way Americans think and talk about the South.

Dr. Ferris, the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History and senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book.

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The Civil Rights Movement, 1963 - A Pivotal Year
November 08, 2013

In the Civil Rights movement, 1963 was a pivotal year, now remembered for the violent resistance to desegregation in Alabama and Mississippi, and for the momentous March on Washington. It was also a year of great change in South Carolina, with a number of important Civil Rights initiatives and achievements.

Joining Dr. Edgar, to look back at the events of 1963, are Dr. Bobby Donaldson of the University of South Carolina and Dr. Jon Hale of the College of Charleston.

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Spreading the Word: William Gilmore Simms
November 01, 2013

Among mid-19th-century American romancers (or writers of prose epics), only New Yorker James Fenimore Cooper was as successful as South Carolina author William Gilmore Simms. In those same years, Simms was the South's most influential editor of cultural journals. He also was the region's most prolific cultural journalist and poet, publishing an average of a book review and a poem per week for forty-five years.

As curator of the Simms Initiatives of the University of South Carolina Libraries, Dr. Todd Hagstette guides a project with the ambitious goals of producing a comprehensive bibliographic database and as well as a complete digital edition of the significant writings of Simms. He tells Dr. Edgar about the Initiative, and they talk about some of their favorite works by Simms.

Catch the Simms Initiatives' readings of Grayling; or, “Murder Will Out” on YouTube

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October 2013

Greenville’s Year of Altruism
October 25, 2013

While discussing plans for the 75th anniversary observance of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass— a day which saw the beginning of Nazi killing and imprisonment of Jews in Germany and Austria— Greenville community leaders were moved by the stories of thousands of "Righteous Gentiles" who had risked their lives to rescue, conceal and protect victimized Jews. The planners realized that the story of altruism - compassion, mercy, self-sacrifice, idealism - is a universal story, not one of a particular place, time, or people. From this realization came Greenville’s Year of Altruism, a citywide program promoting tolerance and understanding. Dr. Edgar travels to the Upcountry History Museum to talk with Rabbi Marc Wilson and historian Courtney Tollison about it.

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Colour of Music - Black Classical Musicians Festival
October 18, 2013

In recognition of black classical composers, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Spiritual Ensemble will be hosting the Colour of Music Festival, October 23 – 27, 2013, featuring black musicians, vocalists, and orchestra leaders. Performances will include piano, organ, and voice recitals, chamber ensembles and orchestral performances. The festival’s founder and director, Lee Pringle, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about it and about the contributions of black artists and composers to the world of classical music.

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South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times (encore)
October 13, 2013

(Originally broadcast 03/22/13) - Dr. Marjorie Julian Spruill and Dr. Valinda W. Littlefield, of the Department of History at USC, along with Dr. Joan Marie Johnson, lecturer at Northeastern Illinois University, are co-editors of the three-volume series of books South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times. Spruill and Littlefield join Dr. Edgar to talk about the extraordinary women of our state, from Colonial times to the present.

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Time to Make Your Pledge to Support Walter Edgar’s Journal
October 11, 2013

To mark ETV Radio’s Fall 2013 On-Air Membership Drive, Walter Edgar’s Journal will sample some of our favorite interviews from the past year, while giving you a chance to support the program with a pledge.

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Preserving Our History for Our Future
October 04, 2013

South Carolina has a rich history. As our state grows and prospers in the 21st century, how can we preserve that history, as it is reflected in the built environment and in historical places of importance? Two people who are helping to answer that question join Dr. Edgar on today's Journal. Michael Bedenbaugh is the Executive Director of the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, which works to re-purpose and conserve historic buildings across the state; and Michael Allen is a Community Partnership Specialist for the National Park Service, who has been active in helping establish the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor.

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September 2013

Seeking - Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green
September 27, 2013

Renowned South Carolina artist Jonathan Green's work has inspired a wide range of artists around the world. In Seeking - Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green (USC Press, 2013), co-editors Kwame Dawes and Marjory Wentworth gather some of their responses, in works of poetry, prose, and memoir.

Seeking's evocative power lies in the intimacy of this dialogue, which speaks to the shared sense of landscape and culture that Green stirs in these writers, ranging from close friends and fellow artists from his home state of South Carolina to nationally established authors who regard Green's work as an important cultural institution. Jonathan Green, Kwame Dawes, and Marjory Wentworth talk with Dr. Edgar about these "responses," and the art that provoked them.

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Benjamin Dunlap, President Emeritus of Wofford College
September 20, 2013

In July of 2013, Dr. Benjamin Dunlap retired after 13 years as president of Wofford College. He was only the 10th chief executive in the 150-year history of the school. A Rhodes Scholar and Harvard PhD, Dr. Dunlap joins Walter Edgar to talk about his years working in higher education, at Wofford, the University of South Carolina, and at Harvard.

See Benjamin Dunlap in his "Cinematic Eye" days at SC ETV.

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Moving History: The Pines Plantation Slave Cabin
September 13, 2013

In May of 2013, a one-story, rectangular, weatherboard-clad, 19th-century slave cabin was dismantled at the Point of Pines Plantation on Edisto Island, SC, and transferred to the collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington, DC. The reconstructed cabin will be on view in the “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition when the museum opens in 2015.

Nancy Bercaw, NMAAHC curator; Gretchen Smith, director of the Edisto Island Historical Preservation Society; and Mary N. Elliott, project historian for the NMAAHC, will join Dr. Edgar to talk about the cabin, which Bercaw calls “one of the jewels of the museum.”

(Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture)

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Cassandra King: Moonrise
September 06, 2013

South Carolina novelist Cassandra King’s new book, Moonrise (Maiden Lane Press, 2013), is inspired by Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier’s classic, gothic romance. Set in the mountains of western North Carolina, Moonrise tells the story of a woman living in the shadow of her predecessor, a beautiful and much-beloved woman whose tragic death shattered the lives of her loved ones.

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August 2013

Selected Letters of William Styron - Blake Gilpin
August 30, 2013

(Originally broadcast 04/05/13) - Dr. R. Blakeslee “Blake” Gilpin, Associate Professor of History at USC, Columbia, returns to the Journal to talk with Dr. Edgar about the life and work of Virginia author, William Styron. With Rose Styron, Gilpin edited the correspondence of Styron, Selected Letters of William Styron, (Random House, December 2012).  

Collecting, transcribing, and notating Styron's letters has provided the foundation for two original projects related to the author and his work. Gilpin is currently writing a new biography of Styron as well as completing a manuscript about Nat Turner, William Styron, and the longevity of slavery's hold on America's racial imagination.

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Man and Moment: Ted Bell and the Ridge
August 23, 2013

In April of 2013, an Army veteran from South Carolina returned to Okinawa, Japan, for the first time since he fought there in World War II. Retired Col. Ted Bell, 93, went back to the island after more than 67 years, this time with a film crew for South Carolina ETV, shooting part of the upcoming documentary, Man and Moment: Ted Bell and the Ridge. 

Ted Bell joins Walter Edgar, filmmaker Wade Sellers, and The State newspaper journalist and documentary producer Jeff Wilkinson to talk about his visit to Okinawa, and about the brutal three-day battle on Ishimmi Ridge. Man and Moment: Ted Bell and the Ridge will air on South Carolina ETV on Thursday, August 29, 2013.

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Sissieretta Jones: Pioneering African American Diva
August 16, 2013

Sissieretta Jones, “The Greatest Singer of Her Race,” 1868-1933(USC Press, 2012), recounts the life of  Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, a classically trained soprano who was also called the “Black Patti,” a nickname that likened her to the famous white, European opera star Adelina Patti. Jones sang before four U.S. presidents and for several prominent European leaders. She performed in famous venues such as Carnegie Hall, London’s Covent Garden, and Madison Square Garden, as well as in hundreds of theaters and opera houses throughout the United States and Canada. Yet, this remarkable singer’s accomplishments have been largely overlooked. 

South Carolina author Maureen Lee explores the obstacles and limitations Jones faced because of her race, as well as the opportunities she seized, and chronicles the development of black entertainment during the late nineteenth, and early twentieth, centuries.

Maureen Jones' web site: www.sissierettajones.com.

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The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen
August 09, 2013

(Originally broadcast 03/01/13) - The Lee Brothers, Matt and Ted, were the first young food writers to bring a refreshingly real-life, ravenous voice to the rarefied Southern food coverage in The New York Times. But it was their first cookbook that put them on the map as writers to be reckoned with. The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook was a hit and won several awards in 2007, including a James Beard Awards for “Cookbook of the Year.” Two years later the duo published another award-winning cookbook, Simple, Fresh, Southern.

In the decade since they began writing, the entire world has changed for Southern food, meaning the Lees can speak to the state of Southern food today with the perspective of knowing where it's been, and where it's all going. With their latest book, The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen, they have moved a deeper discussion of Southern food into the mainstream.

Related content:

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Southern Bound - John S. Sledge
August 02, 2013

Southern Bound - A Gulf Coast Journalist on Books, Writers, and Literary Pilgrimages of the Heart represents a running conversation on books, writers, and literary travel written by John S. Sledge for the Mobile Press-Register Books page from 1995 to 2011.

While some of the essays are relatively straightforward book reviews, others present meditative and deeply personal perspectives on the author's literary experiences such as serving on the jury in the stage version of To Kill a Mockingbird; rambling through funky New Orleans bookshops; rereading Treasure Island on the shores of Mobile Bay; and remembering a beloved father's favorite books. Engaging and spirited, Southern Bound represents the critical art at its most accessible and will prove entertaining fare for anyone who loves the written word.

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July 2013

Found in Translation: the Art of Steven Naifeh
July 26, 2013

Steven Naifeh is an artist, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and an Internet entrepreneur. The Columbia Museum of Art has organized the first retrospective museum exhibition of Naifeh’s paintings and sculpture, entitled Found in Translation: The Art of Steven Naifeh. The 26 large-scale works of modern art reflect Naifeh’s personal taste, preferences and attitudes about geometric which were influenced by his childhood in the Middle East.

Dr. Edgar talks with Naifeh and with Will South, Chief Curator at the CMA, about the show, and the artist/writer’s career.

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Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: The Fight for Charleston
July 19, 2013

(Originally broadcast 04/26/13) - In the summer of 1863 three major campaigns occurred that affected the outcome of the Civil War. Two of three, Gettysburg and Vicksburg were dramatic turning points, while a third campaign directed against Charleston, South Carolina, proved instrumental for the Civil War but also future battles. The campaign introduced a new era of engineering and gunnery; it was a testing ground for African American troops and had a tremendous impact on life in Charleston and the Palmetto State.

Dr. Stephen R. Wise, curator of the Parris Island Museum of Marine Corps History, is author of Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running during the Civil War (USC Press) and Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863 (USC Press). He talks with Dr. Edgar about the Battle for Charleston, and about blockade runners, in a presentation that is part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1863,” held at USC, Columbia, in January and February, 2013. The series was sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

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The Summer Girls - Mary Alice Monroe
July 12, 2013

In her new trilogy, The Summer Girls (Gallery Books, 2012), set on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe captures the complex relationships between three half sisters scattered across the country—and a grandmother determined to help them rediscover their family bonds. She joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book.

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Conversations on the Civil War, 1863: Gettysburg
July 05, 2013

(Originally broadcast 03/15/13) - July 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. Dr. Mark Smith, Carolina Distinguished Professor of History at USC, joins Dr. Edgar for one of a series of public conversations, “Conversations on the Civil War – 1863,” sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences at USC. Smith and Edgar explore how people, both soldiers and civilians, might have experienced the bloodiest battle of the Civil War: Gettysburg.

Previously on Walter Edgar's Journal:

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June 2013

Jefferson’s Freeholders
June 28, 2013

Dr. Christopher Curtis’ new book, Jefferson's Freeholders and the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion (Cambridge University Press, 2012), explores the political transformation of citizenship from an agrarian republic to a 19th century, slave-owning state. Curtis, Chair of the Department of History and Sociology at Claflin University, talks with Dr. Edgar about the manner in which changing conceptions of property and changes in the legal system at once underpinned and reinforced changes in politics and the political order in one key southern state.

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USC Lancaster: Native American Studies Center
June 21, 2013

(Originally broadcast 01/18/13) - USC Lancaster's new Native American Studies Center is opened in October, the only Native American Studies Program in the USC system.  The center features 6,000 sq feet of gallery space, an oral history recording studio, a Catawba language lab, an archive with photos, documents and recordings of S.C. tribes, and an archaeology lab. It houses the world's largest collection of Catawba pottery.

Dr. Stephen Criswell, the director of the Center, and Dr. Chris Judge, assistant director, join Dr. Edgar to talk about it.

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City Year - 20 Years of Service in South Carolina
June 14, 2013

In 1992, while a student at Harvard Law, the former student body president of the University of South Carolina, Marie-Louise Ramsdale, attended an event called Serve-a-thon for City Year. Inspired by City Year and the 10,000 people performing transformational service, she returned that night to the computer lab at Harvard and wrote a two-page proposal to bring the program to Columbia, S.C. Inspired by her passion and determination, the co-founders, Alan Khazei and Michael Brown, founded City Year Columbia in the summer of 1993. 

Ramsdale joins City Year Columbia 2013 corps member Emily Williams, and the Honorable Richard W. Riley, former S.C. Governor and former Secretary of Education, to talk with Walter Edgar about 20 years of service in the Midlands by City Year Columbia. “Give a year. Change the World.”

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Paul Zimmerman: Everyday Roses
June 07, 2013

Paul Zimmerman is dedicated to teaching that “Roses are plants, too.” It’s a philosophy that guides his company, Paul Zimmerman Roses, his work as director of the Biltmore® International Rose Trials, and is at the heart of his new book, Everyday Roses – How To Grow Knockout and Other Easy-Care Garden Roses  (Taunton Press, 2013). He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his work, the new book, and to help dispel the myths about what it takes to grow great roses.

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May 2013

Upstate Forever
May 31, 2013

Upstate Forever is a non-profit organization that envisions an "environmentally and economically prosperous region, with a high quality of life for all."  Executive Director Brad Wyche talks with Dr. Edgar about how the group works to promote sensible growth while protecting the special places in the ten counties of Upstate South Carolina.

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Man and Moment: T. Moffatt Burriss and the Crossing
May 24, 2013

(Originally broadcast 06/29/12) - Anderson native T. Moffatt Burris is a WWII veteran and concentration camp liberator who also participated in the invasions of Sicily and Italy. During Operation Market Garden in Holland, he led the amphibious assault across the Waal River made famous in the movie, A Bridge Too Far. Burriss is the subject of the upcoming ETV special Man and Moment: T. Moffatt Burriss and the Crossing. He joins Dr. Edgar, State newspaper reporter Jeff Wilkinson, and documentary producer Lee Ann Kornegay, to talk about the war and about making the film.

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Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: Mary Chesnut’s Civil War
May 17, 2013

Julia Stern, professor of English and American Studies at Northwestern University and author of Mary Chesnut's Civil War Epic, will "unpack the way in which at levels domestic, historical and epic, Chesnut's literary genius uniquely illuminated the greatest conflict of the American 19th century." Her conversation with Dr. Edgar was recorded before an audience at the University of South Carolina, part of the series Conversations on the Civil War, 1863, sponsored by USC's College of Arts and Sciences, and by USC's Office of the President.

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Ellen Schlaefer - For the Love of Opera
May 10, 2013

Growing up in Columbia, Ellen Douglas Schlaefer never dreamed that she would one day direct operatic productions for some of the great opera companies around the world. But, she has. And now she brings her energy and talent to Opera at USC, one of only a handful of colleges and universities in the country that offer special training and practice for aspiring opera stage directors. Schlaefer is also the creator of the non-profit FBN Productions, which brings specially commissioned operas for children into schools around the southeast.

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Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection
May 03, 2013

Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection (Cane Ridge/USC Press, 2013) is a lavishly illustrated volume exploring romanticism in iconic Southern masterworks. Many of the artists under consideration in the book created works of art that have achieved iconic status in the annals of painting in the South, including William Dickinson Washington, William Thompson Russell Smith, Gustave Henry Mosler, Thomas Addison Richards, Joseph Rusling Meeker, Robert Walter Weir, and Thomas Sully.

In this study of thirty-two artists represented in the Johnson Collection, noted art historian Estill Curtis Pennington delineates the historical, social, and cultural forces that profoundly influenced their aesthetic sensibilities. Walter’s guests, Martha Severens, art historian and curator; and collector Susu Johnson, talk with him about the art of the era and about the Johnson Collection, as well as the book and the Romantic Spirits exhibition at the Morris Museum in Augusta, Georgia.

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April 2013

Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: Vicksburg
April 19, 2013

Winston Groom, novelist and author of Forrest Gump, has also written a number of well received histories, including Vicksburg, 1863. This narrative history of the Civil War’s most strategically important campaign describes the bloody two-year grind that started when Ulysses S. Grant began taking a series of Confederate strongholds in 1861, climaxing with the siege of Vicksburg two years later. For Grant and the Union it was a crucial success that captured the Mississippi River, divided the South in half, and set the stage for eventual victory.

Groom talks with Dr. Edgar about the siege of Vicksburg in a presentation that is part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1863,” held at USC, Columbia, in January and February, 2013. The series was sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

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What is real Southern cooking?
April 14, 2013

Sunday at 4:00 on ETV Radio's News Stations
(Originally broadcast 07/09/10) - Today’s edition of The Journal is an encore of our 2010 “preview” of a Take on the South episode which aired on ETV in July. The question before the debaters that July, “What is real Southern cooking?” The Lee Brothers and John T. Edge are our guests.

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Good Southern Food…and a Chance to Support the Journal
April 12, 2013

Friday we will be live in the ETV Radio studios, offering you a tasty show about Southern cooking! We'll feature excerpts from past episodes of Walter Edgar's Journal featuring Nathalie Dupree, the Lee Brothers, and John Martin Taylor.  You will get the chance to pledge your financial support to the Journal, and receive one of the latest books by these champions of Southern Cuisine as our thank-you gift.
Join us Friday, April 12, at noon, to make your pledge for Walter Edgar's Journal at 1-800-256-8535! (This program will not be podcast.)

Sunday at 4:00 on ETV Radio's News Stations, listen for a Journal encore of an episode that tackled the question, "What is Real Southern Cooking?" The Lee Brothers and John T. Edge are our guests.

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Blake Gilpin: Selected Letters of William Styron
April 05, 2013

Dr. R. Blakeslee "Blake" Gilpin, Associate Professor of History at USC, Columbia, returns to the Journal to talk with Dr. Edgar about the life and work of Virginia author, William Styron. With Rose Styron, Gilpin edited the correspondence of Styron, Selected Letters of William Styron (Random House, December 2012).

Collecting, transcribing, and notating Styron's letters has provided the foundation for two original projects related to the author and his work. Gilpin is currently writing a new biography of Styron as well as completing a manuscript about Nat Turner, William Styron, and the longevity of slavery's hold on America's racial imagination.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


March 2013

Upstate to Lowcountry: Art and History
March 29, 2013

In this episode of Walter Edgar's Journal we travel from the Upstate to the Lowcountry.

Somehow, over the course of a successful, 40-year career as an Upstate attorney, Tim Greaves found time to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. Greaves began art studies in 1994, working with a number of nationally-known artists. His paintings, include portraits, landscapes of all types, cityscapes, beach and hunting scenes, though, agruably his favorite work is to render the people and land of South Carolina's Lowcoutnry. Greaves, now retired from the practice of law, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about making his art a second career.

Then, Dr. Edgar talks with Alan Stello, Director of The Powder Magazine, in Charleston, S.C. The magazine is the oldest public building in the Carolinas, celebrating its three-hundredth birthday in 2013!

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South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times
March 22, 2013

Dr. Marjorie Julian Spruill and Dr. Valinda W. Littlefield, of the Department of History at USC, along with Dr. Joan Marie Johnson, lecturer at Northeastern Illinois University, are co-editors of the three-volume series of books South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times. Spruill and Littlefield join Dr. Edgar to talk about the extraordinary women of our state, from Colonial times to the present.

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Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: Gettysburg
March 15, 2013

Dr. Mark Smith, Carolina Distinguished Professor of History at USC, joins Dr. Edgar for the second of a series of public conversations, “Conversations on the Civil War – 1863,” and sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences. Smith and Edgar explore how people, both soldiers and civilians, might have experienced the bloodiest battle of the Civil War: Gettysburg.

Previously on Walter Edgar's Journal: The Civil War at 150 - Dr. James McPherson and Dr. Mark Smith

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Botanica Caroliniana: Patrick McMillan and Amy Blackwell
March 08, 2013

Botanica Caroliniana is an inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary collaborative project in research, teaching, and publication, that focuses on the botany of the Carolinas from their earliest exploration by Europeans to living plants under curation and in the wild today. Two of the principal researchers in the project, Patrick McMillan, Director of the South Carolina Botanical Garden at Clemson University; and Amy Hackney Blackwell, researcher in Plant and Environmental Science at Clemson University, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the first steps in creating one part of the project, an on-line digital library of specimens in the herbarium of 18th century naturalist and illustrator, Mark Catesby.

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Lee Brothers’ Charleston Kitchen
March 01, 2013

The Lee Brothers, Matt and Ted, were the first young food writers to bring a refreshingly real-life, ravenous voice to the rarefied Southern food coverage in The New York Times. But it was their first cookbook that put them on the map as writers to be reckoned with. The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook was a hit and won several awards in 2007, including a James Beard Awards, for  “Cookbook of the Year.” Two years later the duo published another award-winning cookbook, Simple, Fresh, Southern.

In the decade since they began writing, the entire world has changed for Southern food, meaning the Lees can speak to the state of Southern food today with the perspective of knowing where it's been, and where it's all going. In 2012 they established Tradd Street Associates in their hometown of Charleston, a consulting firm to help the hospitality industry with food strategy and media affairs. With their forthcoming book, The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen, they're moving a deeper discussion of Southern food into the mainstream.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


February 2013

Baptized in Sweet Tea: Ken Burger
February 22, 2013

Ken Burger spent almost 40 years writing for two South Carolina newspapers, during a career that included stints covering sports, business, politics and life in the Palmetto State.

Burger’s new book, Baptized in Sweet Tea, is a collection of columns he has written for the Charleston Post & Courier. As the title hints, the common thread running through the collection is Burger’s southern-ness… and, more specifically, his identity as a born-and-bred South Carolinian. While he may have been baptized in sweet tea, his essays are steeped in a bittersweet nostalgia for a way of life that’s passing into memory… and a reverence for those timeless qualities that abide.

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Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: Emancipation
February 15, 2013

This program offers the first of a series of public conversations at USC, Columbia, Conversations on the Civil War - 1863. The series features Dr. Edgar in conversation with scholars and authors, renowned for their works on the American Civil War. Our first guest, Dr. Thavolia Glymph, of Duke University, talks with him about the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

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The Unpainted South
February 08, 2013

The book The Unpainted South: Carolina’s Vanishing World features the photographs of Selden B. Hill and the songs and poems of William P. Baldwin, both of McClellanville, S.C. A tribute to the faded glory of South Carolina’s rural past, it features haunting images of abandoned farmhouses, leaning tobacco barns, and boarded up redbrick towns, combined with powerful verse.

Baldwin and Hill talk with Dr. Edgar about the book, their exhibit at Patriot Hall’s Gallery 35 in Sumter, and their latest book, These Our Offerings, which was created in conjunction with photographers Sharon Cumbee and Robert Epps.

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The Education of Harvey Gantt
February 01, 2013

On January 28, 1963 a young black man named Harvey Gantt enrolled at Clemson College, becoming the first African American accepted to a white school in South Carolina. A new ETV documentary, The Education of Harvey Gantt, chronicles this pivotal story of desegregation in the South. The program, which airs February 7 at 8:00 p.m. on ETV, features interviews with Mr. Gantt, distinguished scholars and civil rights veterans, archival footage and carefully designed reenactments.

Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the events of January 1963 are Dr. Vernon Burton, Professor of History at Clemson University; Dr. Bobby Donaldson, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies, at USC; and Mr. Harvey Gantt.

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January 2013

The Search Committee: Tim Owens
January 25, 2013

In his novel, The Search Committee, Tim Owens presents an affectionate portrait of the people and places of eastern North Carolina.  When a small North Carolina Presbyterian church east of  I-95 needs a new pastor, the church does what churches do: they appoint a search committee. When this mismatched team of seven first hits the road in an Econoline church van, they don't agree on much other than the stops at Hardees for coffee and a biscuit. But they stick to the call, trying to slip undetected into worship services across the Southeast--all in hopes of stealing a preacher for their congregation.

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Nathalie Dupree: Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking
January 11, 2013

Nathalie Dupree, co-author of the new book, Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, joins Dr. Edgar in a program recorded before a live audience. Dupree is the author of eleven cookbooks about the American South, entertaining, and basic cooking. She has hosted over 300 television shows on the Food Network, The Learning Channel and PBS. She has been a spokesperson for Wild American Shrimp, The Catfish Institute and many other organizations. She currently writes for The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., as well as Charleston Magazine and other publications.

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The South in the 21st Century
January 04, 2013

Dr. Edgar is joined by John Shelton Reed, Jim Cobb, and Peter Applebome, three noted writers and observers of Southern culture and history, for a discussion of the “necessary South”—a region with an identity that began to be defined, in Colonial America, primarily by New Englanders. Who defines the South now? And how has its evolving identity changed the rest of the country over time? What will “The South” mean in the 21st century?

Jim C. Cobb, the B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Professor in the History of the American South at the University of Georgia, is widely recognized as one of the foremost scholars of Southern history and culture. 

Peter Applebome is Deputy Metropolitan Editor for The New York Times, its former Southern Bureau chief, and is the author of Dixie Rising: How the South is Shaping American Values, Politics and Culture.

John Shelton Reed is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of sociology at the University of NC where he helped to found the Center for the Study of the American South and was a founding co-editor of the quarterly Southern Cultures. He is also author or editor of eighteen books, most dealing with the contemporary American South.

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BACK TO TOP

2012

December 2012

John Martin Taylor: Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking
December 28, 2012

At oyster roasts and fancy cotillions, in fish camps and cutting-edge restaurants, the people of South Carolina gather to enjoy one of America's most distinctive cuisines--the delicious, inventive fare of the Lowcountry. In the 25th anniversary edition of his classic, Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking, John Martin Taylor offers 250 authentic and updated recipes for regional favorites, including shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, pickled watermelon rinds, and Frogmore stew. Taylor, who grew up casting shrimp nets in Lowcountry marshes, adds his personal experiences in bringing these dishes to the table and leads readers on a veritable treasure hunt throughout the region, offering a taste of an extraordinary way of life.

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Pam Stone: I Love Me a Turkey Butt Samich
December 21, 2012

Former actress and comedienne Pam Stone talks with Dr. Edgar about her new book, I Love Me a Turkey Butt Samwich: Finding a Farm Life after Hollywood, a collection of readers’ favorites from Pam’s syndicated column, "I'm Just Saying."

Stone and her husband, Paul Zimmerman, owner of Ashdown Roses in Gowensville, moved in 1993 to Gowensville where she followed her passion and became a horse riding instructor. She previously toured as a stand-up comic, and was named in 1993 the Funniest Female Stand-Up Comic. She also played the role of Judy Watkins on the television series, "Coach," from 1989 to 1997.

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Willard Hirsch: Charleston Sculptor
December 14, 2012

Dr. Edgar and his guests look at the life and work of Charleston sculptor Willard Hirsch. An exhibition at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston, Willard Hirsch: Charleston Sculptor, examines the body of work Hirsch developed over the course of his fifty-year career. Taking part in the conversation are Sara Arnold, Curator of Collections at the Gibbes Museum, Jane Hirsch; Martha Severens, former Chief Curator at the Greenville County Museum of Art; and Jane Hirsch, Willard Hirsch’s daughter and editor of the recent book Art Is a Powerful Language: Willard Hirsch--The Man, The Artist.

 Willard Hirsch: Charleston Sculptor will be on display at the Gibbes Museum through December 30. It next will be on display in the Rainey Sculpture Pavilion in Brookgreen Gardens, January 26 through April 21, 2013.

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Michael Morris: Man in the Blue Moon
December 07, 2012

Author Michael Morris talks with Dr. Edgar about his new novel Man in the Blue Moon.  Pat Conroy writes, “Man in the Blue Moon is a beautifully wrought portrayal of small town southern life where poverty, tragedy and human love engage in a ritualistic dance.”

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November 2012

Dr. Harvey Jackson: The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera
November 30, 2012

In his book, The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera, Dr. Harvey H. Jackson III traces the development of the Florida-Alabama coast as a tourist destination from the late 1920s and early 1930s, when it was sparsely populated with "small fishing villages," through to the tragic and devastating BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.

Jackson focuses on the stretch of coast from Mobile Bay and Gulf Shores, Alabama, east to Panama City, Florida—an area known as the "Redneck Riviera." Jackson explores the rise of this area as a vacation destination for the lower South's middle- and working-class families following World War II, the building boom of the 1950s and 1960s, the emergence of the Spring Break "season, and the severe hurricane destruction of the many small motels, cafes, bars, and early cottages that gave the small beach towns their essential character. 

Jackson traces the tensions surrounding the gentrification of the late 1980s and 1990s and the collapse of the housing market in 2008. While his major focus is on the social, cultural, and economic development, he also documents the environmental and financial impacts of natural disasters and the politics of beach access and dune and sea turtle protection.

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Dr. Blake Gilpin: Hopping Freight Trains
November 23, 2012

(Originally broadcast 08/24/12) -On his way to a degree at Yale University, Blake Gilpin, chose a unique approach in tackling his master’s thesis. Riding the rails, illegally catching rides by hopping onto freight trains, much as the hobos of the early 20th century had done, he journeyed hundreds of miles, living the hobo life. He also kept a diary that eventually became his thesis. Now an assistant professor of history at USC in Columbia, he joins Dr. Edgar to recount some of his journeys and what he learned while “hopping freights.”

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Rev. Dr. Ken Walden, Claflin Univeristy
November 16, 2012

Dr. Ken J. Walden is University Chaplain at Claflin University, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Claflin University was founded in 1869 and is the oldest historically black college or university in the state of South Carolina. Dr. Walden comes to Claflin after spending a number of years serving as a United Methodist Pastor in the North Carolina Annual Conference, the Detroit Annual Conference, and the California Pacific Annual Conference

He talks with Dr. Edgar about his journey as a pastor from South Carolina to North Carolina, Detroit, California, and back.

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Greg Johnsman: Geechee Boy Market and Mill
November 09, 2012

When Greg Johnsman and his wife Betsy moved from the Upstate in 2003 to an Edisto Island farm that had been in her family for generations, they began growing fruits and vegetables which the sold from their own roadside stand. It was 2007, though, when Greg took a big step toward fulfilling a dream to mill and sell his own freshly ground grits: he bought and restored a 1945 grist mill that had been stored in a barn for 40 years.

Now, Geechee Boy Market and Mill mills about 2,000 pounds of grits and cornmeal each week, much of which it sells locally. Greg also supplies four James Beard Award-winning restaurants in Charleston and ships his products around the country. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about how he first learned to mill corn, and about realizing the dream of milling and selling his own products.

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South Carolinians in World War II: A World War
November 02, 2012

The Emmy-nominated documentary television series (produced in partnership by ETV and The State newspaper),South Carolinians in World War II, returns to ETV November 8th with its latest episode, A World War.  Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about this episode, and the war, are John Rainey, co-creator of the series; Wade Sellers, series director; and The State's Jeff Wilkinson, series producer.

Related links:
South Carolinians in World War II
Jeff Wilkinson
E-mail contact form for Walter Edgar's Journal

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October 2012

James Cobb: The South and America since WWII
October 26, 2012

In his new book, The South and America since WWII, James C. Cobb provides the first truly comprehensive history of the South since World War II, brilliantly capturing an era of dramatic change, both in the South and in its relationship with the rest of the nation.

Here is a panoramic narrative that flows seamlessly from the Dixiecrats to the "southern strategy," to the South's domination of today's GOP, and from the national ascendance of southern culture and music, to a globalized Dixie's allure for foreign factories and a flood of immigrants, to the roles of women and an increasingly visible gay population in contemporary southern life.

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A Plan to “Enlighten and Empower Gullah Geechee People to Sustain the Culture”
October 19, 2012

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission’s Management Plan, Enlighten and Empower Gullah Geechee People to Sustain the Culture, is completed and available for public review and comment. Ron Daise, Chair of the Commission; Michael Allen, Community Partnership Specialist, U.S. Park Service, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the plan, which represents an almost four-year planning effort on the part of the Commission, with input from the public, stakeholders, prospective partners, and Gullah Geechee community and grassroots organizations.

For more information, visit:

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Best of WEJ Pledge Special
October 12, 2012

This week’s program offers highlights from past shows and an opportunity for you to support Walter Edgar’s Journal with your pledge.

This program will not be podcast.

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Jon Buchan: Code of the Forest
October 05, 2012

Jon Buchan, a First Amendment attorney and former newspaper political reporter, drew on his expert knowledge to produce Code of The Forest, a legal drama that, in the words of New York Times best-selling author Ron Rash, is “nearly impossible to put down.” An authoritative voice with an insider’s understanding of Southern politics, Buchan takes readers into the courtrooms, newsrooms and political backrooms of the South Carolina Lowcountry in this tale of corruption and quest for human connection.

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September 2012

The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership
September 28, 2012

The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership, named for former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education Richard Riley, is a multi-faceted, non-partisan institute affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University. The Institute is unique in the United States in the emphasis it places on engaging students in the various arenas of politics, public policy, and public leadership.

Since its inauguration in 1999, the Riley Institute has developed a broad array of programs, symposia, and conferences designed to promote discussion and analysis of the dynamics of important public policy issues ranging from social security to national security policy. Among the most important programs of The Riley Institute are those created to promote civic participation, responsibility, and public leadership: Our Teachers of Government and Emerging Public Leaders programs, the Wilkins Excellence in Legislative Leadership program, the Law and Society Series, and the award winning Riley Diversity Leaders Initiative.

Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the Riley Institute and its programs are Richard W. Riley and the Institute's Executive Director, Donald L. Gordon.

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South Carolina’s Virtual Library: DISCUS
September 21, 2012

DISCUS, South Carolina’s Virtual Library is the “information place” for all South Carolinians. DISCUS, which stands for Digital Information for South Carolina USers, provides free access to an electronic library that’s available 24/7. DISCUS provides a variety of organized resources, called databases, for individuals of all ages, educational levels and interests. The databases include professional journals, reference material, newspapers, maps, encyclopedias, magazines, multimedia, and e-books. Among the encyclopedias accessible through DISCUS is the new, on-line-only edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

DISCUS Program Director Amy Duernberger joins Dr. Edgar to talk about this unique, free learning resource, how it came to be, and the scope and reliability of its content. Then, Darcy McCanless, Manager of Professional Development for Britannica Digital Learning, will tell us about the unprecedented move by Encyclopedia Britannica in publishing its latest iteration solely in the digital realm.

Contact the SC State Library

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Death and the Civil War
September 14, 2012

With the coming of the Civil War, and the staggering casualties it ushered in, death entered the experience of the American people as it never had before--permanently altering the character of the republic and the psyche of the American people.

On Tuesday, September 18th, at 9:00pm, ETV will air Ric Burns’ American Experience documentary Death and the Civil War. Burns joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the film, and the ways in which the Civil War forever changed how Americans deal with death. Also taking part in the discussion are David W. Blight, Professor of American History at Yale University, and the Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale; and Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust, the 28th President of Harvard University and the Lincoln Professor of History in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Her 2009 Bancroft Prize-winning book, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) forms the basis for Burn’s documentary.

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Messages from Home: the Art of Leo Twiggs
September 07, 2012

(Originally broadcast April 13, 2012) - This week’s guest is renowned artist Leo Twiggs. His new book Messages from Home: the Art of Leo Twiggs brushes a broad stroke over the 40-year career that has made Twiggs an internationally renowned name in the world of art. It is the first book to be published by the Claflin University Press, making the institution one of only two Historically Black Colleges and Universities to have their own publishing house.

Twiggs tells Dr. Edgar that he sought to make the book itself an artistic experience by carefully selecting and placing his reproduced art in a meaningful way throughout. They talk about the book and Twiggs' career.

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August 2012

Reading, Publishing, and Selling Books in S.C.
August 31, 2012

(Originally broadcast 12/09/11) - As the old slogan says, “Reading is fundamental.” However, with ever more numerous electronic media vying for our attention, reading is not always a priority for the average South Carolinian. Wanda Jewell and Curtis Rogers are working to change that through the South Carolina Center for the Book, a cooperative project of the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science, and the Humanities Council SC. They join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Center, the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance, USC Press, the S.C. State Library, and the Center for the Book’s Speaker at the Center series.

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Camille 1969: Histories of a Hurricane
August 17, 2012

(Originally broadcast 07/19/11) - Thirty-four years ago, Hurricane Camille savaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In his book, Camille, 1969: Histories of a Hurricane, Dr. Mark Smith has written three highly original histories of the storm’s impact in southern Mississippi. Smith is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of History in USC’s College of Arts and Humanities. He is also a leading expert on “sensory history.” He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, and about sensory history.

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The Peach Bush Book Club: Flying Helicopters in Vietnam
August 10, 2012

(Originally broadcast 05/27/11) - Walter Edgar talks with Col. Walt Ledbetter and Duncan McCrae, veterans of the 263rd Marine Helicoptor Squadron. Their aim is to compile a history of their experiences in the Vietnam War in 1969-70. They share stories from some of the missions they flew. Ledbetter and McCrae are joined by Clint Chalmers, producer.

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Troy Nooe: Ocean Forest - Murder in Myrtle Beach
August 03, 2012

Frankie McKeller hates the beach. He has ever since that day on the one they called Omaha. If the guy who saved his life during the war wasn’t getting married he’d never have made the trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

As a low budget gum shoe out of Baltimore, he isn’t prepared for a weekend of hobnobbing with the Southern elite. When a prominent wedding guest is found with a bullet to the brain, the six week course he took in private investigation proves lacking as well. Southern tradition meets old school mystery in this twisting tale as rival families attempt to alter the course of what is destined to become one of America’s top vacation destinations.

In his novel Ocean Forest: Murder in Myrtle Beach, Toy D. Nooe takes readers on a noir ride through post-WWII Myrtle Beach, SC. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the novel and his growing career as a novelist.

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July 2012

Renovating 701 Whaley in Columbia
July 27, 2012

Most people looked at the building at 701 Whaley St. as a crumbling eyesore. But developer Richard Burts saw much more. He tells Dr. Edgar he brought the historic structure back to life.

Built in 1903 as the Granby and Pacific Mill village's company store, 701 Whaley, a 35,000 square-foot brick building in Columbia, S.C. has served many purposes. It quickly became a community center for the mill workers and everybody just called it "The Y." It included a bowling alley, library, auditorium, gymnasium, pool and dance hall. With dances every Friday night, a movie on Saturdays, basketball and billiards, socials and civility, this cornerstone of the community was hopping with action for several decades.

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Nathalie Dupree’s Southern Biscuits
July 20, 2012

(Originally broadcast 12/16/11) - Nathalie Dupree joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her new book, Southern Biscuits, co-authored by Cynthia Stevens Graubart. Dupree is the author of eleven cookbooks about the American South, entertaining, and basic cooking. She has hosted over 300 television shows on the Food Network, The Learning Channel and PBS. She has been a spokesperson for Wild American Shrimp, the Catfish Institute and many other organizations. She currently writes for The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., as well as Charleston Magazine and other publications.

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The Liberty Fellowship of S.C.
July 13, 2012

This week, Hayne Hipp and Dr. Benjamin Dunlap, founders of the Liberty Fellowship, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Fellowship. In 2002 and 2003, Hipp and Dunlap began the process of creating the Fellowship. The Fellowship seeks to promote outstanding leadership in South Carolina, empowering the state and its future leaders to realize their full potential. The Liberty Fellowship is less than a decade old, but its roots go back centuries to concepts of creating a just society.

In 2012, Fellows, senior advisors and passionate community members are seeking to address challenges in the areas of health, environment, public policy, education, and economic development through action groups. Though separate from Liberty Fellowship by design, each action group seeks to move South Carolina forward.

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Mary Alice Monroe: Beach House Memories
July 06, 2012

Lowcountry author Mary Alice Monroe talks with Dr. Edgar about her new novel, Beach House Memories. The novel is the third book in a series that began 10 years ago with Beach House. It's the poignant and emotional tale of Lovie Rutledge, a strong, passionate woman torn between duty and desire, between the traditions of the old South and the social changes that were sweeping America in 1974. For Lovie, it is an empowering journey of seasons of self-discovery.

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June 2012

Dorothea Benton Frank: Porch Lights
June 22, 2012

Dorothea Benton Frank joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her new novel. With Porch Lights, the New York Times bestselling author is back home in the Carolina Lowcountry, spinning a tale that brims with the warmth, charm, heart, and humor that has become her trademark. The novel is a stirring, emotionally rich, multigenerational story—a poignant tale of life, love, and transformation—as a nurse, returning to Sullivans Island from the Afghanistan War, finds her life has been irrevocably altered by tragedy…and now must rediscover love and purpose with the help of her son and aging mother.

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Piano Music During the Civil War Era
June 15, 2012

The American Civil War shaped every aspect of life in the South, including music. Along with songs and military band music published in the South during the war, a considerable repertoire of solo keyboard music also exists, written by white, black, male, and female composers. Dr. David B. Thompson, a professor of music at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., has created and gives performances of a program called “Confederates at the Keyboard: Piano Music during the Civil War Era.”

Thompson discusses the Southern composers whose music was prominent during the Civil War, and the role of the keyboard in Confederate society with Dr. Edgar. He’ll also sit down at the piano to play some of this music.

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Common Sense and Whiskey: Modest Adventures Far from Home
June 08, 2012

(Originally broadcast 01/06/12) - Author Bill Murray and his wife Mirja live on a horse farm in the southern Appalachian mountains of Georgia, but they are seasoned world travelers. His book, Common Sense and Whiskey: Modest Adventures Far from Home, offers stories from their journeys to some distant places that are off the beaten path.

He brings together tales of treks in Africa, Azerbaijan and the Arctic; headhunters and prayer flags; liars and thieves; evil spirits and atrocious food. From Tbilisi to Tibet to the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Common Sense and Whiskey is a crisp survey of what it's like in the real world. He tells Dr. Edgar, and his readers, "You can handle just about anything out on the road with a believable grin, common sense and whiskey."

Bill's & Mirja's photos are at earthphotos.com.
Contact Bill: bill@commonsenseandwhiskey.com

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Winston Groom: Shiloh, 1862
June 01, 2012

The Civil War saw some of the bitterest battles ever fought by American soldiers. According to Winston Groom, distinguished Civil War historian and author of the bestselling Forrest Gump, one battle set the stage for those to come. In his new book, Shiloh, 1862, Winston Groom gives a masterful account of the Battle of Shiloh, which marked a violent crossroads in the war.

Winston Groom joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his new book, and about his career. Groom is the author of 15 previous books, including Vicksburg, 1863; Forrest Gump, which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary; and (with Duncan Spencer) Conversations with the Enemy, a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

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May 2012

Julian Wiles. Playwright and Producing Artistic Director of Charleston Stage
May 25, 2012

In early 1942, Navy Ensign Jack Kennedy and his current fling, Danish blond bombshell and suspected Nazi spy, Inga Arvad, planned a clandestine tryst at the Fort Sumter House Hotel in Charleston, S.C. So goes the plot for playwright Julian Wiles’ screwball comedy, Inga Binga, recently performed byCharleston Stage.

Wiles, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Charleston Stage, has written or adapted 27 original plays and musicals for the company, including Edgar Allen Poe, the Final Mystery; Denmark Vesey: Insurrection; and Gershwin at Folly. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about writing and directing Inga Binga, and some of his other works that also have South Carolina roots.

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South Carolinians in WWII: Liberation
May 18, 2012

With about 184,000 South Carolinians serving in World War II, and thousands more who moved here after the war, ETV and The State newspaper partnered together to tell the stories of these veterans in their own words. The result is a new Emmy-nominated documentary series, South Carolinians in World War II.

The series returns to ETV May 24 with its fourth episode, Liberation. Series co-creator John Rainey, producer Jeff Wilkinson and veteran Mickey Dorsey talk with Dr. Edgar about the program and the end of the war.

To contact Jeff Wilkinson at the State newspaper: (803) 771-8495.

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Carolyn Hart: “Death Comes Silently”; William Cleveland & Tate Nation: “Yo, Millard Fillmore!”
May 11, 2012

Max and Annie Darling are back in Death Comes Silently, the 22nd mystery in Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series. Max and Annie live on the fictional island of Broward’s Rock, just off the coast of South Carolina, where they operate the mystery bookstore called Death on Demand. Carolyn Hart joins Dr. Edgar to talk about this latest book, the re-issue of one of her earliest novels, and the upcoming What the Cat Saw.

And Walter will chat with William Cleveland and Tate Nation, two Charlestonians, whose Yo, Millard Fillmore, was named by USA Today as one of the top e-books in 2012. The book is a light-hearted but educational tool to help kids learn not only the names of the U.S. presidents, but also a bit about their histories.

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Rich Williams May Have the World’s Strongest Grip
May 04, 2012

Since its 1989 beginning as The Arnold Classic, a one-day professional men’s bodybuilding competition, The Arnold Sports Festival has grown to include 45 sports and events, including 11 Olympic sports. In March 2012, Columbian Rich Williams won first place in The Arnold’s Mighty Mitts grip competition.

Rich Williams talks with Dr. Edgar about training and competing. They are joined by Mighty Mitts’ Richard and Bert Sorin, of Sorinex Excerise Equipment, Columbia.

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April 2012

John’s Island Presbyterian Church - Three Centuries
April 27, 2012

First founded three centuries ago by British Dissenters and French Huguenots, Johns Island Presbyterian Churchwas built on a promise of religious freedom and tolerance offered by the South Carolina charter. The church is one of the oldest continuously active congregations of any denomination in North America, and it has survived multiple wars and the clash of different cultures to endure into the twenty-first century. Dr. Charles Raynaljoins Dr. Edgar to talk about his new book Johns Island Presbyterian Church: Its People and Its Community from Colonial Beginnings to the Twenty-First Century, and the history of religious tolerance in Carolina.

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Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations
April 20, 2012

Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations is a collection of portraits of many remarkable Alabamians, famous and obscure, profiled by award-winning journalist and novelist Roy Hoffman. Written as Sunday feature stories for the Mobile Press-Register with additional pieces from the New York Times, Preservation, and Garden & Gun, these profiles preserve the individual stories—and the individual voices within the stories—that help to define one of the most distinctive states in the union.

Roy Hoffman joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, and about the people he has profiled.

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Carolina Planters on the Alabama Frontiers
April 06, 2012

Edward Pattillo's book Carolina Planters on the Alabama Frontier: The Spencer-Robeson-McKenzie Family Papers collects the papers of Elihu Spencer, a fourth-generation New Englander, and his family and Southern decedents, to form a history of the American nation from the point of view of planters and those they held in slavery. The documents in this volume are accounts of a privileged world that was afflicted by constant loss and despair. The papers together form a dramatic narrative of early Americans from the mid-eighteenth century to the harsh years after the Civil War. They created their new society with courage, imagination and tenacity, while never recognizing their own moral blind spot regarding the holding of human beings in slavery.

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March 2012

American College of the Building Arts - A “Hero of the New South”
March 30, 2012

In its March 2012 issue, Southern Livingmagazine selected Charleston, South Carolina’s, American College of the Building Artsas one of the first recipients of its Heroes of the New South award. The school was named in the category of Architecture. "In a time when we are returning to the values of craftsmanship, this college is leading the way,” says Heroes juror Jim Strickland. “Their graduates are continuing crafts that we once feared would be lost.” The American College of the Building Arts (ACBA) gives students the opportunity to receive a quality liberal arts education while learning the skills needed to excel in their chosen field. Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the award, and about the ACBA, are the college’s president, Lt. General (Ret.) Colby M. Broadwater, III; Kerri Forrest, Director of Institutional Advancement; Emily Gillett, a senior plaster student; and Erin Street, an editor for Southern Living. Photos on Flickr.

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The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston
March 23, 2012

The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston has created a retrospective exhibition entitled The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston. Hutty is of one of the principal artists of the Charleston Renaissance of the early 20th century, and the exhibition features over 50 works in oil, watercolor, pastel, and most importantly, his exquisite prints created in Charleston and Woodstock, New York.

Gibbes Curator of Collections Sara Arnold, author and scholar Harlan Greene, and collector Edith Howle, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Charleston Renaissance, the life and art of Hutty, the exhibition, and its companion book (USC Press). After it makes its debut at the Gibbes, the exhibition will travel to the Greenville County Museum of Art and the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, GA.

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Revitalizing the Grounds of the Hampton-Preston Mansion in Columbia
March 16, 2012

A four-acre garden once graced the grounds of the Hampton-Preston Mansion, and was a destination for travelers beginning in the 1840s. The gardens were destroyed by 1947 to clear the block for commercial development.  Historic Columbia Foundation has broken ground on a 3-phase, multi-year garden revitalization project. Included in the first phase will be installation of new irrigation, pathways, edging, lighting, as well as new plantings selected from plants available prior to 1865, in general, and, specifically, from those known to have been grown on the property during the 1830s through 1860s.

Historic Columbia Foundation’s Director of Grounds, David Simpson, and John Sherrer, the Foundation’s Director of Cultural Resources, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the history of the property, its gardens, and the revitalization that is underway.

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A History of Kershaw County
March 09, 2012

(Originally broadcast 05/06/11) Joan A. Inabinet and L. Glen Inabinet join Dr. Edgar to talk about their new book, A History of Kershaw County, and to share insightful tales of the region's inhabitants through defining historical moments. Their history is a much-anticipated, comprehensive narrative describing a South Carolina community rooted in strong local traditions. From prehistoric to present times, the history spans Native American dwellers through the county's major roles in the American Revolution and Civil War, to the commercial and industrial innovations of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The conversation takes place in our studios before an audience of longtime supporters of ETV and ETV Radio.

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Troxler’s Truckers: Vietnam Memories
March 02, 2012

In 1968, the 319th Transportation Company, an Army Reserve unit, was sent to fight in the Vietnam War. The unit drew most of its members from the Augusta, Georgia/Aiken, S.C. area. During their 11 month tour of duty, they drove their trucks over one million miles, delivering ammunition, supplies, and soldiers to bases around South Vietnam. They called themselves “Troxler's Truckers,” after their commanding officer.

Two of Troxler’s Truckers, Arthur Beaufort and Wallace Zealy, talk with Dr. Edgar about their unit’s time in Vietnam. They are joined by James Henderson, who created a documentary film called Troxler’s Truckers: Vietnam Memories.

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February 2012

Voices of Our Ancestors
February 24, 2012

As language development reflects historical development, linguistics can also serve as an avenue of inquiry into South Carolina's social history from the epoch of Native American primacy to the present day. In her book Voices of Our Ancestors: Language Contact in Early South Carolina, linguist and author Patricia C. Nichols pays particular attention to the development of the Gullah language among the coastal African American peoples and the ways in which this language—and others of South Carolina's early inhabitants—continues to influence the communication and culture of the state's current populations. She joins Dr. Edgar to discuss the book, which provides the first detailed linguistic history of South Carolina. Patricia Nichols is a professor emeritus of linguistics at San Jose State University. She has published at length on Gullah Linguistics and in the cross field of Linguistic Anthropology.

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Preserving the Roadside Stands of Sweetgrass Basket-Makers
February 17, 2012

The U.S. Highway 17 widening project in Mount Pleasant affects the heart of the traditional sweetgrass basket-making community in South Carolina, and is part of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, a National Heritage Area, which extends from Wilmington, North Carolina to St. Augustine, Florida.

Working with a number of partners, the town of Mount Pleasant has created a plan to minimize the impact of widening U.S. 17 on the basket- makers’ roadside stands, many of which have been in the same families for generations. Joining Dr. Edgar to tell the story of this unprecedented project are Michael Allen of the National Park Service; Thomasena Stokes-Marshall, Mt. Pleasant Town Council Member and executive director of the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association; and a Mt. Pleasant sweetgrass basket-maker, Lynette Yousin.

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Pledge Drive Edition
February 10, 2012

It's ETV Radio's Spring MembershipDrive! So, today we will look back at some of our favorite stories from the past year, and offer you a chance to support Walter Edgar's Journal with your pledge. Today's show will not be podcast.

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Saving History: The Prosperity Train Depot
February 03, 2012

The town of Prosperity, along with the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, rededicated the historic Prosperity Depot on October 8, 2011. Originally built during the 1920s as a railroad passenger terminal for Prosperity, the depot served the town until 1971. The rededication took place 40 years to the day after the closing.

A.M.E. Church Bishop Frank James (retired) took part in the ceremony, reflecting on the era in which he waited to take the passenger train in the depot's "colored-only" waiting room. He joins Michael Bedenbaugh, the Palmetto Trust's Executive Director, to talk with Dr. Edgar about the depot, its restoration, and about growing up in the community in the early 20th century.

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January 2012

Working South: Artist Mary Whyte
January 27, 2012

Dr. Edgar’s guest is renowned Charleston watercolorist Mary Whyte. Whyte has gained national recognition for her figurative watercolors. Most noted for her depictions of the African American Gullah women of Johns Island, South Carolina, near where she lives, Whyte has, in recent years, turned her attention to paintings of southern workers. Fifty of these paintings and drawings are now part of a traveling exhibition of her work, called Working South, and a bookof her paintings by the same name has been published (USC Press).

Gallery of some images from Working South

CBS Sunday Morning feature on Mary Whyte

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Jason Scott Luck, Sixth-Generation Potter
January 20, 2012

Beginning with William Luck in the 19th century, the Luck family has continued the time-honored techniques of wheel-thrown pottery for six generations. Jason Scott Luck is a member of the latest generation of accomplished potters in the family. Jason, an attorney, turns pottery when he's home in Seagrove, N.C., and at various art facilities in Charleston where he works. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about creating wheel-thrown pottery.

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The Evolution of the S.C. Republican Presidential Preference Primary
January 13, 2012

The presidential primary season is in full swing, with South Carolina’s Republican Presidential Preference Primary coming up Saturday, January 21. South Carolina’s presidential primaries have proven important to presidential nominees of both major parties. This is particularly true for the Republican contenders.

State Senator John Courson has been active in Republican politics for over thirty years and was one of the organizers of the first S.C. Republican Presidential primary in 1980. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the history, evolution, and importance of the Republican Presidential Preference Primary in South Carolina.

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BACK TO TOP

2011

December 2011

Restoring the American Chestnut
December 23, 2011

(Originally broadcast 04/22/11) - The American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in the eastern United States, occupying about 25 percent of the hardwood canopy in eastern forests. By the early 1950s, the tree was virtually eliminated by an exotic fungus from Asia, called the chestnut blight.

The U.S. Forest Service, The American Chestnut Foundation, and the University of Tennessee have been conducting research and tests to produce a blight-resistant American chestnut, with aspirations of restoring the species throughout the Southeast. Bryan Burhans, President and CEO of the American Chestnut Foundation, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about efforts to bring back the tree.

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South Carolina’s Literary Culture
December 09, 2011

As the old slogan says, “Reading is fundamental.” However, with ever more numerous electronic media vying for our attention, reading is not always a priority for the average South Carolinian. Wanda Jewell and Curtis Rogers are working to change that through the South Carolina Center for the Book, a cooperative project of the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science, and the Humanities Council SC. They join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Center, the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance, USC Press, the S.C. State Library, and the Center for the Book’s Speaker at the Center series.

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Protecting the Cowasee Basin
December 02, 2011

Billy Cate and John Cely, Land Protection Director of the Congaree Land Trust, talk with Dr. Edgar about the Trust and its Focus Area in the Cowasee Basin. The Trust is currently working on conservation easements totaling 3,700 acres, of which 700 acres are in the Basin area.

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November 2011

Kirk H. Neely: Santa Almost Got Caught
November 25, 2011

Author Kirk H. Neely joins Dr. Edgar in a special Journal, recorded at ETV Radio before a live audience, to talk about his collection of holiday stories, Santa Almost Got Caught: Stories for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. Guiding us through the holiday season from Thanksgiving through Epiphany, Neely takes us into the woods in search of the perfect red cedar Christmas tree. He’ll remind us of the real reason sweet potatoes were part of holiday meals. In this long-anticipated volume, we’ll hear tales about a flaming Advent wreath and the Christmas tree emergency that required an exterminator.

Neely also tells us about his book, Banjos, Barbecue and Boiled Peanuts. This follow-up to the award-winning A Good Mule Is Hard to Find delves even deeper into the humor and lore of Southern life, the mysteries and truths that are wedged between its mountains, snake down its rivers, stalk its gardens and graveyards, lie hidden in its abandoned boxcars, and collect beneath its fingernails.

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South Carolina’s Supreme Court Rules to Protect Isolated Wetlands
November 18, 2011

Dr. Edgar and his guests take a look at wetlands—what they are and why they are so ecologically important, focusing particularly on a recent ruling by the S.C. Supreme Court extending legal protection to isolated wetlands. The suit was filed over a 0.332-acre lot in Pawleys Island, 0.19 acres of which is an isolated wetland, meaning it does not have a direct connection to other waters or wetlands. Such wetlands were previously ruled outside of the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s purview.

Taking part in the discussion are Amy Armstrong, Chief Counsel for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, and Dr. James Morris, Director, Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine & Coastal Sciences of USC.

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Bernardin
November 11, 2011

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Columbia native Joseph Bernardin, who rose to the position of Cardinal in the American Catholic Church. Around the ethical/moral life issues facing society, Bernardin advocated a "consistent ethic of life" and later initiated a project of reconciliation called "Common Ground," a healing legacy that transcends ideological boundaries.

The documentary, Bernardin, (airing statewide on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 5:00 p.m. on ETV and at 9:00 p.m. on ETV's SC Channel) examines the life of a man who helped define many of the critical issues facing the nation and recalls how America stood with him, as he was called to publicly define himself.

Martin Doblmeier, producer of Bernardin will talk with Dr. Edgar about the making of the documentary and the legacy of Cardinal Bernardin.

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South Carolinians in WWII: A Path to Victory
November 04, 2011

About 184,000 South Carolinians served in World War II, and thousands more, who moved here after the war. ETV and The State newspaper partnered together to tell the stories of these veterans in their own words. The result is a new Emmy-nominated documentary series, South Carolinians in World War II.

The series returns in November with its final episode, A Path to Victory. Executive Producer John Rainey, Co-Producer Jeff Wilkinson, and two veterans featured in the series--Dr. Jack Keith and Chris Carawan--talk with Dr. Edgar about the program and share stories of their experiences in the war.

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October 2011

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post Syndicated Columnist
October 28, 2011

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post syndicated columnist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is familiar to ETV Radio listeners from his appearances as a news analyst and commentator on NPR’s All Things Considered. Dionne is coming to USC in Columbia, to speak as part of the Cardinal Bernardin Lectureship in Ethical, Moral, and Religious Studies. His topic will be, "Reweaving the Seamless Garment: Cardinal Bernadin's Living Legacy to American Public Life."

Dionne and Dr. Edgar will talk about the life and work of Bernardin, USC’s Bernardin Lectureship, and Dionne’s perspective on the current, as well as historic, political and religous landscapes.

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William W. Starr: Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster
October 21, 2011

Dr. Edgar has a lively conversation with William W. Starr, author of Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster, a twenty-first-century literary pilgrimage to retrace the famous 1773 Scottish journey of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson, two of the most celebrated writers of their day.  Starr enlivens this crisply written travelogue with a playful wit, an enthusiasm for all things Scottish, the boon and burden of American sensibility, and an ardent appreciation for Boswell and Johnson—who make frequent cameos throughout these ramblings.

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October Pledge Special
October 14, 2011

It's time again for our Fall Membership Drive. Show your support for Walter Edgar's Journal by calling in your pledge of financial support at 1-800-256-8535. You can also pledge on-line! This episode of the journal features clips from three of our favorite episodes from the last year: "Marine helicopter crews in the Vietnam War," "Remembering two SC Revolutionary War heroes," and "Benjamin Dunlap: a life in higher education."

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Found: Mary Chesnut’s Civil War photo albums
October 07, 2011

Mary Chesnut’s diary, originally published forty years after the Civil War as Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, is generally acknowledged today as the finest literary work of the Confederacy. Spiced by the author's sharp intelligence, irreverent wit, and keen sense of irony and metaphorical vision, it uses a diary format to evoke a full, accurate picture of the South in civil war.  Her words, however, were originally complemented by three personal photograph albums that were filled with annotated pictures of the many people found throughout the diary.

Lost or stolen since the 1930s, the albums were only rediscovered in 2007. Now the photos are about to be published, with the original, Diary from Dixie-version of Chesnut’s diary, as Mary Chesnut’s Illustrated Diary, Mulberry Edition Boxed Set. In addition, the photo albums are being given by Chesnut’s descendents to USC’s Caroliniana Library to be re-united with her original journals.

Joining Dr. Edgar to tell the story of these remarkable photos are Martha Daniels, a descendant of Mary Chestnut; Harvey Teal, an authority on 19th century photographs and author of Partners with the Sun; and Henry Fulmer, Curator of Manuscripts, for the South Caroliniana Library.

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September 2011

Mercy Creek
September 30, 2011

Matt Matthews, pastor at St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his first novel, Mercy Creek, winner of the South Carolina Arts Commission First Novel Prize.

On his first day out of school, 16 year-old Isaac doesn't feel that events of June in a town on Virginia's Eastern Shore could threaten his life or even change it. But there are signs. By the middle of a sultry July, Isaac has discovered that small towns in which everybody knows everybody else's business often hide the most vicious secrets. By solving mysteries of a twisted communal past, laying bare the stains of a history that includes the Klan, Isaac has resolved where he belongs in the world, opening the future.

In this quietly suspenseful story with splashes of manic humor, the eccentrics, the recluses, the bigots and the bores join the human parade. The march for that parade, however, is the heart-stirring strains of forgiveness.

For more information, visit:

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Linda O’Bryon, President & CEO of SC ETV
September 23, 2011

Linda O’Bryon began her work as President and CEO of ETV in December of 2010. She talks with Dr. Edgar about her career in public broadcasting and about her work at ETV. They also look at the opportunities and challenges in ETV’s future, as well as ETV Radio’s move to its new studios in October.

Linda O'Bryon has previously served as Chief Content Officer at KQED/Northern California Public Broadcasting in San Francisco. She is also the founding executive editor of PBS' Nightly Business Report (NBR) which debuted in 1979 and is currently carried on more than 250 public television stations across the nation. In 2009, O'Bryon received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in Business and Financial Reporting by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Links of interest: ETV - South Carolina's Lifeline, ETV, Knowitall.org, StreamlineSC, Teacherline Southeast, Educator Plus, State Agency Training, National Teacher Training Institute, ETV Public Services Network; ETV Radio

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Dorothea Benton Frank: Folly Beach
September 16, 2011

The incomparable Dorothea Benton Frank joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her latest Lowcountry novel, Folly Beach. As she has with many other delightful literary excursions to this magical Southern locale, the perennial New York Times bestselling author creates a heart-warming tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love—as a woman returns to the past to find her future. Dorothea Benton Frank is “a masterful storyteller” (Booklist) who has already secured her place alongside Anne Rivers Siddons, Sue Monk Kidd, Rebecca Wells, Barbara Delinsky and other contemporary authors of bestselling women’s fiction.

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Fr. Lyndon Harris: after 9/11
September 09, 2011

Fr. Lyndon Harris was the Priest in Charge of St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel across from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He talks with Dr. Edgar about the extraordinary ministry begun at St. Paul’s on 9/12 and about his current work with Gardens of Forgiveness. An exhibition at the Cherokee County History and Arts Museum through September 17th, Eyewitnesses to 9/11: From Tragedy to Transformation, brings together artifacts, art, and photos from St. Paul’s to tell the story.

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The Republican Primary
September 02, 2011

How important is South Carolina’s first-in-the-South Republican Primary in the 2012 presidential election? To discuss the question, Dr. Edgar is joined by James Hammond, Editor of the Columbia Regional Business Report; Peter Applebome, NY Times writer and author of Dixie Rising; and Dr. James Guth, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science at Furman University.

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August 2011

City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886
August 26, 2011

(Originally broadcast 03/02/07) -- On this 125th anniversary of the Charleston earthquake of 1886, the Journal offers an encore presentation of an episode with author Richard Côté. His book, City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886, is an action-packed, heavily illustrated, non-fiction book filled with gripping, first-hand accounts of the earthquake, drawn directly from the personal diaries, journals, and letters of survivors and from the daily newspapers. It also presents the story of the handpicked team of local and federal scientists who worked tirelessly to discover what caused the disaster.

A native of Connecticut, Richard N. Côté studied political science and journalism at Butler University. After serving on the staff of the South Carolina Historical Society for several years, he spent the 1980s and 1990s researching and writing about Southern plantation life, social history, architecture, and exploring exotic local micro-cultures. In 2001, he published his first novel, The Redneck Riviera.

www.scearthquakes.comscearthquakes.cofc.eduwww.dnr.sc.gov/geology/earthquake

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Remembering two SC Revolutionary War heroes
August 19, 2011

In 1887, The US Army Corps of Engineers chose Brigadier General Francis Marion, “The Swamp Fox,” for the honors when they named Marion Park, which sits on South Carolina Avenue, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., and is one of four Capitol Hill East National Parks. Over a century-and-a-score years later the Palmetto Conservation Foundation is leading the effort to place a monument in Marion’s name in the park. President Obama and signed the enabling legislation for the monument into law on May 8, 2008, completing the first step of the five step process. John McCabe joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the challenges still ahead.

And, Doug MacIntyre will tell us about a virtually un-sung Revolutionary War hero, South Carolina’s Col. William “Danger” Thomson, and the new park created on Sullivan’s Island to honor his leadership in repelling the British invasion in June of 1776.

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The Hunley, 10 years later
August 12, 2011

(Originally broadcast 12/03/10) – The study and conservation of the Confederate submarine Hunley took a major step forward in June, 2011, when conservationists rotated the vessel, in its salt-water tank, into an upright position for the first time since it sank in 1864. The Hunley and its crew had vanished after becoming the first submarine to successfully sink another warship, the USS Husatonic.

To mark this milestone we are revisiting a Journal episode with Senator Glen McConnell, Chairman of the South Carolina Hunley Commission, and Dr. Maria Jacobs, Chief Archaeologist for the Hunley project. We’ll hear the fascinating story of this project which has brought together historical research, cutting edge technology, and experts from across the scientific and academic spectrum, all to answer the question: what happened to the Hunley.

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Mary Chestnut’s Civil War Epic
August 05, 2011

(Originally broadcast 04/30/10) - A genteel southern intellectual, saloniste, and wife to a prominent colonel in Jefferson Davis's inner circle, Mary Chesnut today is remembered best for her penetrating Civil War diary. Composed between 1861 and 1865 and revised thoroughly from the late 1870s until Chesnut's death in 1886, the diary was published first in 1905, again in 1949, and later, to great acclaim, in 1981. This complicated literary history and the questions that attend it—which edition represents the real Chesnut? To what genre does this text belong?—may explain why the document largely has, until now, been overlooked in literary studies.

Dr. Julia A. Stern joins Dr. Edgar to discuss the life and writings of Mary Chestnut. In her book Mary Chesnut's Civil War Epic Stern's critical analysis returns Chesnut to her rightful place among American writers. By restoring Chesnut's 1880s revision to its complex, multi-decade cultural context, Stern argues both for Chesnut's reinsertion into the pantheon of nineteenth-century American letters and for her centrality to the literary history of women's writing as it evolved from sentimental to tragic to realist forms.

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July 2011

The Revitalization of downtown Greenville, SC
July 22, 2011

(Originally broadcast 12/10/10) - Greenville's downtown began to languish in the 1960s, as shopping centers lured the major retailers to the suburbs. Downtown was left with countless vacant buildings and no people. Greenville faced what other cities faced, a dying downtown in the midst of a growing region. To meet the challenge, Greenville embarked on "downtown redevelopment," remaking Main Street and creating an atmosphere conducive to office, residential, specialty retail, entertainment and the arts. Downtown Greenville’s renaissance became an evolutionary process marked with significant achievements over twenty-five years. Greenville Mayor Knox White joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the on-going renaissance of the city.

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Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte’s Big Banks
July 15, 2011

Dr. Edgar welcomes Rick Rothacker, a journalist who has written about Bank of America and Wachovia for the Charlotte Observer since 2001. Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks covers everything from the brash CEOs that built these banks into national giants to the near collapse of Wachovia in 2008 to the government rescue of Bank of America.

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Horse Creek Valley… A Tale Worth Telling
July 08, 2011

The documentary, Horse Creek Valley... A Tale worth the Telling, premiered June 9 at a gala event at Aiken County Historical Museum. It will be broadcast July of 2011 on ETV. Producer/Director Christi Koelker, Elliott Levy, Executive Director of the Aiken County Historical Society, and Dr. Chester DePratter, a USC anthropologist, will tell Dr. Edgar about the fascinating history of the region.

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June 2011

Still in Print: the Southern Novel Today
June 24, 2011

(Originally broadcast 01/28/11) - Dr. Edgar’s guest is Prof. Jan Nordby Gretlund, Chair of the English Department at the Center for American Studies, University of Southern Denmark. Their topic is a new book of essays edited by Gretlund, Still in Print: the Southern Novel Today. In a lively conversation the two also take a look at the interest in Southern studies in Europe and the popularity around the world of literature from the American South.

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The Dogs of War
June 17, 2011

Dr. Emory Thomas, the Regents Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Georgia, joins Dr. Edgar for a discussion of the Civil War in this 150th year anniversary of its beginning. Thomas has served as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer and is author of numerous books including The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience; Confederate State of Richmond: a Biography of the Capital; The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865; and Bold Dragoon: The Life of J.E.B. Stuart.

His biography of Robert E. Lee was published in 1995 and was named a Notable Book by the New York Times.  His newest book, Dogs of War, will be available in April 2011.

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The Civil War at 150 - Dr. James McPherson and Dr. Mark Smith
June 10, 2011

Dr. James McPherson, professor emeritus of American History at Princeton University, won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, which has since sold more than six hundred thousand copies. His success with Battle Cry of Freedom and other Civil War publications are considered to have paved the way for the success of the films Glory and Gettysburg and the television documentary The Civil War by Ken Burns. In April 2011 McPherson presented lecture Inheriting the Wind: American Youth at the Onset of Battle in Charleston, SC. He joins Dr. Edgar for a discussion of the Civil War in this 150th year anniversary of its beginning.

Dr. Mark Smith is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of History in USC’s College of Arts and Humanities. He is also a leading expert on “sensory history.” He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the about the sensory history of Gettysburg and other battles.

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Mary Alice Monroe: The Butterfly’s Daughter
June 03, 2011

South Carolina author Mary Alice Monroe joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her newest novel, The Butterfly’s Daughter.

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May 2011

Marine helicopter crews in the Vietnam War
May 27, 2011

Walter Edgar talks with Col. Walt Ledbetter and Duncan McCrae, Vietnam veterans, and Clint Chalmers, video producer, about their experiences as Marines flying helicopters in 1969-70. They also tell us about an oral history they are making about their wartime experiences.

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South Carolinians in WWII: a New Front
May 20, 2011

184,000 South Carolinians served in World War II. South Carolinians in WWII is ETV’s 3-part series that tells the story of some of these veterans.

Series co-executive producer John Rainey and producer/director Jeff Wilkinson will join Dr. Edgar to talk tell some of the extraordinary stories of South Carolinians in World War II and talk about the series’ second episode. A New Front covers the period from Italy’s Monte Cassino to D-Day as well as the buildup in Britain, doctors and nurses, and the Charleston Navy Yard.

South Carolinians in WWII: a New Front will be broadcast on ETV Thursday May 26 at 9pm and Monday May 30 at 10pm. It also airs on the South Carolina Channel Monday, May 30 at 9pm.

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Take on the South: What influence has the South had on all American music?
May 13, 2011

Dr. Edgar is joined by two Dr. William Ferris, Senior Associate Director, Center for the Study of the American South, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Dr. Bill Malone, Professor Emeritus at Tulane University to discuss the roots of American music and its influence on music world wide.

Was the beginning of truly American music the advent of the blues, country or a mixture of both?  The discussion is a preview of the debate to take place in the next installment of ETV’s Take on the South: What influence has the South had on all American music? That program will air May 25th at 7:00 pm on ETV stations.

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April 2011

Benjamin Dunlap: a life in higher education
April 29, 2011

Dr. Benjamin Dunlap, President of Wofford College, joins Dr. Edgar for a lively and wide ranging conversation about his lifelong dedication to the field of higher education. Dunlap is a Columbia native who graduated summa cum laude from Sewanee: The University of the South. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard University as a graduate student, receiving his Ph.D. in English Language and Literature in 1967. From that year until 1993, he held academic appointments at Harvard and the University of South Carolina. In 1993, he accepted an appointment at Wofford College as the Chapman Family Professor in the Humanities, a position he still holds. In 2000, he became the 10th president of Wofford College.

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Bringing back the American Chestnut tree
April 22, 2011

The American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in the eastern United States, occupying about 25 percent of the hardwood canopy in eastern forests. By the early 1950s, the tree was virtually eliminated by an exotic fungus from Asia, called the chestnut blight.

The U.S. Forest Service, The American Chestnut Foundation, and the University of Tennessee have been conducting research and tests to produce a blight-resistant American chestnut, with aspirations of restoring the species throughout the Southeast. Bryan Burhans, President and CEO of the American Chestnut Foundation, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about efforts to bring back the tree.

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Observing the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War
April 15, 2011

On April 21st, at 7:00pm, ETV’s The Big Picture will devote a full hour to a discussion of South Carolina’s commemoration of the Civil War’s sesquicentennial. The participants represent the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the NAACP, the National Park Service, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Fort Moultrie/Fort Sumter Trust, the SC Civil War Sesquicentennial Advisory Board, the SC Department of Archives and History, and the SC African American Heritage Commission.

Big Picture host Mark Quinn, Eric Emerson of the SC Department of Archives and History, and Michael Allen of the National Park Service join Dr. Edgar to talk about the commemoration, and about the singular nature of the coalition of disparate groups that have come together to plan the observances which began earlier this year.

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Covering the world
April 08, 2011

Over the past three decades, Columbia native Don Belt has traveled to 65 countries, working as a writer and editor of articles for National Geographic magazine. Along the way, he has covered the defining issues of our time, such as environmental degradation, vanishing cultures, Islam and the West, the effects of global climate change and the geopolitical trends that are shaping our world. As senior editor of National Geographic from 1998 to 2010, he helped to guide the magazine’s coverage of topics ranging from weapons of mass destruction and the use of terrorism to the legacy of colonialism in the modern Middle East.

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Family Meeting
April 01, 2011

Author Miles DeMott joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his new novel, Family Meeting. The novel revolves around the Camber family—one of the oldest and most respected families in a city known for old and respected families—and their plans to sell Plantation Trust, the bank that cemented their fortune and made their name a household word. Although their lives seem to have been lived in full public view, this intensely private family is rife with secrets and scandals that could derail the sale and redefine the family itself as they meet each other again for the first time.

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March 2011

Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South
March 25, 2011

(originally broadcast 10/15/10) - Professor Lacy K. Ford joins Dr. Edgar for a conversation about Lacy’s latest book, Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South (Oxford University Press, 2009). Lacy is the former Chair of the Department of History at USC in Columbia and has written numerous books and articles about the South.

Deliver Us From Evil has received critical claim. One historian called it “the most detailed and penetrating analysis of the ideology and public policy of American slavery ever written."

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The Charleston Green Committee
March 18, 2011

The Charleston Green Committee (CGC) is comprised of 24 business, academic, nonprofit and government leaders who are advising the City of Charleston in the creation of a local action plan for climate protection and sustainability. The committee is supported by scores of volunteers and the City’s Staff Green Team. James Meadors, Jenny Humphries, and Dennis Knight join Dr. Edgar to talk about CGC's the Plan for Climate Protection and Sustainability for the City of Charleston.

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Envirodwell, re-using shipping containers to create buildings
March 11, 2011

Envirodwell uses existing steel shipping containers as the core of their homes and buildings.  Jim Copland and Bob Probst join Dr. Edgar about the “greenness” and usefulness to this approach.

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Charleston Gardens and the Landscape Legacy of Loutrel Briggs
March 04, 2011

Charleston Gardens and the Landscape Legacy of Loutrel Briggs provides a fascinating account of the life and career of renowned landscape architect Loutrel Briggs (1893–1977), the individual most directly responsible for the development of Charleston's distinctive garden style. The author, accomplished landscape architect and award-winning garden historian James R. Cothran, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, which paints the most complete portrait yet of Briggs, his continuing impact on the iconic gardens of Charleston, and his legacy in the lowcountry.

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February 2011

Lemon Swamp and South Carolina’s French Connection
February 25, 2011

(Originally broadcast 04/20/07) – Published in 1983, Lemon Swamp and Other Places: A Carolina Memoir is the work of Mamie Garvin Fields and her granddaughter, Dr. Karen Fields. The book recounts the "stories," or memoirs, of the life of Mamie Fields, who was born in 1888. The book has been described as a blend of "the scholarly with the personal, addressing the tensions between family and professional loyalties to produce a work meaningful in both spheres." A Distinguished Visiting Professor at USC's Institute for Southern Studies in 2007, Karen Fields joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book.

They also explore the connection between colonial and antebellum South Carolina, and Bourdeaux, France.

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Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor update
February 18, 2011

Designated by Congress in 2006, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, N.C. to Jacksonville, Fl. It is home to one of America's unique cultures, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern United States from West Africa and continued in later generations by their descendents. Emory S. Campbell, Chairman of the Corridor Commission, and Michael Allen, of the National Parks Service, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the ongoing journeyof making the Corridor a reality.

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SC African American Commission and the 150th anniverary of the Civil War
February 11, 2011

December marked the 150th anniversary of South Carolina’s secession from the United States and the beginning of the American Civil War. Many events across the state will commemorate the anniversary, and many will explore the history and causes of the war. The SC African American Heritage Commissionplans to participate in a manner that will help present a complete picture of a history that is shared by both blacks and whites.

Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the Commission’s plans and the wider implication of the events of 1865 are Dr. Abel Bartley of Clemson University, and Joseph McGill from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Southern Regional Office.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


January 2011

The Center for Women
January 21, 2011

The Center for Women in Charleston says of their mission: “Our Job: To Help Women Build Better Lives for Themselves.” The only comprehensive women's development center in South Carolina, the Center for Women (C4W) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to make personal and professional success an everyday event for women in the Lowcountry.

Jennet Robinson Alterman, the Center’s Director, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the Center’s mission.

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Late Rain, a novel by Lynn Kostoff
January 14, 2011

In Lynn Kostoff’s novel, Late Rain, Corrine Tedros is a Lady Macbeth wannabe who sets in motion the murder of her uncle-in-law (a soft-drink mogul). Her plans go awry when the murder is witnessed by a senior citizen in the late stages of Alzheimers. Things are complicated by the fact that the daughter of the man with Alzheimers is involved with a former homicide detective who has resigned and moved South in an attempt to reshape and simplify his life.

Decovic starts to make connections in the case that cause Corrine Tedros to up the ante as she maneuvers to stay out of the murder investigation. Author Lynn Kostoff, a professor of English at Francis Marion University in Florence, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the novel.

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The Economic Impact of Boeing in SC
January 07, 2011

A 2010 economic impact report estimates that once North Charleston's new Boeing plant is up and operating it will add around $6 billion a year to the state's economy and will also generate close to $3 billion in state tax revenues. The report's author, Columbia economist Harry Miley of Miley & Associates, joins Dr. Edgar for a closer look at the plant’s impact and at economic development in South Carolina.

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2010

December 2010

Charles Joyner: Down by the Riverside
December 31, 2010

Originally broadcast 03/26/10) - In Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Slave Community, Charles Joyner (Burroughs Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Southern History and Culture at Coastal Carolina University) takes readers on a journey back in time, up the Waccamaw River through the Lowcountry of South Carolina, past abandoned rice fields once made productive by the labor of enslaved Africans, past rice mills and forest clearings into the antebellum world of All Saints Parish. In this slave community, and many others like it, the slaves created a new language, a new religion--indeed, a new culture--from African traditions and American circumstances.

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Comfort and Joy
December 24, 2010

(Originally broadcast 12/25/2009) - Kirk H. Neely’s Comfort and Joy—Nine Christmas Stories, tells of the redemptive power of Christmas, harkening back to O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.” Along the way, he introduces us to Sara Williams, a young woman who carries on the family legacy of sweetgrass basket making but whose life has gone off track into drugs and prostitution. The story “Joe’s Tree,” follows a Christmas tree on a miraculous journey from a child’s grave to a frat house to a children’s shelter. And together with schoolteacher Mary Alice McCall, readers learn how slaves once used handmade quilts as beacons of hope.

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The American College of the Building Arts
December 17, 2010

The American College of the Building Arts educates and trains artisans in the traditional building arts to foster craftsmanship and encourage the preservation, enrichment, and understanding of the world's architectural heritage through a liberal arts education. Founder and Campaign Director, John Paul Huguley joins Walter to talk about the school’s history and mission.

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Revitalizing Greenville, SC
December 10, 2010

Greenville's downtown began to languish in the 1960s, as shopping centers lured the major retailers to the suburbs. Downtown was left with countless vacant buildings and no people. Greenville faced what other cities faced, a dying downtown in the midst of a growing region. To meet the challenge, Greenville embarked on "downtown redevelopment," remaking Main Street and creating an atmosphere conducive to office, residential, specialty retail, entertainment and the arts. Downtown Greenville’s renaissance became an evolutionary process marked with significant achievements over twenty-five years. Greenville Mayor Knox White joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the on-going renaissance of the city.

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November 2010

Preserving our architectural heritage
November 26, 2010

The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation offers as its mission statement, “Dedicated to preserving and protecting the irreplaceable architectural heritage of South Carolina.” Executive Director Mike Bedenbaugh talks with Walter about how the Trust achieves its mission and about its latest projects.

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Home House Press
November 19, 2010

Home House Press was founded in early 2010 to publish and distribute books about the rich history of South Carolina. Its purpose is to print fresh and improved editions of important works that are no longer in print, and also to publish new books by modern authors that will further enhance the knowledge and understanding of our state.

The Press’ first publications included The Shaftesbury Papers, a volume containing important documents related to the settlement of Carolina in 1670 and the autobiography of Reverend Anthony Toomer Porter, Led On! Step By Step, first published in 1898. It’s the story of how one man made positive and valuable contributions to the rebuilding South Carolina in the wake of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Publisher Thomas Tisdale and Editor-in-Chief Stephen Hoffius join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Press and its mission.

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Take on the South: NASCAR or Football?
November 12, 2010

Dr. Edgar hosts as Dr. Daniel Pierce, Author and Chair of the History Department at University of North Carolina, Asheville, and Dr. Harvey “Hardy” Jackson III, Author and Eminent Scholar in History, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL will debate “What is the most important southern sport, NASCAR or football?” Be sure to vote for you favorite sport at www.scetv.org

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ETV Radio celebrates 10 years of Walter Edgar’s Journal
November 05, 2010

It’s hard to believe, but, Walter Edgar’s Journal is celebrating its 10th birthday this year! Reporter Carolyn Click, of The State newspaper, hosts the program and talks with her guest, Walter Edgar, about the show’s first decade.

Clips from the last decade include guests such as author Ron Rash, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Perry, and the Lee brothers.

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October 2010

Army Corps of Engineers
October 29, 2010

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates a regulatory program which is responsible for protecting the integrity of our nation's aquatic resources while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible and balanced permit decisions. Lt. Col. Jason Kirk, District Engineer for the Corps, and Dr. Richard Darden, Project Manager for Special Projects, will talk with Dr. Edgar about the program and its efforts to foster sustainable development, about the dredging of Charleston Harbor, and about beach re-nourishment.

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Journeys on the Grassy River
October 22, 2010

Poet, publisher, and graphic designer Sheri Lohr is a Californian who fell in love the Florida Keys and the Everglades and then decided to make Key West her home. Journeys on the Grassy River is collection of her poems about the Everglades, written over ten years of visiting and camping in Everglades National Park and other wilderness areas in south Florida and the Florida Keys. She talks with Dr. Edgar about her poetry and about the mysterious beauty of this unique landscape and web of habitat.

We’ll also encore a part of our 2009 conversation with poet Ed Madden, who is also Associate Professor of English language and Literature and Associate Director of Women’s Studies at USC’s College of Arts and Humanities in Columbia. Madden is the author/editor of several books, including Signals, a collection of poems which won the SC Poetry Book Prize.

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New life for the Parker Mill in Greenville’s Textile Crescent
October 08, 2010

Jim Hammond is Editor of GSA Business, the biweekly newspaper serving senior level business decision-makers in the upstate region of SC. He and Josh Parker, a Durham, NC, developer, talk with Dr. Edgar about plans to renovate Woodside Mill, just outside Greenville, once the world’s largest cotton mill. 

Parker’s aim is to breathe new life into Greenville’s struggling Textile Crescent with a plan to redevelop the 500,000 square feet of factory space into a multi-use community that includes 260 market-rate apartments and 91,000 square feet of office and retail space. It also will include studios for bohemian artists like those who have set up shop nearby.

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Fall pledge drive!
October 01, 2010

It’s time for our fall membership drive. Dr. Edgar will host, along with producer Alfred Turner, and present excerpts from favorite past shows of 2009 and 2010.

There will be no podcast of this program

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September 2010

Artist Mark E. Flowers
September 24, 2010

Mark E. Flowers earned his BFA in Studio Arts from The University of South Carolina in 1977 and his MFA in Painting from Western Michigan University in1979. Following his academic career, he has exhibited his work throughout the United States and in Europe.

His art teaching career parallels his art making. He has taught art at the secondary and postsecondary levels for more than 27 years. While he has been a teacher of art, he has also chaired two fine arts departments and one painting department. His most recent teaching award is the Allen Zearn Distinguished Teaching Award at Mercersburg Academy where he has taught art for the last 17 years.

He talks with Dr. Edgar about making art, teaching art, and about he and his wife, artist Kristy Higby, divide their time between their teaching jobs in Pennsylvania and their new home in Asheville.

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Southern Fried mystery novels
September 17, 2010

Cathy Pickens has been, under different names, a lawyer, a business professor, a university provost, a clog-dancing coach, a church organist / choir director, and a typist.

The most profound influences on her life have been her family, her faith, Nancy Drew, and Perry Mason. She grew up in a small town and, forced to move to "big cities" to support herself, first as a lawyer and then as a professor, she found the only way to return to the comfortable familiarity of her childhood was by writing about Avery Andrews, the heroine of her Southern Fried mystery novels, who hails from the fictional town of Dacus, South Carolina.

She'll talk with Dr. Edgar about the novels, and her affection for life in the upstate.

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Clayton Hunt and The Graphic Cow
September 10, 2010

Back when Clayton Hunt was at USC in Columbia he supported himself by designing and printing custom t-shirts for campus organizations. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about how he turned that side line into a successful business, The Graphic Cow.

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Brian Hicks and Gene Owens
September 03, 2010

Brian Hicks is a weekly columnist who never really set out to be a weekly columnist. However, his column for the Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston has a following of loyal readers who enjoy his irreverent style. He talks with Dr. Edgar about how he wound up being a columnist and how he finds topics.

And, we’ll have an encore of an earlier visit with Gene Owens, columnist, journalist, and story teller.

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August 2010

Two lowcountry mysteries
August 27, 2010

He Laughed 'Til He Died is mystery writer Carolyn Hart's 20th Death on Demand mystery. This time, more than one death in Broward's Rock, S.C., engages Annie Darling and her husband, Max. Maybe the need some help? They get it in the form of a group of local ladies, led by mystery writer Emma Clyde, who assist Annie and Max in the hunt for the killer. Carolyn will give Walter the bird's eye lowdown on this caper. Columbia's Fran Rizer has always loved to write. She has turned that love into a second career, writing a successful series of mysteries featuring her protagonist, Callie Parish, a beautician at the local mortuary in fictional St. Mary, South Carolina. Fran Rizer joins Dr. Edgar for a free-wheeling conversation about Callie and the second novel in the series, Hey Diddle Diddle, the Corpse and the Fiddle.

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Hurricane preparedness and the legacy of Hugo
August 20, 2010

(Originally broadcast 09/29/09) - Charles Platt, the head of the SC Emergency Management Division, and SCEMD Chief of Preparedness Jon Boettcher will talk about the role the agency plays in preparedness and disaster response. And Dr. Susan Cutter, director of USC’s Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, will discuss with Dr. Edgar the current level of preparedness statewide for the next big natural disaster. Mayor Joe Riley of Charleston recounts the landfall of Hurricane Hugo, nearly 21 years ago. He also talks with Dr. Edgar about preparing for the next hurricane that makes land in the Lowcountry, and the impact such a storm could have on dense coastal development.

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Dorothea Benton Frank: Lowcountry Summer
August 13, 2010

Dorothea Benton Frank joins us to talk about her latest book. Lowcountry Summer is the long-awaited sequel to her beloved bestseller, Plantation. When Caroline Wimbley Levine returned to Tall Pines Plantation, she never expected to make peace with long-buried truths about herself and her family. The Queen of Tall Pines, her late mother, was a force of nature, but now she is gone, leaving Caroline and the rest of the family uncertain of who will take her place.

Author Cassandra King says "Lowcountry Summer has it all: a sassy, lovable narrator; great, believable characters; laugh-out-loud lines; page-turning action; and surprising plot twists. In other words, it’s Dorothea Benton Frank at her best!”

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Small newspapers work to stay relevant in the age of the smart phone
August 06, 2010

Chris Muldrow, a native of Taylors, SC, works for a company that owns 90 newspapers across the southeast. But, don't expect to find him in the city room of any of those dailies. He heads Internet operations for Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., and is on the front line of the efforts of newspapers—particularly small ones—to stay relevant in the age of iPhones, Facebook and Twitter.

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July 2010

Green Development
July 30, 2010

(Originally broadcast 01/08/09) - The word “green” has become ubiquitous as Americans face the need for sustainable energy but, what about sustainable development? Greenwood Communities and Resorts has won numerous awards for planning communities that respect the land and its history. John Morgan talks with Dr. Edgar about how they do this, and why.

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A century and a half of the law
July 23, 2010

The firm of Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick has been practicing law in Hampton, SC, for 100 years. Randolph Murdaugh, John E. Parker, and Lee Cope join Dr. Edgar to talk about the practice of law in small-town South Carolina, and how it has changed over a century.

In 2006 Walter Edgar's Journal traveled to Spartanburg to talk with Judge Bruce Cameron Littlejohn, former speaker of the SC House, and former SC Supreme Court Chief Justice. We'll bring you an encore of part of that conversation where he talks about his 50 years as a lawyer, House member, and judge. (Judge Littlejohn died April 21, 2007, at the age of 93.)

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Island in a Storm
July 16, 2010

(Originally broadcast 09/04/09) - In the summer of 1853 many of New Orleans’ citizens traveled to Isle Derniere, an emerging island retreat on the Gulf of Mexico, presuming it a safe haven from yellow fever. Then, without warning, on August 10, 1856, a hurricane swept across the island, killing most of its 400 inhabitants. What remained of the island was a forest stranded in the sea, a sign of a land that would eventually vanish.

Island in a Storm is the riveting true story of the people who faced this fierce hurricane, their bravery and cowardice, luck and misfortune, life and death. It chronicles a coast in perpetual motion and a rising sea that made the Isle Derniere particularly vulnerable to a great hurricane.

Author Abby Sallenger received his Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of Virginia and is the former Chief Scientist of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Center for Coastal Geology. He presently leads the USGS Extreme Storms research group. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his book Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, a Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World and about the need to re-examine our ideas about living on the coast.

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Take on the South: What is REAL Southern cooking?
July 09, 2010

Dr. Walter Edgar; John T. Edge, Author and Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, University of Mississippi; and Matt and Ted Lee, award winning cookbook authors will debate the question "What is Real Southern Cooking?" on the next Take on The South program on ETV. We'll get an advance taste of what's in store.

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The Bone Theif
July 02, 2010

The first four Body Farm novelsCarved in Bone, Flesh and Bone, The Devil’s Bones, and Bones of Betrayal — took readers deep into the backwoods of East Tennessee, where fascinating forensic science mixed with extraordinary characters, including the Farm’s charismatic founder, Dr. Bill Brockton. Now, in the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series Kathy Reichs calls “the real deal,” Brockton must stop a grisly black market dealing in body parts and cadavers.

Jefferson Bass (Jon Jefferson and Bill Bass) join Walter Edgar to talk about the new installment in the series.

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June 2010

The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
June 25, 2010

(Originally broadcast 2/19/10) Designated by Congress in 2006, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, N.C. in the north to Jacksonville, Fl. in the south. It is home to one of America's unique cultures, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern United States from West Africa and continued in later generations by their descendents.

Emory S. Campbell, Chairman of the Corridor Commission, and Michael Allen, of the National Parks Service, join Dr. Edgar to The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission in early 2009 embarked on a series of 21 public meetings for the development of a management plan. Emory S. Campbell, Chairman of the Corridor Commission, and Michael Allen, of the National Parks Service, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the development process and what comes next.

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YESCarolina
June 18, 2010

(Originally broadcast 12/4/2009) Jimmy Bailey is a successful businessman, president of a commercial real estate agency. He is also the founder of YESCarolina, a nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurship and business skills among low-income children. He joins Dr. Edgar this week to talk about the program.

Through entrepreneurship education, YEScarolina helps young people from communities statewide build skills and unlock their entrepreneurial creativity.  From 2003 to 2009, YEScarolina has trained over 500 NFTE Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers that have in turn touched thousands of young South Carolinians with this entrepreneurship curriculum.  In 2010, YEScarolina will offer this training opportunity without charge to public school teachers statewide.

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Edgewood: Stage of Southern History
June 11, 2010

Over the years, Edgewood has served as the stage for many important periods in Southern history. Originally built in 1829 for secessionist governor Francis W. Pickens, the house was home to two remarkable women, Lucy Holcombe Pickens and Eulalie Chafee Salley. Lucy was known as the "Queen of the Confederacy" and was the only woman to be featured on Confederate currency. Eulalie was one of South Carolina's earliest business women and was also a leader in the suffrage movement.

We'll find out about the documentary film Edgewood: Stage of Southern History, which tells the stories of the many people who lived, worked and visited the house in its 180 years of existence.  Some of the stories include: the antebellum era in South Carolina, War Between the States, Pickens visit to Czarist Russia, the suffrage movement, the Winter Colony settlement in Aiken, and up to Civil Rights Era. Today, the house is known as the Pickens-Salley House and is located on the University of South Carolina Aiken campus. Executive Director Deidre Martin, Historical Consultant and Assistant Director Dr. Maggi Morehouse, and writer/director Chris Koelker will share the story of this house and the history it has seen.

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The Carolina Youth Development Center at 220 years
June 04, 2010

Founded in 1790 as the Charleston Orphan House, Carolina Youth Development Center's mission is to assist children in reaching their full potential as healthy and well-adjusted individuals by delivering a continuum of prevention, assessment, intervention, and treatment services.

Originally located in downtown Charleston, the multiple programs of the Orphan House included an educational system, believed to have been one of the first in South Carolina; a kindergarten, the first in South Carolina and one of the first in the nation; and early efforts at foster family care.

This year marks the 220th anniversary of the founding of Carolina Youth Development Center/Charleston Orphan house. We'll hear more about its history and its current mission from Madeleine McGee and CEO Barbara Kelly Duncan.

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Over 200 years of caring: The Carolina Youth Development Center
June 04, 2010

Founded in 1790 as the Charleston Orphan House, Carolina Youth Development Center's mission is to assist children in reaching their full potential as healthy and well-adjusted individuals by delivering a continuum of prevention, assessment, intervention, and treatment services.

Originally located in downtown Charleston, the multiple programs of the Orphan House included an educational system, believed to have been one of the first in South Carolina; a kindergarten, the first in South Carolina and one of the first in the nation; and early efforts at foster family care.

This year marks the 220th anniversary of the founding of Carolina Youth Development Center/Charleston Orphan house. We'll hear more about its history and its current mission.

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May 2010

Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement
May 28, 2010

Ten years in the making, Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement is the first major history of America's oldest civil rights organization. Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) got its start as an elite organization dominated by white reformers at a time when segregation had triumphed in the South and the color line was tightening its hold in the North. By the end of World War I, the NAACP had become a mass-black membership organization reaching from Boston to Los Angeles and into the Mississippi Delta; after World War II, it had become synonymous with the freedom movement itself.

Historian Patricia Sullivan unearths the little-known early decades of the NAACP's activism, telling startling stories of personal bravery, legal brilliance, and political maneuvering by the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Walter White, Charles Houston, Ella Baker, Thurgood Marshall, and Roy Wilkins. The book then moves into the critical postwar era, when, with a string of legal victories culminating in Brown v. Board, the NAACP knocked out the legal underpinnings of the segregation system and set the stage for the final assault on Jim Crow. An epic narrative of struggle against injustice, Lift Every Voice lays a new foundation for understanding the modern civil rights movement.

Dr. Sullivan joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the history and impact of the NAACP in South Carolina and around the nation.

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Food, glorious food!
May 21, 2010

Adriano & Sonja Rota are on a mission that demands they be anthropologists of a sort, as well as gourmet chefs. Their mission is to research, reproduce, and promote healthy authentic ancient Roman food. They own and operate Castra Rota, in the little town of Brunson, SC, and it’s from there that they make and sell Roman food along with contemporary European gourmet food. They join Dr. Edgar to talk about their passion for re-discovering the Roman way of eating.

We will also be talking food with our other guest, Dan Huntley. Dan is a columnist for the Charlotte Observer and he loves barbeque. In fact, he is a Kansas City Barbeque Society judge and he bottles and markets his own sauce! Not long ago he partnered with Lisa Grace Lednicer from The Oregonian newspaper and Charlotte Observer photographer Layne Bailey to create the book Extreme Barbeque: Smokin' Rigs and Real Good Recipes. Dan joins another certified barbeque judge, Walter Edgar, to talk about the book and all things Barbeque. (This part of the program has aired previously.)

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John McCardell on the liberal arts
May 14, 2010

John Malcolm McCardell, Jr. is the president emeritus of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, and the Vice Chancellor-Elect of The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He is also founder of Choose Responsibility, a non-profit group that advocates the counter-intuitive idea that changing the drinking age to 18 will help mitigate campus binge-drinking.

He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the value of a liberal arts education as well as how parents, law enforcement, educational programs, and faculty and staff at colleges and universities can help fight an epidemic of underage drinking.

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Matt and Ted Lee: Simple Fresh Southern
May 07, 2010

(Originally broadcast 12/11/09) - Southern cuisine is arriving in a big way. Chefs all over the United States are digging deeper into southern traditions, taking on ingredients and techniques that reach beyond fried chicken and BBQ. At the forefront of the southern food revolution are Matt Lee and Ted Lee.

Matt Lee and Ted Lee grew up in Charleston, and in 1994 founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order source for southern pantry staples. Their first cookbook, The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, received the James Beard Award for Cookbook of the Year in 2007. They are contributing editors for Travel + Leisure and the wine columnists for Martha Stewart Living.

They join Dr. Edgar to talk about their latest book, The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor (Clarkson Potter; November,

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April 2010

Local historical societies, museums, and their vital work
April 23, 2010

South Carolina's historical museums and historical societies are vital links to the people and events of our past. Their work, often accomplished with small staffs, limited funding, and a corps of volunteers preserve more than local history. They provide the foundation of South Carolina history and national history. As Dr. Edgar has said, “All history is ‘local.”

To talk about the work of local historical societies and museums Dr. Edgar is joined by Pelham Lyles, director of the Fairfield County Historical Museum; and Elliot Levy, executive director of the Aiken County Historical Museum. Also on hand is Val Green, who with Lyles is co-editor of the book, A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina from the Earliest Periods to the Close of the War of Independence, by Dr. John H. Logan.

Related link: Fairfield Fairfield County Museum, Captured Moment Oral Histories

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Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art
April 16, 2010

More than three hundred years ago people from Africa brought an understanding of rice cultivation and skills as basket makers to plantations in America. Their knowledge and labor transformed the landscape and economy of Carolina and made rice the colony's first major export crop. Although working under the brutal conditions of slavery, African people did not forget their rich cultural traditions. The coiled basket became the signature form made by Africans in America. In the twenty first century, on both sides of the Atlantic, the art of the coiled basket continues to thrive and be passed down from generation to generation. In the Lowcountry, as in many parts of Africa, virtuoso basket makers are inventing forms, experimenting with new materials, and perfecting the techniques they learned from their parents and grandparents.

Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art is a major exhibition tracing the history and artistry of southern sweetgrass baskets and their cousins in Africa, on display at USC's McKissick Museum in Columbia through May 8th. Following its venue at The University of South Carolina's McKissick Museum, Grass Roots will travel to the Smithsonian's African Art Museum and then to the Museum for African Art in New York City at its new 5th Avenue location.

Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about Grass Roots and the history of the sweetgrass basket are master basket maker Nakia Wigfall and Professor Dale Rosengarten, curator of The Jewish Heritage Collection at the College of Charleston's Addlestone Library, and co-author of the book Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art.

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Cheating the Stillness: the World of Julia Peterkin
April 09, 2010

South Carolina novelist Julia Peterkin revolutionized American literature and launched what we now call the Southern Renaissance by writing about the lives of plain black farming people. Although she was white and the mistress of a cotton plantation, scholar and activist W.E.B. DuBois declared that she had “the eye and the ear to see beauty and to know truth.” In 1922, when she had published only a handful of short sketches, the influential critic H. L. Mencken announced that her stories were “violets” in the “Sahara of the Bozarts,” his withering nickname for the South. Today, writer and teacher A.J. Verdelle maintains that, “the Peterkin story is a fascinating and phenomenal story, because she is white.”

In 1929 Peterkin won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Scarlet Sister Mary, and she was leading the double life of plantation mistress in South Carolina and sought-after writer at New York cultural events and dinner parties. Eleanor Roosevelt invited her to the White House. By the mid-1930’s Julia Peterkin had stopped writing and retreated to South Carolina.

Why did she abandon her career at its height? What prompted her to begin writing in middle age? And how did a white Southern woman become a highly respected chronicler of African-American rural life?  A public television documentary, Cheating the Stillness: the World of Julia Peterkin, looks into these questions as it delves into her life and her remarkable—and controversial—work.

Dr. Edgar is joined by the film's producer, Gayla Jamison, and by Dr. Margaret Washington of Cornell University, an authority on Peterkin. Cheating the Stillness: the World of Julia Peterkin is a co-production of Lightfoot Films and South Carolina ETV. It will air on ETV April 15 at 9:00pm and April 18 at 6:00pm.

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Lee Pringle of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s Spiritual Ensemble
April 02, 2010

Our guest Lee Pringle started and managed the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir for ten years. He noticed that audiences were mesmerized when the choir sang spirituals--as opposed to gospel songs. So, he set out to create the CSO Spiritual Ensemble, which has been singing for about two years to great audience acclaim.

He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about spirituals, gospel music, classical music, and the history of the Ensemble. This program also features recorded performances by the CSO Spiritual Ensemble.

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March 2010

Down by the Riverside
March 26, 2010

In Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Slave Community, Charles Joyner takes readers on a journey back in time, up the Waccamaw River through the Lowcountry of South Carolina, past abandoned rice fields once made productive by the labor of enslaved Africans, past rice mills and forest clearings into the antebellum world of All Saints Parish. In this slave community, and many others like it, the slaves created a new language, a new religion--indeed, a new culture--from African traditions and American circumstances. From the letters, diaries, and memoirs of the plantation whites and their guests, from quantitative analysis of census and probate records, and above all from slave folklore and oral history, Joyner has recovered an entire society and its way of life. His careful reconstruction of daily life in All Saints Parish is an inspiring testimony to the ingenuity and solidarity of a people who endured in the face of adversity.

This anniversary edition of Joyner's landmark study includes a new introduction in which the author recounts his process of writing the book, reflects on its critical and popular reception, and surveys the past three decades of scholarship in slave history. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about this new edition.

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The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget
March 19, 2010

Pushcart Prize-winning journalist Andrew Rice joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his book The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget. He tells us that he hadn't set out for Uganda to write a murder mystery—but he surely found one. Rice's book is his multi-layered meditation on history and reconciliation in modern-day Africa, where he explores the 30-year-old mystery of Eliphaz Laki, who disappeared during the reign of Idi Amin. "I started off writing the book as history," says Rice. "As time went on, it became obvious that the past was ever-present in Uganda. All of these elements that I found myself writing about were not merely historical curiosities, but facts that exposed the underlying dynamics of the country's present-day politics." A lot of sleuthing and old-school reporting led Rice to Duncan Laki, who returned from his new home in the United States to lead the reporter to the site of his father's death. For four years, Andrew Rice followed the trial, crossing Uganda to investigate Amin's legacy and the limits of reconciliation. At once a mystery, a historical accounting, and a portrait of modern Africa, The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget is above all an exploration of how—and whether—the past can be laid to rest.

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Food banks in hard times
March 12, 2010

With rising unemployment many people who never thought they would need to turn for help to their local food bank are doing just that. That means food banks are facing unprecedented demands at a time when the recession is causing a drop in contributions. Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the problem and how they are meeting it are the executive directors of two of the largest food banks in the state: Denise Holland of Harvest Hope, and Jermaine Husser of the Lowcountry Food Bank.

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A Portrait of Greenville
March 05, 2010
How do people see the place where they live and work; and how do others from the outside see it? An upcoming exhibition at the Greenville County Museum of Art explores these questions.

Martha Severens, Curator at the Museum, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about A Portrait of Greenville, which will showcase a broad variety of work that has Greenville as the subject. It will include the Joshua Shaw painting of the Reedy River, some antebellum-era portraits by Thomas Stephen Powell, photographs by Tommy Wyche of greater Greenville County, watercolors by Stephen Scott Young, and some recently commissioned work by artists from Augusta, New York, Philadelphia, and Greenville.

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February 2010

The Historic Charleston Foundation
February 26, 2010
In October of 2009, the National Trust for Historic Preservation presented its Preservation Honor Award to Historic Charleston Foundation in recognition of the successful development the city's newly revised Preservation Plan. The award was one of 23 bestowed by the National Trust during its 2009 National Preservation Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

The plan looks beyond bricks and mortar to consider social, economic and cultural issues that affect preservation. In addition to advocating tools for evaluating characteristics that define individual neighborhoods, the plan offers strategies for addressing sprawl, gentrification, disaster management and the need for affordable housing.

Kitty Robinson, Executive Director of the Foundation, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the development of the plan, its scope, its impact on the city, and how the plan will affect the Historic Charleston's work.

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Encores Anthology
February 12, 2010
This is a "best of" program featuring excerpts from shows we ran from November 2009 to January 2010. This version does not contain pledge breaks.

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Gene Bedell: Three Steps to Yes
February 05, 2010
Everybody has to sell something sometime. Parents have to sell their kids on the idea of eating vegetables and not taking drugs; managers have to sell their employees on the idea of showing up on time and producing. Getting your message across requires selling yourself and your ideas in a way that guarantees a positive response from the most stubborn listener.

Gene Bedell spent a lifetime selling, but he changed his method when he discovered a better way. Bedell joins Dr. Edgar to talk about what he has learned about how to move anyone from no to yes in just three simple steps, without being a bully, damaging relationships, or compromising one’s principles. Bedell's book is Three Steps to Yes: The Gentle Art of Getting Your Way.

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January 2010

The Yemassee Rivitalization Corp’s “Railroad Dinner”
January 29, 2010
The town of Yemassee, like many small Southern towns, has faced steep economic challenges over the years. In order to revitalize the town they love members of the community have created the non-profit Yemassee Revitalization Corp. For the second year they are holding a special Railroad Dinner to help raise funding for their projects. (One of which includes transforming the old train station downtown.)

The idea of a railroad dinner came about out of a conversation a group of friends, including Mark Gray and Travis Folk, were having about the history of the White Hall Railroad depot. A mutual friend had passed through the depot in the early 1930s. The group decided to get together to celebrate the railroad history and to invite others to attend their dinner in order to hear personal stories of traveling the area via rail. And now their yearly dinner has been transformed into an opportunity to help reinvigorate Yemassee.

Mark Gray is a talented chef. Dr. Travis Folks is a biologist who runs his own business. These two share a love of good food and—above all—a fascination with railroads. They join Dr. Edgar to talk about food, the aims of the YRC, and Southern railroads.

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Entrepreneur Beezer Molten
January 22, 2010
Beezer Molten loves the outdoors and surfing. He has channeled that love and dedication into building a southeastern chain of stores, Half-Moon Outfitters. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his challenging, sometimes rocky path to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

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Camellias
January 15, 2010
Camellia lovers, gardeners, and flower fans will want to be sure catch this episode of The Journal. Dr. Edgar talks about camellias' history and future with Dr. William Barrick of Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, AL, and Bobby Green of Green Nurseries and Landscape Design Inc., in Fairhope, AL.

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John Morgan: sustainable development
January 08, 2010
The word “green” has become ubiquitous as Americans face the need for sustainable energy but, what about sustainable development? Greenwood Communities and Resorts has won numerous awards for planning communities that respect the land and its history.

John Morgan talks with Dr. Edgar about how they do this, and why.

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The Black Bottom Buscuits
January 01, 2010
The Black Bottom Biscuits return to talk with Dr. Edgar about their latest album, "Ain't No Kinda Blue." We'll also sample some of the music from that disk.

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BACK TO TOP

 

2009

December 2009

Kirk Neely: Comfort and Joy
December 25, 2009
Kirk H. Neely’s Comfort and Joy—Nine Christmas Stories, tells of the redemptive power of Christmas, harkening back to O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi.” Along the way, he introduces us to Sara Williams, a young woman who carries on the family legacy of sweetgrass basket making but whose life has gone off track into drugs and prostitution. The story “Joe’s Tree,” follows a Christmas tree on a miraculous journey from a child’s grave to a frat house to a children’s shelter. And together with schoolteacher Mary Alice McCall, readers learn how slaves once used handmade quilts as beacons of hope.

He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about Comfort and Joy, and his latest book, A Good Mule is Hard to Find. Since 1996, Dr. Neely has served as Senior Pastor of Morningside Baptist Church in Spartanburg.

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Carolyn Hart: Merry, Merry Ghost
December 18, 2009
Carolyn Hart is the author of eighteen previous Death on Demand novels. Her books have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and MaCavity awards. She is also the creator of the Henrie O series, and she was one of the founders of Sisters in Crime.

She joins Dr. Edgar to talk about Merry, Merry Ghost, which features the impetuous, redheaded ghost of Bailey Ruth. This is the second book in Hart's newest mystery series.

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Jimmy Bailey: YESCarolina
December 04, 2009
Jimmy Bailey is a successful businessman, president of a commercial real estate agency. He is also the founder of YESCarolina, a nonprofit organization that promotes entrepreneurship and business skills among low-income children. He joins Dr. Edgar this week to talk about the program.

Through entrepreneurship education, YEScarolina helps young people from communities statewide build skills and unlock their entrepreneurial creativity. From 2003 to 2009, YEScarolina has trained over 500 NFTE Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers that have in turn touched thousands of young South Carolinians with this entrepreneurship curriculum. In 2010, YEScarolina will offer this training opportunity without charge to public school teachers statewide.

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November 2009

Young and living in the new economy—Jack Burg
November 27, 2009
When Jack Burg waits on your table at a fashionable Charleston restaurant, you might take for a college student who works part time and will one day graduate and move into a profession. But Jack already has a profession: he's a very busy musician in the port city—he works with three different bands—who supplements his income by working as a waiter.

He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about what it's like to be a young man living in the new economy.

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John Sledge, author of The Pillared City: Greek Revival Mobile
November 20, 2009
This week Dr. Edgar has a conversation with John Sledge about his book, The Pillared City: Greek Revival Mobile .

In The Pillared City, John Sledge presents a richly illustrated overview of the Greek revival period in Mobile, Alabama (1825-70), when high style and vernacular columned buildings were erected on the city's streets. Using a wealth of resources such as deeds and diaries, Sledge reveals the architectural accomplishments that helped Mobile emerge from its position as a rustic backwater to become a prominent international seaport.

John Sledge is an architectural historian with the Mobile Historic Development Commission, and the book page editor for the Mobile Register. The Pillared City is the third book for which he has teamed up with the talented photographer Sheila Hagler. The Pillared City captures the grace and allure of Mobile's antebellum style.

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Special broadcast of Walter Edgar’s Journal at 1pm today
November 15, 2009
Today at 1:00pm, in remembrance of Bill Hay, the founding Director of ETV Radio, and in honor of his contributions to the quality of life in South Carolina we are featuring an encore broadcast of a Journal program first aired September 6th, 2002, during the celebration of ETV Radio’s 30th anniversary. Walter's guests are Bill Hay and former Vice-President of ETV Radio, Tom Fowler.

The program will be posted as a podcast later this afternoon.

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Take on the South: Could Slavery in the U.S. Have Survived the American Civil War?
November 13, 2009

Dr. Edgar, Dr. Peter A. Coclanis, Associate Provost, International Affairs, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr. Stanley Engerman, John Munro Professor of Economics, Professor of Economics and Professor of History, University of Rochester, will debate "Would Southern Slavery Have Survived the Civil War?" This episode is complimentary to the ETV program Take on the South: Would Southern Slavery Have Survived the Civil War?, which airs November 18, 2009 at 8:00 pm on all ETV television stations.

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Mary Alice Monroe: Last Light over Carolina
November 06, 2009
Lowcountry author Mary Alice Monroe talks with Dr. Edgar about her new book, Last Light Over Carolina, and the challenges that face South Carolina shrimpers.

In Last Light Over Carolina, an otherwise ordinary day in a small shrimping village off the coast of South Carolina becomes a potentially tragic day--a boat has gone missing. The entire town rallies as all are mobilized to find the lost vessel. Throughout the course of one day, the story of Bud Morrison, the captain on board, and of Carolina, his wife, unfolds revealing the happier days of a once-thriving shrimping industry juxtaposed with the memories of their long term marriage.

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October 2009

Old-Time Radio
October 30, 2009
John Wrisley is a long-time broadcast in the Midlands who is also an avid lover of old-time radio. Betsy Weinberg and he share what "old-time" radio means and their efforts to keep its history and its programs alive.

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From the Pee Dee to the Savannah: Enduring Legacies of South Carolina’s Fall Line Region
October 23, 2009
The Fall Line is a geographic region within South Carolina where the rivers are no longer navigable from the Low Country. Historically, this area, which stretches from Cheraw on the Pee Dee River to Hamburg (present day North Augusta) on the Savannah River, yielded experiences and material culture that were characteristic of its peoples.

In 2002, ten Midlands-area museums, archives, and libraries formed the South Carolina Fall Line Consortium in order to identify, research, and interpret the material culture made and used between 1740 and 1945 specific to this region. From the Pee Dee to the Savannah: Enduring Legacies of South Carolina’s Fall Line Region marks the Consortium’s first major exhibition showcasing the stories and artifacts of this previously understudied and underappreciated region of the Palmetto State. Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the exhibition are SC State Museum Curator of Art Paul Matheny and John Sherrer, Historic Columbia Foundation Director of Collections and Interpretation.

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October Membership Drive
October 16, 2009
It's time for our October Membership Drive. This week's Journal is a selection excerpts from some of the best interviews of the last year. Be sure to call us and show your support of Walter Edgar's Journal with a pledge. The number is 1-800-256-8535.

Note: this program will not be posted as a podcast.

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The Tobacco Trail
October 09, 2009
Dr. Eldred “Wink” Prince is the author of the first comprehensive history of Bright Leaf tobacco culture of any state to appear in fifty years, Long Green: The Rise and Fall of Tobacco in South Carolina (University of Georgia Press, 2000). The book explores the advances and retreats of tobacco's influence in South Carolina from its beginnings in the colonial period to its heyday at the turn of the century, the impact of the Depression, the New Deal, World War II, and on to present-day controversies about health risks due to smoking.

Dr. Prince joins us to talk about a traveling exhibit of Tobacco Barns Photography for the South Carolina Tobacco Trail, an exhibit of 11 framed photographs (6 30 x 40 and 5 16 x 20) of tobacco barns taken by photographer Benton Henry with 3 interpretive panels (tobacco farming, tobacco barns and artistic merit of the photos). The interpretive panels were developed by Dr. Jim Boden of Coker College and Dr. Prince of Coastal Carolina University, balancing the artistic merits of the show with the historical context.

The purpose of the exhibit (which ultimately will have traveled to 6 cities) is to educate visitors and residents about a way of life that is quickly disappearing, encourage appreciation of the utilitarian beauty of the structures themselves, and perhaps add to the discussion about why they may be worth preserving now and in the future.

The exhibit is a cooperative endeavor between The South Carolina Tobacco Trail, the Black Creek Arts Council, The Humanities Council of South Carolina and SC Parks, Recreation and Tourism. It will be on display at The Gallery at the Black Creek Arts Center in November.

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September 2009

Hurricane Preparedness
September 25, 2009
Mayor Joe Riley of Charleston recounts the landfall of Hugo, 20 years ago. He also talks with Dr. Edgar about preparing for the next hurricane that makes land in the Lowcountry, and the impact such a storm could have on dense coastal development. Charles Platt, the new head of the SC Emergency Preparedness Division, and SCEMD Chief of Preparedness Jon Boettcher will talk about the role the agency plays in preparedness and disaster response. And Dr. Susan Cutter, director of USC’s Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, will discuss with Dr. Edgar the current level of preparedness statewide for the next big natural disaster.

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Hugo: A Landmark in Time
September 18, 2009
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo cut a swath of destruction from Charleston to Columbia and into Charlotte, NC. A new book, Hugo: A Landmark in Time observes the 20th anniversary of its landfall.

Editors John Burbage and Jason Lesley join Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, and about "the storm of the century."

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Dorothea Benton Frank: Return to Sullivans Island
September 11, 2009
Author Dorothea Benton Frank joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her new novel, Return to Sullivans Island, which takes readers back to the enchanted landscape of South Carolina's Lowcountry made famous in her beloved New York Times bestseller Sullivans Island to tell the story of the next generation of Hamiltons and Hayes.

Whether you were away from the Lowcountry for a week or for years, it was impossible to remember how gorgeous it was. It never changed and everyone depended on that. Newly graduated from college and an aspiring writer, Beth Hayes craves independence and has a world to conquer. But her notions of travel, graduate study, and writing the great American novel will have to be postponed. With her mother, Susan, leaving to fulfill her own dreams in Paris and her Aunt Maggie, Uncle Grant, and stepfather, Simon, moving to California, Beth is elected by her elders to house-sit the Island Gamble. Surrounded by the shimmering blue waters of the Atlantic, the white clapboards, silver tin roof, and confessional porch have seen and heard the stories of generations of Hamiltons. But will the ghosts of the Island Gamble be watching over Beth?

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Abby Sallenger: Island in a Storm
September 04, 2009
In the summer of 1853 explosions rocked New Orleans. The mayor ordered cannons fired and barrels of tar set aflame in a desperate attempt to rid the city of yellow fever. Those with the means fled. Many of them traveled to Isle Derniere, an emerging island retreat on the Gulf of Mexico, presuming it a safe haven.

Then, without warning, on August 10, 1856, a hurricane swept across the island, killing most of its 400 inhabitants. The Isle Derniere, already a narrow ribbon of sand, was devastated. What remained was a forest stranded in the sea, a sign of a land that would eventually vanish.

Island in a Storm is the riveting true story of the people who faced this fierce hurricane, their bravery and cowardice, luck and misfortune, life and death. It chronicles a coast in perpetual motion and a rising sea that made the Isle Derniere particularly vulnerable to a great hurricane.

Author Abby Sallenger received his Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of Virginia and is the former Chief Scientist of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Center for Coastal Geology. He presently leads the USGS Extreme Storms research group. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his book Island in a Storm: A Rising Sea, a Vanishing Coast, and a Nineteenth-Century Disaster that Warns of a Warmer World and about the need to re-examine our ideas about living on the coast.

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August 2009

Picturing America
August 28, 2009
(Originally broadcast 03/27/08) - Martha Severens, Curator of the Greenville County Museum of Art, has been asked by the SC Humanities Council to present a series of lectures around the state on the The National Endowment for the Humanities’ initiative "Picturing America" is an innovative program that helps teach American history and provides students with a gateway to the broader world of the humanities through visual imagery.

The NEH has selected 40 iconic pieces (art, artifacts, architecture), made high quality reproductions, developed a resource book, and is making them available to schools and libraries. She joins Dr. Edgar to talk about this exciting initiative.

(Illustration credit: Emanuel Leutze (American: 1816–1868), Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851, Oil on canvas; 149 x 255 in. (378.5 x 647.7 cm): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897 (97.34) Photograph © 1992 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

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Greenville Chautauqua
August 21, 2009
(Originally broadcast 05/15/09) - With summer and winter festivals, and other events throughout the rest of the year, Greenville Chautauqua brings history to life. The first Chautauqua was started as an outdoor adult education program for Sunday School teachers at a campsite on Chautauqua Lake in upstate New York founded by Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent and businessman Lewis Miller. In the 1970s Chautauqua was revived and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and state humanities councils as a means of providing lively, interactive and authentic humanities education.

The theme of this year’s summer Chautauqua Festival is America in Crisis, and will include “speakers” such as “George Washington,” “Nathaniel Greene,” “Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt,” “Abraham Lincoln,” and “Rosa Parks.” “Nathaniel Greene” (Dr. John Barrington, Associate Professor History at Furman University) and “George Washington” (Dr. George Frein, artistic director of the Greenville Chautauqua) join Dr. Edgar for a lively discussion of Chautauqua, the American Revolution, and the Civil War.

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Take on the South: The Most Influential Southern Novel
August 14, 2009
(Originally broadcast 05/08/09) - Internationally-renowned Southern-literature scholars Trudier Harris of UNC and Noel Polk of Mississippi State University join Dr. Edgar to debate the topic "What was the most influential Southern novel of the 20th century?" This episode is a companion to the latest installment of the ETV series Take on the South: "What was the most influential 20th-century Southern novel?"

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Gene Owens, columnist, humorist
August 07, 2009
(Originally broadcast 03/20/08) - Journalist, writer, and raconteur Gene Owens is back! You’ve read his commentary in the “Greasepit Grammar" columns at USADeepSouth.com. You’ve heard him from time to time on The Journal. Now Gene and Walter Edgar spend a fun-filled hour talking about all things Southern, including: “Southernisms” in the language, books and films about the region, journalism, and the Southern economy.

Gene Owens has been around the Southern journalistic scene for over 40 years. His wit and wisdom is apparent as he rails about the state of the English language and harpoons many aspects of modern American society.

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July 2009

Michael Bedenbaugh, the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation
July 31, 2009
(Originally broadcast 09/05/08) - The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit organization operating in South Carolina since 1990, dedicated to preserving and protecting the irreplaceable architectural heritage of South Carolina.

Executive Director Michael Bedenbaugh talks with Dr. Edgar about the goals of the Trust, including advocacy, education, preservation, and helping preservationist across the state to work together.

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Sarah Hammond, playwright
July 24, 2009
(Originally broadcast 11/21/08) - Playwright Sarah Hammond is the daughter of journalists who are South Carolina natives. She has been a Dramatists Guild Fellow and a Princess Grace Award runner-up. A proud graduate of the University of South Carolina (BA) and the University of Iowa (MFA), she has taught play writing at both schools. She is now based in Brooklyn, and has become a member of New Dramatists, the nation’s oldest nonprofit center for the development of talented playwrights.

She stops by our studios while home for a visit and talks with Dr. Edgar about her plays and her career.

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Dr. Bernard Powers
July 17, 2009
(Originally broadcast 03/14/08) - Denmark Vesey was a West Indian slave, and later a freedman, who planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States had word of the plans not been leaked. The revolt was to take place on Bastille Day, July 17, 1822, and was in reaction to the city of Charleston's suppression of the African Church, which boasted a membership of over three thousand in 1820. News of the plan leaked and Charleston authorities arrested the plot's leaders before the uprising could begin.

Dr. Bernard E. Powers, Jr., Professor of History and Director of African-American Studies at the College of Charleston, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about Denmark Vesey and why his name still has resonance today.

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Ed Madden, poet
July 10, 2009
Ed Madden is the author/editor of several books, including Signals, a collection of poems which won the SC Poetry Book Prize. He is also Associate Professor of English language and Literature and Associate Director of Women’s Studies at USC’s College of Arts and Humanities. He talks with Walter about Signals, as well as other works, and his work in Women’s Studies.

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An ETV Roadshow edition: Historic Camden
July 03, 2009
(Originally broadcast 05/23/09) - We're on the road with the ETV Roadshow as it makes it's stop in Camden, SC. Dr. Edgar is joined by Joanna Craig, Director of Historic Camden, and George Fields, manager of The Palmetto Conservation Foundation’s Military Heritage Program, who will give us the latest in the efforts to preserve the site of the Revolutionary War's battle of Camden.

Jack Brantley, owner of Camden's Aberdeen Catery, will share some of his signature dishes and tell us about his love of collectible china.

And Reid Buckley, Director of the Buckley School of Public Speaking, will talk about his new book, An American Family: The Buckleys.

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June 2009

Logan Ward, author
June 26, 2009
(Originally broadcast 12/05/08) - Logan Ward and his wife, Heather, had traveled the world—Kenya, France, Peru. But nothing compared to their next adventure: a trip back in time, living the life of dirt farmers in rural Virginia circa 1900. Disillusioned by city life, the Wards pulled their son out of daycare and traded skyscrapers for silos in search of simpler times. Adopting strict rules that limited them to only the tools that were available at the turn of the century, they faced a year of struggles, where unremarkable feats—putting food on the table, attending a neighbor’s 4th of July party—became the worthiest accomplishments of their lives.

Logan Ward shares this life changing experience, chronicled in his book See You in a Hundred Years. Publishers Weekly says of the book, "This lyrical account of keeping the 21st century at bay is more real, and more rewarding, than any survival TV show."

Logan talks with Dr. Edgar about his family's journey back in time, and how he and his wife found a new love and respect for their Southern roots.

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Richard Millman, squash pro
June 12, 2009
(Originally brodcast 10/31/08) - Squash is not just a vegetable, it's also a sport--a very demanding one. And, as this week's guest Richard Millman will tell us, it's a lot of fun! Richard Millman is a squash entrepreneur who has won age-group national softball titles, coached the Cornell varsity squash team, served as team coach and manager of U. S. elite squads that have competed in regional and world team championships. His is also the club pro at the Charleston Squash Club and and the Kiawah Island Club and is an enthusiastic ambassador for the sport.

Milliman talks with Walter, a squash enthusiast himself, about how the game is played, who can play it, where they can play it, and why "squash" should be on more than just our grocery list.

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Mary Alice Monroe, author
June 05, 2009
(Originally broadcast - 1/16/09) - Mary Alice Monroe has written stories for as long as she can remember. As a child she could always be found curled up with a book or writing. Although she currently rights fiction, she began as a journalist. It was during months of bed rest during a difficult pregnancy that she began fiction and now has written more than a dozen novels.

Although known for her intimate portrayals of women's lives, her writing has gained added purpose and depth with her move to the South Carolina Lowcountry. Mary Alice is involved with several environmental groups and is on the board of the South Carolina Aquarium. She joins Walter to talk about her latest book, Time is a River, her love of the Lowcountry, and he passion for environmental work.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


May 2009

Fran Rizer, author of the Callie Parrish series of mystery novels
May 29, 2009
Fran Rizer has always loved to write, authoring quite a few non-fiction articles over the years while she worked as a remedial math teacher and as an English teacher in Columbia’s public schools. When she retired, however, she finally had the time to write a novel. Thus was born a new mystery series featuring protagonist Callie Parrish, a beautician at the local mortuary in St. Mary, South Carolina.

Fran Rizer joins Dr. Edgar for a free-wheeling conversation about Callie and her world that is almost as much fun as the novels themselves.

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Bill Dukes of Honor Flight SC and WWII veteran T. Moffatt Burriss
May 22, 2009
(Originally broadcast 03/06/2009) - On November 16th, 2008, a dream came true for Columbia restaurateur Bill Dukes as he and about 90 World War II veterans began a flight to Washington, DC, to see the WWII Memorial. For many of the veterans, a visit to the Memorial, dedicated in 2004, was something they would probably never have dreamed of, much less done. Honor Flight South Carolina is a non-profit organization dedicated to flying South Carolina WWII vets to see “their monument,” free of charge.

Honor Flight chairman Bill Dukes talks with Dr. Edgar about Honor Flight, about that first trip, and about the importance of honoring our veterans for there service in “the good war” while we still have them with us. We will also hear an encore of an interview with Columbian T. Moffatt Burriss, WWII veteran and author of "Strike and Hold."

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


What is the most influential Southern novel of the 20th century?
May 08, 2009
Internationally-renowned Southern-literature scholars Trudier Harris of UNC and Noel Polk of Mississippi State Univeristy join Dr. Edgar to debate the topic "What was the most influential Southern novel of the 20th century?" This episode is a companion to the latest instalment of the ETV series Take on the South: "What was the most influential 20th-century Southern novel?" which airs on ETV stations Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 8:00 pm.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Slavery to Freedom: The Magnolia Slave Cabin Project
May 01, 2009
Magnolia Plantation's slave cabins have a unique history, in that they have been utilized from the time of antebellum slavery through emancipation and into the late 20th century by African-Americans. Magnolia Plantation, in Charleston, has partnered with The Living History Group to restore these dwellings in a way that interpret African-American history from slavery to freedom and beyond. Craig Hadley, Executive Director of The Living History Group, and Rick Owens, of Carolina Preservation Associates talk with Dr. Edgar about the unique challenges they faced creating From Slavery to Freedom: The Magnolia Slave Cabin Project.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


April 2009

The Factor Prize for Southern Art
April 24, 2009
Established in 2007, the Elizabeth and Mallory Factor Prize for Southern Art honors an artist whose work contributes to a new understanding of the South. The Prize is accompanied by a cash prize of $10,000 and is administered and presented by the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina.

Elizabeth and Mallory Factor join Dr. Edgar along with Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Gibbes Museum, Angela Mack, to talk about the prize and past winners, and about the 2009 competition.

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The Curious Mr. Catesby
April 17, 2009

In February 1722,Mark Catesby, a 40-year old Englishman with an enigmatic past and an insatiable curiosity for the wondrous serendipity of nature, set sail on a three-month voyage to the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His sojourn in the New World was taken under the auspices of London’s Royal Society. Catesby was to spend the next four years exploring the natural habitat of the southeast colonies and the Bahamas, and the subsequent 20 years writing and illustrating his exhaustive two-volume Natural History of Carolina, Florida and The Bahama Islands. Producer David Elliot joins Dr. Edgar to talk about "The Curious Mr. Catesby," a documentary that will air on ETV in April. (Go to myetv.org for listings.)

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Bones of Betrayal
April 10, 2009
Jefferson Bass is the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. Dr. Bass, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist, founded the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility -- the Body Farm -- a quarter-century ago. He is the author or coauthor of more than two hundred scientific publications, as well as a critically acclaimed memoir about his career, Death's Acre. Dr. Bass is also a dedicated teacher, honored as National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Jon Jefferson is a veteran journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Popular Science and broadcast on National Public Radio. The coauthor of Death's Acre, he is also the writer and producer of two highly rated National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm.

The join Dr. Edgar for a discussion about their latest novel, Bones of Betrayal as well as the history of the Body Farm, and the forensic advances it has fostered.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Best of…
April 03, 2009
It's out Spring Membership Drive and we'll be continuing our tradition of presenting a program of highlights, this time from the 2008-2009 season, thus far. Now is a great time to support Walter Edgar's Journal on ETV Radio with your pledge at 1-800-265-8535, or www.etvradio.org.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


March 2009

Picturing America
March 27, 2009
Martha Severens, Curator of the Greenville County Museum of Art, has been asked by the SC Humanities Council to present a series of lectures around the state on the The National Endowment for the Humanities’ initiative "Picturing America" is an innovative program that helps teach American history and provides students with a gateway to the broader world of the humanities through visual imagery.

The NEH has selected 40 iconic pieces (art, artifacts, architecture), made high quality reproductions, developed a resource book, and is making them available to schools and libraries. She joins Dr. Edgar to talk about this exciting initiative.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Gene Owens: Greasepit Grammar and other musings
March 20, 2009
Journalist, writer, and raconteur Gene Owens is back! You’ve read his commentary in the “Greasepit Grammar" columns at USADeepSouth.com. You’ve heard him from time to time on The Journal. Now Gene and Walter Edgar spend a fun-filled hour talking about all things Southern, including: “Southernisms” in the language, books and films about the region, journalism, and the Southern economy.

Gene Owens has been around the Southern journalistic scene for over 40 years. His wit and wisdom is apparent as he rails about the state of American life and language.

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


From Turner to Cezanne
March 13, 2009
National Museum Wales, known for having one of the finest Impressionist art collections in Europe, is sending to the U.S. highlights from its remarkable Davies Collection. The first stop in the U.S. for this extraordinary group of 19th and early 20th-century paintings will be The Columbia Museum of Art.

Todd Herman, Chief Curator and Curator for European Art, tells about the museum's exhibition, "Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales."

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


Honoring South Carolina’s WWII Veterans
March 06, 2009
On November 16th, 2008, a dream came true for Columbia restaurateur Bill Dukes as he and about 90 World War II veterans began a flight to Washington, DC, to see the WWII Memorial. For many of the veterans, a visit to the Memorial, dedicated in 2004, was something they would probably never have dreamed of, much less done. Honor Flight South Carolina is a non-profit organization dedicated to flying South Carolina WWII vets to see “their monument,” free of charge. Their next flight is in April. Honor Flight chairman Bill Dukes talks with Dr. Edgar about Honor Flight, about that first trip, and about the importance of honoring our veterans for there service in “the good war” while we still have them with us.

We will also hear an encore of an interview with Columbian T. Moffatt Burriss, WWII veteran and author of "Strike and Hold."

LISTEN: Open the mp3 file


February 2009

The African-American Heritage Commission
February 27, 2009
(Originally broadcast 01/11/08) - The mission of the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission is to identify and promote the preservation of historic sites, structures, buildings, and culture of the African American experience in South Carolina and to assist and enhance the efforts of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

The 15-member commission includes representatives from all regions of the state. Commission Chair Jannie Harriot joins Dr. Edgar to talk about its work and its goals for the future.

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Michael Sullivan, author, “Windows into the Light”
February 20, 2009
South Carolinian Michael Sullivan, an Episcopal priest, is the rector of a large congregation in Lynchburg, Virginia. A former attorney, he is a frequent speaker and workshop leader.

Building on the interest generated by Sullivan’s previous book about art and spirituality, "Windows into the Soul," he has published a new book, "Windows into the Light: A Lenten Journey of Stories and Art" which focuses on the journey from darkness to light inherent in the Christian observance of the season of Lent. He joins to Dr. Edgar to talk about the book and its very personal origins.

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Ron Rash, author of Serena
February 13, 2009
Ron Rash's family has lived in the southern Appalachian Mountains since the mid-1700's, and it is this region that is the primary focus of his writing. In his latest novel, Serena, a newly wedded couple, George and Serena Pemberton arrive in the mountains of North Carolina in 1929 and set about to create a timber empire. They use ruthless, even murderous, tactics to vanquish all opposition. Eventually, they turn those tactics on each other.

Rash grew up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, and graduated from Gardner-Webb College and Clemson University. He holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University. Rash is the author of 8 books. He talks with Dr. Edgar about Serena and about the significance of the southern Appalachian’s in his life and work.

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Jay Cook, “chicken rancher”
February 06, 2009
If you ask Lake City native Jay Cook what he does for a living he’ll tell you he is a chicken rancher—although he doesn’t mind if you call him chicken grower or chicken farmer. This West Point graduate came back to his home town after a number of years and started his ranch in Williamsburg. He talks with Walter about what it takes to raise chickens and about the state of South Carolina agriculture in uncertain economic times.

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January 2009

USC’s Ed Madden, poet
January 30, 2009
Ed Madden is the author/editor of several books, including Signals, a collection of poems which won the SC Poetry Book Prize. He is also Associate Professor of English language and Literature and Associate Director of Women’s Studies at USC’s College of Arts and Humanities. He talks with Walter about Signals, as well as other works, and his work in Women’s Studies.

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The Once-A-Week Club of Seneca
January 23, 2009
The Once-A-Week Club of Seneca, SC, was started in 1896 and is the mother of the South Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs, which was organized in Seneca in June of 1898. Woman’s clubs have been an important force for civic and cultural growth in South Carolina, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. Members of the Once-a-Week Club talk with Dr. Edgar about that history and the difference their club has made in Seneca.

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Lowcountry author Mary Alice Monroe
January 16, 2009
Mary Alice Monroe has written stories for as long as she can remember. As a child she could always be found curled up with a book or writing. Although she currently rights fiction, she began as a journalist. It was during months of bed rest during a difficult pregnancy that she began fiction and now has written more than a dozen novels.

Although known for her intimate portrayals of women's lives, her writing has gained added purpose and depth with her move to the South Carolina Lowcountry. Mary Alice is involved with several environmental groups and is on the board of the South Carolina Aquarium. She joins Walter to talk about her latest book, Time is a River, her love of the Lowcountry, and he passion for environmental work.

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Miles Hoffman: Dean of the Petrie School of Music at Converse College
January 09, 2009
Miles Hoffman is renowned violist and artistic director of the American Chamber Players, with whom he regularly tours the United States and Canada. . He has also appeared as a soloist with many orchestras around the country, performing a broad repertoire that ranges from baroque to contemporary compositions, and he has been a featured lecturer for orchestras, universities, chamber music series, festivals, and various other organizations. Before joining Morning Edition as a commentator in 2002, Hoffman entertained and enlightened the nationwide audience of NPR's Performance Today every week for 13 years with his musical commentary, "Coming to Terms," a listener-friendly tour through the many foreign words and technical terms peculiar to the world of classical music. That segment eventually led to a book by Hoffman, "The NPR Classical Music Companion: Terms and Concepts from A to Z."

Miles is currently dean of the Petrie School of Music at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and author of The NPR Classical Music Companion, now in its ninth printing from the Houghton Mifflin Company. He joins Dr. Edgar for a delightful conversation about the Petrie School, as well as music in general.

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Restoring the Bush River Quaker cemetery
January 02, 2009
(Originally broadcast 09/02/2008) - Judy Russell had no idea that trying to put names with faces in old family photos would lead her to an overgrown Quaker cemetery, a book and some 300 family members - including a friend. A casual query to a genealogical internet listserv back in 1996 started her on a journey which eventually led her and acquaintance Pam Armstrong to an overgrown cemetery in Newberry, SC, where members of a Revolutionary-era Quaker community, and their descendants, were buried.

She joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the restoration of the cemetery, the uniting of living descendants of that early community to reconstruct and preserve their family's history.

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2008

December 2008

American Christmases- Firsthand Accounts from Early Days to Modern Times
December 26, 2008
(Originally broadcast 12/16/05) - Dr. Edgar has a chat with Joanne Martell …author of the book “American Christmases- Firsthand Accounts from Early Days to Modern Times”. Although the traditional celebrations have changed over the years, we find that the emotional attachments to this time of year stay strong.

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SC Lowcountry Christmases: Middleton Place and Edmond-Alston House
December 19, 2008
Charleston’s Middleton Place was established early in the life of the Carolina colony and served as a base of operations for a great Low Country planter family and was home to a dynamic African-American slave community. Today Middleton Place is a thriving restoration or eighteenth and nineteenth century plantation life with many educational programs offered to the public.

As one might expect, the Christmas season at Middleton Place is replete with holiday decorations and recreations of 19th century holiday traditions. Charles Duell, President of the Middleton Place Foundation, and Tracey Todd, Vice President of Museums for the Foundation, talk with Dr. Edgar about the history and future of Middleton Place.

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The South Carolina Hospital Association
December 12, 2008
This week's guest is Thornton Kirby, President and CEO of the South Carolina Hospital Association, a private, not-for-profit organization made up of some 100 member hospitals and health systems and about 900 personal members associated with its institutional members. He will tell us about the association's mission to "to support its members in addressing the health care needs of South Carolinians through advocacy, education, networking and regulatory assistance."

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See You in 100 Years
December 05, 2008
Logan Ward and his wife, Heather, had traveled the world—Kenya, France, Peru. But nothing compared to their next adventure: a trip back in time, living the life of dirt farmers in rural Virginia circa 1900. Disillusioned by city life, the Wards pulled their son out of daycare and traded skyscrapers for silos in search of simpler times. Adopting strict rules that limited them to only the tools that were available at the turn of the century, they faced a year of struggles, where unremarkable feats—putting food on the table, attending a neighbor’s 4th of July party—became the worthiest accomplishments of their lives.

Logan Ward shares this life changing experience, chronicled in his book See You in a Hundred Years. Publishers Weekly says of the book, "This lyrical account of keeping the 21st century at bay is more real, and more rewarding, than any survival TV show."

Logan talks with Dr. Edgar about his family's journey back in time, and how he and his wife found a new love and respect for their Southern roots.

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November 2008

Campanology: Ring those Bells!
November 28, 2008
(Originally broadcast 12/15/06) - Ron Edge is a retired a physicist and retired USC professor. He hails from England and is a life long devotee of “ringing.” If you’ve never heard about the art of ringing steeple and tower bells in England you are in for a treat. Find out the difference between a “ring” and a “peal,” how P.T. Barnum introduced hand bells this country, and why Charleston, SC, is the Mecca for American ringers.

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August 2008

James Cobb: Away Down South
August 15, 2008

This is an encore of a 2006 interview.

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May 2008

Dorothea Benton Frank: Bulls Island
May 16, 2008

Dorothea Benton Frank joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her new book, Bulls Island, A satisfying tale of honor, chance, and star-crossed love, infused with Southern wit, grace, and charm, from the New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank.

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