What is 'The Living South'?

"Tell about the South. What's it like there. What do they do there. Why do they live there. Why do they live at all.”  – “Absalom, Absalom”

Welcome to The Living South. I am a native Southerner and a journalist. 

I started this page because I wanted to write about the people who live in this complex region, and because I didn’t see anything else like it.

We all know people who are just … special. I’m going to find them and talk to them.

How do you get ‘The Living South’?

You just have to subscribe, and if you like it, share it. My writing is free to consume, but if you want to support this work, consider a monthly $4 subscription. Paid subscribers will also receive an audio version of "The Living South." Sign up using the form above.

"Interesting" can mean a lot of things. In this setting, I mean people who are game-changers. They break down walls in their communities. They are innovative, restless, and dynamic. They are originals. They might be political, they might not be. They write. They teach. They do. They make art. They cook. They talk to anyone. They shatter the mold. They are standouts.

Here’s what you’re going to get: 

Every week, or at least most weeks (I’m a parent and a full-time journalist, after all), I’ll deliver a weekly conversation with a new person.

I will ask them fun, hopefully enlightening questions.

Who am I?

I’m a native of eastern North Carolina, and for most of my life, I've been a journalist.

I’ve written for The Atlantic, MSNBC, The Washington Post, and others. I’m also senior editor at Cardinal & Pine, an online news publication that specializes in combatting online disinformation. I’ve covered politics, education, the environment, immigration, criminal justice, racial justice, and a lot of other things.

I consider myself a tentative optimist. Most times, I think the good is there. I believe in looking for it, even when it’s galling or it hurts or no one wants to hear it. That's not because I have blinders on about the bad things in the world, but because I don’t.

Why do this?

I’m exhausted by how negative and detached people are feeling, including me. I want to help in the best way I know how, by telling stories about people who inspire and challenge us.

My writing is grounded in the history of the South, because I believe, as the historian Imani Perry once wrote, "the back-then is inside the now."

I'm not a historian, but if careers could have siblings, let's just say that journalists and historians would share bunk beds and fight a lot over the same toys.

I don’t come from money. I’m lucky. I don’t take my education for granted. My parents worked hard to get me here. My father was in the military. My mother worked in the local high school cafeteria. I’m funny and weird. I like my family more than I like anybody else. I lost a child, so I feel confident saying I’ve seen the worst. I like to write and read and meet people, so "The Living South" seems like a no-brainer.

Why the South? 

I think every region, every people, is interesting. But this region's where I'm from and they say you write what you know.

Southerners defy categorization. They’re funny, ambitious, optimistic, angry, hypocritical, confusing, generous, prejudiced, and nuanced. If you rely on the belief that all Southerners are stupid racists, you'll be disappointed by this page. If you believe that old cliche is 100% false, you’ll also be disappointed. We are people, not hashtags.

I believe in truth, not myth. Because the truth is enough.

Why call it 'The Living South'? 

People have a lot of ideas about the South and most of them have to do with what the South was. 

It doesn't do justice to the vibrancy of thought and the diversity of the people. The South is not an old, dead thing. Like all living things, it's flawed, evolving, contradictory.

I’m grateful you’re here. Write me (billy@thelivingsouth.com) and tell me about the people I should talk to next.