← From the Front Porch
Loading summary
Transcript445 lines
- [00:02]
Annie Jones
Your message amplified.
- [00:03]
Jeff Zentner
Ready to share your message with the world? Start your podcast journey with Podbean.
- [00:08]
Annie Jones
Podbean Podbean Podbean Podbean the AI powered all in one podcast platform.
- [00:14]
Hunter McLendon
Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts.
- [00:18]
Annie Jones
Launch your podcast on podbean today.
- [00:20]
Hunter McLendon
My school uses Podbean.
- [00:22]
Jeff Zentner
My church too.
- [00:23]
Annie Jones
I love it. I really do. Welcome to from the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business and life in the South. Choose beauty and sorrow over numbness and oblivion. Choose it again and again. Choose it as long as you have any choice. Jeff Sentner, Colton Gentry's Third Act I'm Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and today we are bringing you our live podcast episode recorded a couple of weeks ago during our March reader retreat. I'm joined by my frequent co hosts and from the Front Porch contributors Ashley Sherlock and Hunter McLendon. And our special guest for the retreat weekend was Jeff Zentner, author of Colton Gentry's Third Act. As with several of our previous live episodes, we opted for a fantasy draft style show, this time debating our favorite parts about life in the South. But make sure you stay tuned till the end for Ashley's rousing game of country song or book title. It's harder than you think. And if you are here waiting for our annual March Madness episode, never fear. Jordan and I are recording this week, so that episode will be dropping into your feed next Thursday.
- [02:08]
Ashley Sherlock
Enter from the front porch.
- [02:17]
Annie Jones
And then back. Welcome everybody. So glad y'all are here. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for being listeners of from the Front Porch tonight. We always kind of talk about how we want to do this show because on from the Front Porch, it's typically me and maybe one other person. And so when we become a group of four or five, you start to wonder, well, how are we? How I start to wonder, how are we going to do this? How are we going to have a not awkward conversation? So we are going to start tonight by basing maybe tonight's theme on Jeff Zentner's book Colton Gentry's Third act, which I know many of you have read and loved. And so I decided who better to be in conversation with Jeff than of course, Hunter, where we could talk about Southern culture. And so Hunter's love of fried chicken is well known. So because, because Jeff, I do consider you. Well, let me ask you, do you consider yourself a Southern writer?
- [03:20]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah, absolutely.
- [03:21]
Annie Jones
Yeah. I feel like all of your books, even we were talking about the Serpent King being kind of Southern gothic. And I think Colton Gentry even feel. Yeah. Feels like a Southern story.
- [03:32]
Hunter McLendon
Sure.
- [03:33]
Annie Jones
So I want. And Ashley, you are welcome to participate. Thank you.
- [03:36]
Ashley Sherlock
I'm also from the South.
- [03:39]
Annie Jones
I would love to know how each of you defines the South. I think we're in a room with lots of Southerners, but not all. We've got. I know some Californians in the audience, and so I would love to know, how do you define the South? Is it a region? Is it geography? Is it a personality? Is it a culture? What is it, Hunter?
- [03:58]
Hunter McLendon
I mean, I think that. I think Karen Russell once talked about how, like, Florida alone is like the Everglades and pink flamingos. It's like, there's, like, such a wide span. But, like, for me, personally, I'm, like, trailer trash Southern. So, like, that's like, where my first, like, you know, it's very like Gwyneth Paltrow and View from the Top. And so it's definitely like, yes, like, fried chicken. Like, Southern women with, like, those box bands and all of the. It's just that it is a certain feeling.
- [04:29]
Annie Jones
Steel magnolias.
- [04:30]
Hunter McLendon
Steel magnolias, definitely. It's just like a feeling mostly like Southern women being really passive aggressive in a really fun way. And also just a lot of drawls. Southern drawls and accents. Accents. Fried chicken, definitely.
- [04:47]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [04:47]
Hunter McLendon
And. Yeah, yeah. You know, the whole bit.
- [04:49]
Annie Jones
The food.
- [04:50]
Hunter McLendon
Yes.
- [04:50]
Annie Jones
Jeff, what would you. Cause you're not originally. We talked about this backstage. You're not originally from Nashville.
- [04:56]
Jeff Zentner
Right.
- [04:56]
Annie Jones
So how would you define the South? As maybe a transplant?
- [05:00]
Jeff Zentner
So I think about the south as being more of a cultural region than a geographic region. Now, I'm not gonna get crazy and be like, oh, yeah, South Dakota can be part of the South. No, come calm down. But I do think that there are parts of the country that we don't normally think of as the south that are culturally more Southern than places much farther south. So, for example, southern Illinois, I consider that part of the South. It's very culturally Southern, like southeastern Missouri. So I grew up in Kansas. Even the part of Kansas where I grew up is a little outside of Kansas City. Even that I think is more culturally Southern in terms of, like, the food, the way people carry themselves, demographics, the way people dress. All of that. More culturally Southern, certainly, than, like, Miami. Like, I don't consider most of Florida to be the South. Certainly geographically it's south, but like, Orlando.
- [06:00]
Annie Jones
South, I feel like.
- [06:01]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah, but of course, like panhandle Florida, I would consider the South. I would consider east Texas maybe The South. But the rest of Texas is just like Texas. Its own thing.
- [06:11]
Annie Jones
Texas is its own thing. Texas is its own thing.
- [06:13]
Jeff Zentner
But it gets interesting because then there's Appalachia, which is another cultural region. So, like, West Virginia, I feel like, has more in common with East Tennessee than Nashville has in common with East Tennessee. So it gets kind of mushy and fuzzy.
- [06:29]
Hunter McLendon
I feel like.
- [06:29]
Annie Jones
I feel like you almost need to sketch it out on a map, because I. And I think I've said this before. I felt like. Like Ashley and I were both raised in Tallahassee. I definitely felt Southern. I would have said, oh, that's Southern. And then I moved to Montgomery, Alabama, for college, and I was like, oh, I was mistaken. The fact that women wore dresses to football games. I was like, what are we doing? I did not know that this is what we did here. Pearls at a football game. That was just. That felt different to me. I don't know if it's the preppy Southern or even. I found Alabama to be extremely friendly in a way that I do think Tallahassee is friendly, but Alabama just felt like I did not feel Southern enough for Alabama. And there's a way in which, even now, living in Thomasville, I have had to adjust. I do think Thomasville is a different kind of south than Tallahassee.
- [07:21]
Hunter McLendon
Do you guys ever feel like you go somewhere, like, completely out of the south, but still? Like, one time I went to California and I heard. And this woman, she was from California, but I remember hearing her saying, it hurts us and it hurts Jesus. And I thought, where are you from? She goes, california. And I was like, are you sure?
- [07:42]
Annie Jones
Are you not one of us?
- [07:43]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah.
- [07:43]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Well, the Midwest thing makes me laugh because I have a dear friend who lives in Kansas City, and her husband's, like, a farmer from Missouri, maybe Southern Missouri. And I realized, oh, there's quite a bit of overlap culturally between the Midwestern sensibility and the Southern sensibility sensibility. And it is true. Jordan has a much thicker Southern accent than I do, I think. And so when we have gone to, like, New York or something, people will stop him on the street and be like, where are you from?
- [08:12]
Jeff Zentner
Well, Southern culture, as Hunter points out, Southern culture has pervaded the United States to the point that the Southern accent has kind of become the de facto rural American accent. To where? I mean, you will definitely go to rural Kansas and people will speak with a Southern accent. Like. And one thing the show Yellowstone gets right is that people in the Mountain west. Rural people in the mountain west don't have that Southern accent. So it'd be really easy for them to just have all the cowboys talking with Southern accents. But they don't, which is a detail they get right. There is a, like, mountain west accent. But otherwise, even the Southern accent has really pervaded lots of rural America.
- [08:53]
Annie Jones
Is this where we should just take a quick poll and find out if we like Parker Posey's accent in White Lotus or we don't? Cause that's very controversial.
- [09:00]
Jeff Zentner
I am all in on it. I love it. I tweeted the other day that Parker Posey is absolutely playing an SEC pill mom to that guild. She's from, like, Laurel, Mississippi. People need to step off Parker Posey.
- [09:20]
Hunter McLendon
Let me tell you, she takes lorazepam in that show. I took one the other prescribed. I took one the other day.
- [09:26]
Jeff Zentner
Sec pill mom hunted over here, and.
- [09:28]
Hunter McLendon
I started, and I was, like, listing because I watched the show, and I was listening, and I was like, oh, my gosh, I sound like Parker Posey.
- [09:34]
Jeff Zentner
I was thrilled.
- [09:35]
Annie Jones
Listen, I. At first, I was. At first, I wondered, oh, like, what accent is that? But she's from Laurel, Mississippi, like you said. And she sounds just like anybody I've ever attended an SEC football game. It's true. She's got the vibe down perfectly, but for some reason, it has been relatively controversial. Okay, so what are some words that would come to mind when we're talking about Southern culture? Music, Literature. Like, what are some key words that you think come to mind when you think Southern culture?
- [10:07]
Jeff Zentner
Storytelling. I mean, Southerners are big storytellers. We love dark humor. I mean, every Southern. We were just listening to Hunter's stories backstage. I mean, this is like a master of Southern gothic storytelling right here. Just stories of his upbringing. Southern Southerners love telling stories. They love telling dark gothic stories that have this vein of humor running through them. There's a real mordant wit about a lot of country songs. You know, the thing I love about Southern Gothic lit is that vein of humor. I tend not to trust art that is both bleak and humorless. That's what I don't trust. I'm like, I am worried that there's a genuine misanthrope behind this. And I don't like art created by misanthropes. That's not the way I'm wired.
- [11:02]
Annie Jones
Storytelling is definitely a word that would come to mind, because I think, again, it transcends maybe those geographical definitions we're talking about. I would say, almost without exception, every Southerner I know knows how to tell a Story and has. I have a friend who's like, I could never be a writer, but she's a storyteller. Like, you could listen to her talk all day long. I come up from a family, I would say, of storytellers. I could sit and listen to my family talk all day long and they know how I feel. Like, they know exactly how to like, keep you onto the edge of your seat. They know exactly where the punchline comes in. There's an art to it. And I. Storytelling is a word that would come to mind for me too.
- [11:43]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah.
- [11:43]
Annie Jones
What do you think? What's a word that would come to mind for Southern?
- [11:46]
Hunter McLendon
It's so. I don't know why my first thought was Jesus, but like, I think we.
- [11:51]
Annie Jones
Do incorporate him quite a bit.
- [11:53]
Hunter McLendon
I do think that, like, I don't know, like there's something. It's so funny. But I do think that, like, this both like a spiritual and a magical, realistic type. Like, feel it. Like, it's just truly, I think that the south is a vibe.
- [12:07]
Annie Jones
Yeah. And there's an. You know, you mentioned Karen Russell at the beginning. But like, you know, aside from just Jesus, I do think there is like a spirituality that pervades the south where we are willing, even, I don't know, like, I think about Haitian Creole culture or we are willing to like bring in a lot of otherworldly elements into our day to day lives.
- [12:29]
Jeff Zentner
It's a culture where the veil is thin. Yes. It's like Irish culture, like a thin veil. And it makes sense that like there's so much Scotch Irish ancestry here. Like where the veil is thin is thin. There are African cultures where the veil is thin.
- [12:45]
Annie Jones
You know, I love, I love that idea. Okay, so we've kind of alluded to it, but we'll briefly just share our own personal histories with the south living in the South. Because now, Hunter, I think people will really want your perspective. Now that you live in Philly, you don't even live here anymore.
- [13:00]
Hunter McLendon
I know.
- [13:01]
Annie Jones
You don't even go here. And so I grew up in Tallahassee. Like I said, I thought it was Southern. And then I moved to. I moved to Alabama and then I also met my in laws who were from Birmingham. And I was like, oh, this is. This is not the same. Like, this is not. This is not the same Southern. So I do think there are different elements of Southern culture. And then moved to Thomasville, which is yet another element of Southern culture. I write, I do write in the book a little bit about moving here and somebody inviting Jordan My husband to go dove hunting. And I, like, pulled him aside and I was like, are we allowed to do that? Doves are so pure. Like it says, like, biblically, are we allowed to do this? And Jordan was like, I don't know. He never went. He did not want to go dove hunting. But, like, I didn't even know. I grew up where deer hunting was a thing. Like, I didn't even know. I didn't even know people hunted small birds. Why there's so little meat on that bone, I don't understand it. So I. So that is kind of my. I've only ever lived, though, in the South. I'd like to think I fit other places. Like, I dream. I said earlier with some of our retreaters, I dream of an M state, like Michigan or Maine. But this is where this is. I think this is it.
- [14:13]
Ashley Sherlock
I think this is it for me.
- [14:14]
Annie Jones
The tri state area, Georgia, Florida and Alabama is. That's the only home I've ever really known.
- [14:19]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah.
- [14:20]
Annie Jones
And you grew up here?
- [14:21]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah, I grew up. Yeah. I grew up in Thomasville, Cairo, Bainbridge, all these, like, little tiny areas. And it is really funny because I. People have always. This sound like a brag. People have always thought I was funny. And so I just thought, oh, I'm a very funny person. And then I moved up north and no one finds me funny, which is fine. I only take minor events. But it is really funny because I think that part of it is that people think that I'm rude. A lot of people there. There's a lot of cynicism there. And I was talking about this backstage, but something I miss about the south is there's a lot of sincerity here. And also, like, it's so funny. Cause, like, just a little side, like, recently I worked at the University of Penn. An admin and a student got their wallets stolen. They were just being negligent. And I was told to call campus police, campus security. And so I did. And at one point, I was talking to the woman and we were having a little back and forth and we joked. And then she, like, laughed so hard that she hit my arm. And I went, oh, assault and battery. And she laughed so hard. And then I went back and I told my co workers. They were like, you said assault and battery to a police officer. And I was like, yeah. They were like, that's just unprofessional. But I do. I think that, like, I think there's like, a seriousness up north that I keep encountering that is just not. Like, I don't know, like I'm just. I'm dumb and silly. So, like, I like that here. I like.
- [15:48]
Annie Jones
I also, I think there is a humility to Southern culture. Not always. Not always. But I do think like a humility, a pick yourself up by your bootstraps kind of mentality that makes us maybe have a sense of humor about ourselves. Like a little bit self deprecating maybe. Yeah.
- [16:04]
Hunter McLendon
No, Yeah, I missed that.
- [16:06]
Annie Jones
And then, Ashley, you born and raised in Tallahassee, but now you're in a different part of the South. What are you finding there?
- [16:13]
Ashley Sherlock
Born and raised in Tallahassee, lived in Alabama for four years. Now I'm living in North Carolina. And I really didn't think it was that different, but now I'm in like the Appalachia part of the south. And really the main. Like everybody's still very friendly. Different type of southern accent. But really the main thing I've learned is that if you are out at night, especially in the mountains, and you hear whistling, don't acknowledge it. You just leave immediately.
- [16:42]
Annie Jones
When have you encountered this? What are you doing?
- [16:45]
Ashley Sherlock
No, I've never encountered that. It's just what I've been told.
- [16:47]
Annie Jones
Cold.
- [16:48]
Ashley Sherlock
Has nobody ever heard of whistling in the Appalachian Mountains?
- [16:51]
Jeff Zentner
Wait, no. I lived in Asheville for four years. Nobody warned me about the whistling.
- [16:57]
Annie Jones
No Evil.
- [16:57]
Hunter McLendon
Is this the hill Surprise Deliverance?
- [17:00]
Ashley Sherlock
Yes, it's evil. Like, it is an evil spirit.
- [17:03]
Annie Jones
Like if you hear.
- [17:04]
Ashley Sherlock
Yeah, if you hear whistling.
- [17:06]
Jeff Zentner
Like Andy Griffith theme show whistling or like rape whistle whistling. Like, I don't know, lifeguard, lifeguard whistle whistling.
- [17:15]
Ashley Sherlock
No, like somebody whistling like Andy Griffith or. Okay, just like a. I'm not whistling for you.
- [17:22]
Jeff Zentner
That kind of whistling.
- [17:23]
Ashley Sherlock
Just like a street whistle in the night. Like you're not supposed to say anything about it because then that, like, invites evil mountain spirits.
- [17:32]
Annie Jones
That sounds like a creepy movie.
- [17:34]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah, I thought it was like a TLC special.
- [17:36]
Jeff Zentner
So if you're an introverted hiker, you could just like whistle as you hike and, like, be golden. Like, no conversations. People are desperate.
- [17:45]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [17:45]
Ashley Sherlock
You'll be completely alone out there.
- [17:47]
Jeff Zentner
Amazing.
- [17:47]
Ashley Sherlock
Everyone will have gotten out.
- [17:49]
Annie Jones
That's why I love that you've lived in North Carolina for a little over a year and that's your biggest takeaway. I didn't think.
- [17:55]
Ashley Sherlock
I didn't know what you would ask me. I wasn't prepared.
- [17:59]
Annie Jones
Okay, and then what is your history? We knew it from backstage, but what is your history of the south and living in the South?
- [18:04]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah, well, and just going back real quick, another feature of Southernness, like Going back to the idea of the veilistic, like, just people sharing information with other people that will help them avoid haints is a very Southern.
- [18:20]
Annie Jones
Paint your ceiling blue.
- [18:21]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah.
- [18:22]
Annie Jones
Porch ceiling blue.
- [18:22]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah. Get your bottle tree out. And. Yeah. These are some tips for avoiding haints. You're not gonna get tips on avoiding haints if you move to Iowa. Okay.
- [18:33]
Annie Jones
Yeah. It's that element of spirituality.
- [18:35]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah. Yeah. So I am a Southern transplant. I grew up in Kansas, right outside of Kansas City. And like I said, it was very culturally Southern, but ever, like, I began consuming Southern media at a very young age with the Dukes of Hazzard. And immediately I felt the most powerful, like, that is my place ever. And so I felt that, like, all growing up, and I just promised myself that I was going to live in the south because that's where I belonged. I just knew it. And so I finally managed when I was in my 20s, moved to Nashville. I've lived there ever since, with four years in Asheville, North Carolina. We are there for good. And so here's the interesting thing, though, is we were doing genealogy, and we discovered that all of my family is from the Asheville and Nashville area. Oh. So I have become. Yes, I have become a big believer in, like, ancestral memory encoded into your DNA. I truly do believe that, because the other thing I've got is this deep affinity for all things Irish. I love all things Irish. I see the Irish landscape and just feel this deep, deep love for it. And the 23andMe, I'm like, 60% Irish. I had no idea. No idea whatsoever. So I have become a big believer that there is, like, ancestral memory at work going on.
- [20:13]
Annie Jones
That sounds like book fodder.
- [20:15]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah.
- [20:16]
Annie Jones
Is what that sounds like. Okay, before we move into our fantasy draft section about Southern culture, who is your favorite Southern writer?
- [20:25]
Hunter McLendon
Ooh. I feel like I love. Like, I have a couple, like Jasmine Moore and Karen Russell, I think are, like, my top two because I think that they both capture really specific, like, feeling. Like, I'm all about the mood. And I like anytime I read something and it feels, like, sticky and hot and, like, over, like, you know, like, I don't like it in real life, but, like. But anytime I'm reading it, if it really captures that feeling, then I love that.
- [20:51]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Jesmyn Ward would be at the top of mine as well. And then Flannery O'Connor, I think, just when I encountered her, and it wasn't like. It wasn't quite like what you're saying of. Oh, my gosh. Like, this is Where I'm from or these are my people. That's not how I felt. But I did that dark humor that. Not afraid to talk about religion and not afraid to maybe take some different directions when it comes to spirituality, I think. I think that struck me when I encountered her late high school, early college. So I'd have to put Flannery O'Connor on there for sure. But Jesmyn Ward, I feel like, really encapsulates the modern Southern Southern writer. What about you?
- [21:38]
Jeff Zentner
Jesmyn Ward? I mean, that was gonna be my answer, too. I mean, she's just incredible. And it's like Hunter was saying. I mean, there's just like a film of humidity over everything she writes. If we're talking. So if we include Southern Appalachia, and again, I do think Appalachia is a distinct cultural region, but if we include Southern Appalachia as part of the South, I would say Silas House. Yeah, I absolutely love Silas House. And he is a really, really nice guy. Loves Silas House. I love Cormac McCarthy's Tennessee period, child of God, the Orchard Keeper, Sutry. I think he really embodies that mordant wit that you get in really great Southern Gothic. He was a lot funnier writer than he gets credit for. He was a very, very funny writer, but extremely, extremely dark at the same time.
- [22:35]
Annie Jones
Ashley, what about you?
- [22:36]
Ashley Sherlock
Mine was Flannery O'Connor introduced to me by you, of course.
- [22:40]
Annie Jones
You're welcome.
- [22:41]
Ashley Sherlock
And one of my very large influence when I was in college. But also, I think she. Her writing reminded me of stories that our grandma would tell Mama because Mama did always have a slight element of surprise. And by the time we came around, she was old and not afraid to say anything.
- [23:02]
Annie Jones
Yes. Yeah.
- [23:04]
Hunter McLendon
This is, like, random, but, like, would you. I don't know if we would consider Mary Carr to be. I mean, she's like Texas, which, like, in my mind, feel like.
- [23:10]
Annie Jones
Listen, we talked about this when we did Lonesome Dove, and we got a lot of pushback that Lonesome Dove was not a Southern novel. It's a Texas novel.
- [23:18]
Jeff Zentner
I'd be on team Texas novel.
- [23:20]
Annie Jones
And so I think. Listen, I think when you start to mess with Texas, it gets. So maybe Mary Carr is a Texas.
- [23:25]
Jeff Zentner
Writer, but I would consider Winter's Bone a Southern novel because I think the Ozarks are culturally Southern.
- [23:31]
Annie Jones
Yes, I would agree with that. I think there's a lot. We owe a lot, I think, to Southern writers and Southern culture. Okay, so we are going to do what we have done for the last couple of live Shows is we're gonna do a fantasy draft with Southern culture. So I've made a list of how many things. 9. Does that make sense? Is that right? Oh, because there's three of us. Yes. Okay, so Ashley is going to be our moderator and keep track of what we pick. Ashley, please remind us of the rules of snake drafting.
- [24:03]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay, so the official rules of how we're gonna do this this evening. I'm going to state the category, and then we will go in order, and you will say, like, the thing you pick. Yeah, the thing you pick. Your heavy hitter because you are trying to win over the votes of the audience at the end.
- [24:22]
Annie Jones
Yes, this is audience participation, but in the least aggressive way.
- [24:27]
Ashley Sherlock
And hopefully, if I can keep up with it in fairness, for example, if we start with Annie in round one, we will then start with Jeff in round two.
- [24:36]
Annie Jones
That's right.
- [24:37]
Ashley Sherlock
Then Hunter in round three. But for round one, we will begin with the person who has the next birthday.
- [24:43]
Annie Jones
Okay. My birthday already happened.
- [24:47]
Jeff Zentner
April 13th in August.
- [24:49]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay.
- [24:52]
Annie Jones
Hunter's not used to losing because he does frequently get the audience in the palm of his hand. I'm just warning you, he's manipulative like that. Now he's got your sympathy. Okay, so Jeff gets to start.
- [25:05]
Ashley Sherlock
Jeff is going first. Our first round is comfort food.
- [25:08]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [25:09]
Jeff Zentner
Okay. All right, so we don't get.
- [25:10]
Annie Jones
Wait. No, we have to pick.
- [25:12]
Ashley Sherlock
Wait, what did I do?
- [25:13]
Annie Jones
No, we have to pick one of these things.
- [25:15]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah.
- [25:15]
Annie Jones
Otherwise you get all. So here are the items. Comfort food, Southern Gothic literature, college football, country music, Southern hospitality, Southern accents, manners, sweet tea, or Southern television. You're Andy Griffith, you're Designing Women, et cetera. Okay, so then you. Each of us. Oh, you pick the category, then you fend the category.
- [25:36]
Jeff Zentner
Yes. All right. Got it. So am I first?
- [25:40]
Ashley Sherlock
You're first.
- [25:40]
Jeff Zentner
Gimme comfort food, baby. I'm talking about that Mac and cheese, that fried chicken. I'm talking about chicken and dumplings at Cracker Barrel. Like, give me that. Comfort food that has spread across the nation, spread across the world. That Sean Brock, like, elevated. Yep.
- [26:00]
Annie Jones
This makes sense because we talked earlier today about how much food writing is in Colton's Gentry. Yeah. And so, yeah, this makes sense.
- [26:08]
Jeff Zentner
Even though I'm mad, y'all knew I was either gonna do comfort food or country music.
- [26:13]
Annie Jones
Okay, so he gets comfort food. So, Hunter, now it's your turn.
- [26:16]
Hunter McLendon
I'm going with Southern Gothic literature. Because here's the thing.
- [26:19]
Annie Jones
Like, I'm gonna have to sit here and defend college football.
- [26:23]
Hunter McLendon
I'm capable without Southern Gothic. Literature, we would not be able to. Like, the thing is, right, like, if you're. If you've moved out of the south, if you have moved to a different part of the south and you just miss the specific part of your home, you find the book that you want that feels like home and you're able to like, re. Enter it. Or if you want to enter into a different time of the place that you want to exist in, you can enter into it. Like, without Southern Gothic literature, we wouldn't have these portals that like, we need to continue to exist. Like, it is like a necessity. So I do think that it is like the top priority on this list especially. But like, and also. And also, this is just really fun. And like, like, I like the gossip that they have in some of the stories. I love, like the little friend, that Donna Tartt book. Like, the judgment of, like, I love how judgy everyone is. And that's all in the literature.
- [27:11]
Annie Jones
Yeah. And. Well, and I think you are a Southern Gothic storyteller. I do. I, like Jeff said, like, I think. I think that's just ingrained in who you are. Okay, all right, all right. I'm gonna pick Southern hospitality, and I'm going to pick that because I do think that that at the risk of being cheesy and too earnest and sincere, I do think that is what the bookshelf is all about, is the spirit of welcome and hospitality. Even before the bookshelf, welcoming people into my home was important. I'm not a great cook. We've discussed this many times recently. I was cooking dinner in my home and I maybe was putting something in the oven and the oven was hot, as ovens are, but I was stunned by how hot my oven was. And my entire pan of dinner went face down on my oven door. And you can bet your bottom dollar I just plopped that fish back on there and was like, we're eating this anyway. But it reminded me of the time Ashley and my other cousin came over to my house and I had googled, like, how to mash potatoes, like every good Southern. And it was like, use your KitchenAid. And I was like, awesome. And like Amelia Bedelia, I just threw potatoes in the KitchenAid and put it on high and potatoes just went. So to me, Southern hospitality is not necessarily just about the food. It's about the spirit of welcome. I think about the spirit of the front porch. I think about sitting on my parents front porch growing up. This idea that anybody belongs and in its best case, and I'm not saying this Is true all the time. It's my hope that all are welcome. And this idea that anybody can sit on the front porch and visit and talk and that. That Southern hospitality, I do think epitomizes Southern culture. So that's what I will. That's what I'll take. That's really good.
- [29:01]
Ashley Sherlock
All right, Hunter, do you need me to read the remaining options?
- [29:04]
Hunter McLendon
Oh, no, I know what they are.
- [29:05]
Ashley Sherlock
Perfect.
- [29:05]
Hunter McLendon
Okay. My next one is actually gonna be Southern accents.
- [29:09]
Annie Jones
Why?
- [29:11]
Hunter McLendon
And the reason why it's so funny, let me tell you.
- [29:13]
Annie Jones
I like, do you know you have one? Because not everybody knows they have one.
- [29:16]
Hunter McLendon
Do you think I still have one?
- [29:20]
Annie Jones
No, I don't think that a year of living in Philly has deprived you of your Southern accent.
- [29:26]
Hunter McLendon
It's so funny, actually. So I feel like I don't have it as strong as I did. When I was 18, I tried to audition for Glee. And I remember I was trying so hard to not have a Southern accent. And so I was like, hello, my name is Hunter McClendon. And I tried so hard for it, but. And I used to hate Southern accents. However, over the years, I have the people I love often part. What I love about them is how sweet they often sound. And a lot of it comes from their accents. And also, living up north, hearing people being like, let me tell you something right now, I do not. Like, I hate it. I'm like, no, I need. There's something.
- [30:02]
Annie Jones
Be careful. There are some northerners in the audience, and that's fine.
- [30:06]
Hunter McLendon
Listen, listen. Lauren Groff is from New York. I love. There are some good ones out there. But. But, like, I also. You can make. If you want to make fun of Southern, like, you could. Southern accents are the safe accent to make fun of. You know, like, we can still make fun of people. Like, I don't know about all that. It's okay. Like, you know, it's. And also, there's such a wide variety of them. Like, it's like. It's really. I don't know. And it's like.
- [30:31]
Annie Jones
And I think people think there's one right. If they're maybe not from. But we definitely can hear an. I can. There's an Alabama and then a Georgia, and I moved to Thomasville. I call it, like, the upper class Georgia accent. They don't pronounce the R's. And the first time I heard it, I was like, oh, that is so different from even Alabama or north Florida. Yes. Yeah, you can totally differentiate.
- [30:55]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah. And so I know that I lost you all for a second we cannot make. Yeah, you can't make fun of these. How dare you? No, but I do think. And also, I don't know, I just think that, like, I think that there's something about, like, when you're telling these stories that, like, that accent does really lend itself really well to, like, punctuating the sentences and stuff.
- [31:14]
Annie Jones
Yeah, I'd agree with that.
- [31:15]
Jeff Zentner
I love that Hunter thinks he doesn't have a Southern accent, when to my ears, he could voice a possum in a Pixar movie.
- [31:24]
Hunter McLendon
Is it that strong?
- [31:27]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah, it is. Here, let's do a quick test to see how much Philly you've picked up. Say the word water.
- [31:35]
Hunter McLendon
Water.
- [31:35]
Ashley Sherlock
Water.
- [31:36]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, well, the Philly is sneaking in because. Yeah, okay. Warder. Yeah, it's sneaking in. The Philly is sneaking in. That would be a shame if Philly replaced that. That Southern accent, because I do think your Southern accent is wonderful. So please keep. Keep the warder at bay.
- [31:55]
Annie Jones
So Jordan has a Southern accent, but I do think it has gotten. Well, you've known. You've known him a long time too. Like, do you think it's gotten less as we have lived here?
- [32:05]
Ashley Sherlock
No. Every time he says I guess the word hill or like, I get hill, and he'll confused specifically by Jordan. Said by Jordan.
- [32:15]
Annie Jones
So the first time I met his mom, whose name is Twyla. Okay. The first time I met her, she. We were talking about accents because I do. I know that compared to a lot of people in this room, I have one. But I don't think it's as strong as Jordan's, for example. And so we were talking about accents and Ms. Twyla, I met her when I was a child. Okay. So I still call her Ms. Twyla. And so Ms. Twyla said she didn't have a Southern accent and she has the deepest. Her name's Twyla. Like, she has the deepest, most Alabama accent. And I looked at her and I was like, no, you definitely do. Like, I don't know how to tell how you're supposed to tell your future mother in law. No, you definitely have a stuff Southern accent. And there's nothing wrong with it. It's quite endearing. Like, I think Jordan's accent is endearing, as I think yours is as well. Okay, my turn.
- [32:59]
Ashley Sherlock
Your turn.
- [33:01]
Annie Jones
Oh, gosh. Okay. Okay. Well, I am. I'm just gonna do it. I will. I will sit here and defend college football and I. And I will do it because I still. There is something about. There's just like, I love March Madness. There is something about college football season that I just love it as background noise. It feels very comforting to me. I grew up a Florida State fan because of our. Because of living in Tallahassee and my whole family going there. I shouldn't have any roots in that world because I did not go to any schools with football teams at all. And so I should have no attachment. But I do. And I love a Saturday afternoon in the south where football's on the tv. Maybe you have your soup going in your crock pot. And to me, there is nothing better than reading with sports in the background. I really do genuinely love a long football game, basketball game, and then reading a book and, like, paying attention. You know, paying attention. I do actually know the rules of the game. But there is something about the reader in me that just loves the seasonality of college sports. And I do. I know we can talk about concussion protocol. Like, it's fine, but I do still really like. I do still really like college of all. And I still watch it. Yeah, I still love it. So I'll defend it. It's fine.
- [34:24]
Jeff Zentner
I am so glad you didn't leave me with that one, because one of the questions I was prepared to answer tonight from the she was, what is the least Southern thing about you? So one of them was, what is the most Southern thing about you? I say, do what now? That is a Southernism that has not extended outside of the South. Everybody says y'all now. People are starting to say, bless your heart. Nobody outside the south says, do what now. So that's the most Southern thing about me. The least Southern thing about me is I could not possibly care less about SEC football. I don't even know who's in the sec. I made the joke, okay? But I do so remember, I don't care. I don't care. I'll be the heel. I don't care. So I made that joke about Parker Posey playing an SEC pill mom. Well, so many people yelled at me. They're like, well, her character's from North Carolina. They're in the acc. I'm like, I don't care. I don't care at all. It's fine. It's all fine.
- [35:26]
Annie Jones
I do think the irony not to bring Ginger into this, but I do think the irony is that of everyone on this stage, I am the person who watches the most college football and cares the most.
- [35:35]
Hunter McLendon
I also. You guys like college football. Me too. I love it.
- [35:39]
Jeff Zentner
The straight man here is the one who most got excited about the scented candle shop in Honest worlds downtown. I'm like, ooh, hints of Jasmine.
- [35:49]
Annie Jones
This is my nice.
- [35:50]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, is this nice? Yeah, I do.
- [35:53]
Annie Jones
Okay. I will say, I do wish I had asked that question. So Jordan actually went with me to a Southern booksellers conference, and that was something that was said at an author panel. What's the most Southern thing about you and what's the least? And so I will. What is the most Southern thing about you and what is the least?
- [36:09]
Hunter McLendon
Oh, I don't.
- [36:10]
Annie Jones
Everything about you is the most Southern thing.
- [36:12]
Hunter McLendon
I do think I'm, like, a very Southern person.
- [36:14]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [36:15]
Hunter McLendon
What's the least Southern thing?
- [36:16]
Annie Jones
Yeah, Fair enough. I wish that the podcast listeners will have no idea what you're talking about.
- [36:30]
Hunter McLendon
Home of sexuals.
- [36:34]
Annie Jones
Ashley, what's the most Southern thing about you in the least?
- [36:37]
Ashley Sherlock
Well, you've answered this on my behalf and said the most Southern thing about me is the guys that I've dated.
- [36:43]
Annie Jones
It is true.
- [36:45]
Ashley Sherlock
A lot of men from Alabama. I would like to offer my own Southern thing is that. That I love purchasing and consuming boiled peanuts from old men on the side of the road.
- [36:57]
Annie Jones
That is the most Southern thing about you.
- [36:59]
Ashley Sherlock
Thank you. I don't know what the least Southern thing is. I know.
- [37:03]
Annie Jones
Clue.
- [37:04]
Ashley Sherlock
I feel Southern.
- [37:06]
Annie Jones
I think.
- [37:07]
Ashley Sherlock
No, I know what it is.
- [37:08]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [37:08]
Ashley Sherlock
The way I pronounce H, O, R.
- [37:12]
Annie Jones
R, I, B, L, e. Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible. That was the least Southern thing about me. Yes. Fascinating. I think for me, the most Southern thing about me is I will. Please don't even try to offer me anything other than a Coke. Don't try to give me your Pepsi. Please don't give me your Pepsi product. And so I do think the most Southern thing about me is my affinity for Coke. I think that's probably true. And then my least Southern thing, I do not like. I don't like sweet tea. I don't like grits. I don't like a lot of Southern. I don't like a lot of Southern.
- [37:44]
Jeff Zentner
So you guys aren't gonna give her the SEC reaction? That's how this works. You're gonna home cook me? I'm the guy who comes in and gets beat up here. Oh, we can't touch Annie. We all love Annie. We love Hunter. But, Jeff, Annie can slander grits in front of this audience. And nary a misplaced word against sec. I just said I didn't know who was in the sec. Wow, I have so lost this thing already. Unbelievable. Speaking of Coke, by the way, I mean, all sodas are very Southern. I mean, the American South Is the cradle of sticky soft drinks. I mean, Pepsi is North Carolina. Coke is Georgia. Mountain Dew is Johnson City, Tennessee. Dr. Pepper is Texas. We'll count Texas for this one.
- [38:45]
Annie Jones
To make my point, do you think it's teetotalers where we're like, please, we have to get our vices, Honestly?
- [38:51]
Ashley Sherlock
Probably drink alcohol.
- [38:53]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah, probably.
- [38:54]
Annie Jones
Probably has to do with tea. Toddler culture. That would be the most Southern thing about me. Okay, where are we? Is it Justin's?
- [39:00]
Jeff Zentner
Is it my turn? Okay, give me country music. You gotta give me country music. If you took all of the things on this list, okay, and you put them in a pitcher and poured the pitcher out onto the red clay and used that wet clay to form a golem, it would be Dolly Parton. It would arise from the ground as I am Dolly Parton.
- [39:24]
Annie Jones
How y'all doing?
- [39:25]
Jeff Zentner
I'm Dolly Parton. And it would be Dolly Parton. It would be Dolly Parton. It would be Reba McEntire. Country music is so Southern gothic in its sensibility. There's so much wit. Even so, people really love to rag on modern country music. Like mainstream pop country music. I get the criticisms. I love it, though. There are still so many wonderful turns of phrase on modern country radio. You can hear lines like, you look like I need a drink. You hear lines like, when this world turns ugly, I just turn and look at you. Like, those are great. Come on. Those are great lines. The first day I moved to Nashville, I went for a run at the park near my house, and I just found little scraps of paper that were torn up songs. And I was like, how? Nashville, this is my city. Like, this love of words, this love of poetry, this love of storytelling, it's all baked into country music. And then you have the cultural cross currents in country music. You have the Irish influence, you have the African influence, all intermingling. It reflects the demographic of the South, I think. I mean, country music is so. So southern, and it's such a great export to the world. I mean, you see all sorts of mainstream pop artists going country, Post Malone going country. And it's just got that. It's got that pull. I think it's a great export culturally.
- [40:55]
Annie Jones
Of the south and still ties into that overarching storytelling.
- [40:58]
Jeff Zentner
Sure.
- [40:59]
Annie Jones
Storytelling history.
- [41:00]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah.
- [41:01]
Annie Jones
Okay, Ashley, where are we?
- [41:03]
Ashley Sherlock
All right, we're at the last round, and you're the first pick, but there's nothing good left. Oh, you gotta convince us otherwise.
- [41:09]
Annie Jones
Okay, I will convince you otherwise. Let me find. Okay, all right, fine. I will also pick manners. I Will pick manners because. So one time on the on from the front porch, we asked somebody, maybe we asked the question, what's your favorite part about life in the South? That used to be, whenever we had a guest on, I would ask for like speed round questions. And one of them was, what's your favorite part about life in the South? And we got a lot of answers, right, like food and you know, sometimes a lot of overlapping answers. But one guy came on and he said, my favorite part about life in the south is the two finger wave. And I thought to myself, oh my gosh, it's so true. And even today I found myself like to like wave into the postman. And I thought, there is something. I know manners exist everywhere, but I think it's an extension of that hospitality I was talking about where I still. And maybe this is old fashioned. I like. And I do it as a woman for other people. I like holding the door open for people, no matter what gender you are. I like opening the door for people. I like generally the respect of elders. I think that's something we're losing in our culture. I think it is actually tied into our European roots. This idea of respecting the generation that came before us. I find that distinctly Southern. Just. I will watch in a restaurant here in town, like a daughter take care of her elderly mother. And that is exactly how I grew up. And please and thank you and thank you notes. Like I said, still, I still think that stuff matters.
- [42:46]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah, I miss. That's something I do miss living in. Like, like, not to say that everyone's like rude and family, but like, like people just are not like going out of their way to be nice, right? And like, for instance, every time I tell a joke up there, no one gives a courtesy laugh, you know, but like down here, everyone's like, you poor thing.
- [43:03]
Annie Jones
Right? Like, even if it's. I mean, sometimes Southern manners can devolve into passive aggressive. But I. Do you think there is something to be said for please and thank you? I don't mind. Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. Like, I like. I still say it sometimes. I like it.
- [43:18]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah. The only time I don't do that is whenever I like, someone's looking a little butch. And I'm not sure, you be careful.
- [43:24]
Annie Jones
To gender the wrong person. Okay.
- [43:27]
Jeff Zentner
I like that people say, have a nice day when they get off the elevator. Yeah, I think that's really nice. I don't like talking to strangers, so I don't do that myself. But I think it's really nice when People do that and they only do it.
- [43:37]
Annie Jones
I sort of did it the other day in the elevator and I remember thinking, what are you? I'm also introverted. And I was like, what are you doing? And then I was like, no. I think this is embedded in Southern culture. There's a friendliness that sometimes is in direct opposition to my introvertedness that I do find a little confusing sometimes about life in the South. But the friendliness, the warmth and so I think the Southern hospitability, Southern manners kind of go hand in hand for me. Yeah, I agree. So that'll be mine. Okay, your turn.
- [44:07]
Jeff Zentner
My turn. Southern television, baby. I am getting all my top picks. This is so exciting. So I definitely grew up watching Andy Griffith with my dad. I grew up watching Dukes of Hazzard takes place in Georgia. Like here I am, like, I feel like. I know, like right now I'm like shaking hands with four year old me. Like, buddy, you made it. Like, here you are, you're sitting on a stage in Georgia where the Dukes of Hazzard takes place and you are talking about being a Southerner. Like, you did it, you did it. I think two of the masterpieces of Southern Gothic storytelling have come out of television in recent years. True Detective, season one.
- [44:48]
Annie Jones
I was gonna say that one.
- [44:48]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, that's so. I mean, that is like perfect Southern Gothic. And then a show that is not well known, but you all should watch it, called Rectify, that takes place in Georgia. It's this gorgeous. It is slow, quiet, contemplative. The pacing of it is very Southern. Like it unspools in a way that feels very rural southern. But it is a kind show. It's a generous show. It's funny, it's dark. It to me like really embodies the South. So Southern television.
- [45:25]
Annie Jones
Okay. Southern tv.
- [45:27]
Ashley Sherlock
Alright.
- [45:27]
Annie Jones
Okay. Hunter.
- [45:28]
Hunter McLendon
Oh, that's really. I'm so glad this last one is the last one that's available because that's the one I was most passionate about. It's sweet tea and I love sweets. So I'm predisposed to be diabetic. Everyone in my family's diabetic. And I love to put my life in danger. And so I actually, it's really funny because like when I think about sweet tea, I do think about my life in the south because I think about, I think about the first time I ever made sweet tea, which was when I was like. I think I was like 11 or 12. I was visiting my mom and my stepdad and my stepdad said, oh, we're running a little sweet tea. Go make a new thing. And I said, okay. And I did not, I didn't know how to do it. And it's because everyone had always made it for me. And so I like, there was like a little tea brewer and I brewed or whatever and they said, okay, you gotta put the sugar in there. And I said, how much? She goes, just a couple cups. And so I grabbed a cup and I just took a couple cups, a plastic cup.
- [46:26]
Jeff Zentner
It's like an eight ounce tumbler.
- [46:29]
Hunter McLendon
And I was like, this tastes great. And so like, but like, but I had like, the thing is that like I do think there's something about making like making sweet tea. Like, thing is like, I've had people make me sweet tea like, like who are from up north or from somewhere else. And they don't, they rarely ever do it right. Like they like, they like people like put ice in the pitcher and then it gets watered down or like they just do these little things or they don't know how to make it sweet enough. There's like all these little tiny things. And also they'll try to use fancy teas and it's just like, don't do that. And but it's like, but like there's something that when you come back, like coming back down here to visit, I've been getting sweet tea. I've been like, that's, that's just the drink I'm getting.
- [47:04]
Annie Jones
Where's your go to? Like, what do you think as far as like fast food or like, where do you think is the best sweet tea? Okay, so if you're in Alabama, I think it's Milo's. Like people love Milo's.
- [47:16]
Hunter McLendon
I'm trying to think because like I. The thing is that like I'm more, I'm honestly, I'm always focused on fried chicken. But like I will say one of my favorite meals is I'll go to Zaxby's and I'll get a boneless swings and things nuclear with an extra Zax sauce. And I'll get a Lars sauce sweet tea with lemon. And it is such a satisfying just like cohesion that it just always feels good. It feels good in my heart, not my belly. But yeah, so I think, but yeah. I like, the only place I don't like sweet tea is like McDonald's because it's just like syrup. But like most, most everywhere else, I'm pretty happy. Sunnies. You took me to Sunny's for the first time.
- [47:53]
Annie Jones
You're welcome.
- [47:54]
Hunter McLendon
And let me tell You. Their sweet tea is so good. Oh, yeah, if you don't like it. But like. But yeah, I do. It is something that, like, every time I have it, I'm like, oh, home.
- [48:03]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [48:03]
Ashley Sherlock
Do they have sweet tea in Philly? No, I didn't think so. I've been up north and asked for sweet tea and they were like, what?
- [48:10]
Hunter McLendon
Oh, it is a major disappointment in my life.
- [48:13]
Jeff Zentner
They've got water ice in Philadelphia.
- [48:17]
Annie Jones
I think it is fascinating in the South. I had a teacher in high school, I'll never forget. She, like had a big gulp that she brought to class and it was sweet tea at like 8 in the morning. And still to this day, like, I'll see somebody even like, maybe coming to the bookshelf with like a giant and it's like sweet tea this early. But Southerners, there are no boundaries.
- [48:37]
Ashley Sherlock
Sweet tea and Jesus.
- [48:37]
Jeff Zentner
Wait. Yeah.
- [48:38]
Hunter McLendon
Do you not think about sweet. Like, is that not like a morning drink?
- [48:41]
Annie Jones
No, I don't drink sweet tea at all.
- [48:44]
Hunter McLendon
But you have like coffee. People have like hot tea.
- [48:46]
Annie Jones
I don't drink any of. I drink water for breakfast.
- [48:49]
Jeff Zentner
Can I throw out my breakfast philosophy? Yeah. Anything that I will eat at any point in the day, I will eat at any point in the day. That means I'll have a half rack of ribs for breakfast if the opportunity presents. So if I'll eat, I'll have a salad for breakfast, you know, so if I'll eat it at any point during the day, I will eat it for breakfast. People will be like, you just lost again. Well, I don't care at this point. I don't care at this point. I'm going for. I don't know what I'm going for. But yeah, people are like, well, would you eat cereal with lemon juice on it and water? It's like, no, because I wouldn't eat that at any point. You're not listening to me. I wouldn't eat it at any point in the day. So I won't eat it for breakfast. But if I'll eat it at any point in the day, I'll eat a hamburger for breakfast.
- [49:41]
Hunter McLendon
Whatever Feels like some rock star energy.
- [49:47]
Jeff Zentner
Because nothing says rock star. Like, yeah, I'll eat a big piece of apple pie for breakfast. That classic rock star thing.
- [49:55]
Annie Jones
Apple pie. Or pound. You could sell me on pound for breakfast. But. But a McRib for breakfast. I won't even eat chick fil a breakfast. I think chicken for breakfast. What are we doing?
- [50:06]
Jeff Zentner
We. We engage in a lot of pretty arbitrary boundary setting for our breakfast foods. Like you won't eat a piece of cake for breakfast, but you will eat a muffin, right? What's the difference? So I could make a pretty strong case that there's not a huge difference between ribs and bacon and sausage. See? Right? Am I getting you back a little bit? Am I bringing you back in?
- [50:33]
Hunter McLendon
I will say, my breakfast. My breakfast at seven was a Dr. Pepper and a giant Hershey bar with almonds. And My breakfast at 12 was. My breakfast at 12 was a half gallon of Oreo ice cream and a canister of Slim Jims. And then I kept crying about being actually smelled.
- [50:51]
Ashley Sherlock
I drink a smoothie every day.
- [50:53]
Annie Jones
I don't know.
- [50:53]
Hunter McLendon
I wish that was what I was like. Like, nobody taught me. Like, I was, like, crying. I was like, granny, why do I keep gaining weight? She goes, I don't know, little baby.
- [51:01]
Jeff Zentner
It feels like he's just doing a convenience store mad lib for what he's eaten today.
- [51:07]
Annie Jones
He's back home, so that's his tradition. Okay, did we all do. We're covered.
- [51:13]
Ashley Sherlock
I'm going to recap what everybody chose, and then after I recap, we will go down the line and you will vote on who won the Snake draft by applause. Okay, so recap. First we have Jeff with comfort food, country music and Southern television. We have Hunter with Southern gothic literature, Southern accents and sweet tea. And we have Annie B. Jones with college football, Southern hospitality and manners.
- [51:42]
Annie Jones
Okay, let's go.
- [51:44]
Ashley Sherlock
Votes for Jeff and for Hunter.
- [51:55]
Annie Jones
And Ainnie B. Jones.
- [51:58]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, my God.
- [52:00]
Annie Jones
Finally. I never won one of these. We have been hosting these for a long time. Annabelle Monahan won. I never win. Thank you.
- [52:09]
Hunter McLendon
Thank you so much.
- [52:11]
Annie Jones
I owe my grandmother's manners for this win. Thank you so much. It was football. It was fake college football, of all things. I'm so proud. I feel like I need a crown. Like a suit night crown. We need a.
- [52:28]
Ashley Sherlock
We need a Snake draft crown.
- [52:30]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [52:30]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay.
- [52:31]
Annie Jones
Okay. Lightning round.
- [52:32]
Ashley Sherlock
Lightning round.
- [52:33]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [52:33]
Ashley Sherlock
I have for you today a list of titles, names that could be either a book title or a country song. So I will read one aloud.
- [52:43]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [52:44]
Ashley Sherlock
And then I guess the three of you will cast your vote.
- [52:46]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [52:47]
Ashley Sherlock
And I will set your fate. I will say book titles and country songs. There's nothing new under the sun, so there probably is some overlap where one is both, but we will be going based off of what I have chosen to do.
- [53:00]
Hunter McLendon
Okay.
- [53:02]
Annie Jones
Okay. That's fair.
- [53:04]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay, so first up, we have this side of paradise. Book title or country song?
- [53:11]
Annie Jones
Book title.
- [53:12]
Hunter McLendon
Book title.
- [53:13]
Jeff Zentner
Book title.
- [53:14]
Ashley Sherlock
Correct.
- [53:15]
Annie Jones
Woo. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Right?
- [53:17]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah. Dang it.
- [53:20]
Ashley Sherlock
I'm trying so hard to stump because I know these are smart people.
- [53:23]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [53:23]
Ashley Sherlock
Wild eyes.
- [53:26]
Jeff Zentner
Country song.
- [53:27]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [53:28]
Ashley Sherlock
Book title, baby.
- [53:30]
Annie Jones
Yes.
- [53:31]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, man.
- [53:32]
Annie Jones
A point for Ashley. Points for Ashley. Somebody.
- [53:34]
Ashley Sherlock
Somebody keep score. I'm not. Okay. Fifty Shades of Green.
- [53:41]
Annie Jones
A country.
- [53:41]
Jeff Zentner
Country song.
- [53:42]
Hunter McLendon
Country song.
- [53:44]
Ashley Sherlock
Country Song by Johnny Cash.
- [53:48]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [53:49]
Ashley Sherlock
Sweet Tea and Southern Grace.
- [53:52]
Jeff Zentner
Book title.
- [53:53]
Annie Jones
Book title.
- [53:54]
Ashley Sherlock
Book title.
- [53:56]
Annie Jones
Who wrote it?
- [53:57]
Ashley Sherlock
Sweet Tea and Southern Grace by Glinda C. Manus.
- [54:01]
Annie Jones
Glinda's a good name. Yeah, that's a good name.
- [54:03]
Jeff Zentner
It's a good Southern name.
- [54:04]
Annie Jones
All right.
- [54:04]
Ashley Sherlock
They call her Dirty. No, they call her Dirty Sally.
- [54:11]
Jeff Zentner
That definitely could be a certain type of book. But I'm gonna say country song.
- [54:15]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [54:16]
Ashley Sherlock
Book title.
- [54:17]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, my.
- [54:19]
Ashley Sherlock
That's two. They call her Dirty Sally by Amy Mateo.
- [54:24]
Annie Jones
Okay, now I'm curious what the plot is. I'm gonna look that up. I gotta be careful with my Google search terms, right?
- [54:31]
Ashley Sherlock
Heaven says hello.
- [54:32]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [54:33]
Jeff Zentner
Country song.
- [54:34]
Hunter McLendon
Book title.
- [54:35]
Ashley Sherlock
Country song by Sonny James. The Ways to Love a Man.
- [54:44]
Jeff Zentner
Book title.
- [54:45]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [54:46]
Ashley Sherlock
Country song by Tammy Wynette.
- [54:48]
Hunter McLendon
Oh, my God. Tammy.
- [54:51]
Annie Jones
I know. Tammy.
- [54:53]
Ashley Sherlock
The time has come.
- [54:54]
Hunter McLendon
Skutch. Song.
- [54:55]
Annie Jones
Book title.
- [54:56]
Jeff Zentner
Book title.
- [54:57]
Ashley Sherlock
Country song by Martina McBride.
- [54:59]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, man, this game is hard.
- [55:02]
Annie Jones
It is hard. Thank you.
- [55:05]
Ashley Sherlock
You're doing great, though. In Outlaw's Heart.
- [55:08]
Hunter McLendon
Book title.
- [55:09]
Jeff Zentner
Country song.
- [55:10]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [55:11]
Ashley Sherlock
Book title by Shelley Gray. Can you see I'm trying to shield what I'm saying?
- [55:16]
Annie Jones
I didn't even know.
- [55:17]
Hunter McLendon
I was like, why is she holding?
- [55:17]
Ashley Sherlock
It's just, like, default. Have we already done rodeo cowboy?
- [55:23]
Hunter McLendon
Book title.
- [55:24]
Jeff Zentner
Book title.
- [55:24]
Ashley Sherlock
Country song, baby.
- [55:26]
Jeff Zentner
Man, it's tricky. Cause you do ones that sounds so obviously like a country song.
- [55:31]
Ashley Sherlock
I did a lot of research for this.
- [55:32]
Hunter McLendon
It did.
- [55:33]
Jeff Zentner
You really crushed this game.
- [55:35]
Ashley Sherlock
How much time do we have? I got a ton of these.
- [55:37]
Annie Jones
Do just a couple more.
- [55:39]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay. Dumb blonde.
- [55:40]
Hunter McLendon
Country song.
- [55:42]
Jeff Zentner
Book title.
- [55:43]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [55:44]
Ashley Sherlock
Country Song by Dolly Parton.
- [55:45]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah.
- [55:46]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, my goodness.
- [55:48]
Ashley Sherlock
Woman of the world.
- [55:49]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [55:50]
Hunter McLendon
Country song.
- [55:50]
Jeff Zentner
Country song.
- [55:51]
Hunter McLendon
Book title. Book title.
- [55:52]
Annie Jones
Ooh.
- [55:53]
Ashley Sherlock
Country song by Loretta Lee.
- [55:55]
Annie Jones
Even the way. The way we're slowly saying country song, like, the way we're, like, slowly evolving.
- [56:01]
Ashley Sherlock
Into, like, book title or country song. All right, let's say last one. If the Creek Don't Rise.
- [56:08]
Hunter McLendon
Book title.
- [56:09]
Jeff Zentner
Country song.
- [56:09]
Annie Jones
Country song.
- [56:10]
Ashley Sherlock
Book title. Leah Weiss. I don't know who won, but good job, everybody.
- [56:17]
Jeff Zentner
You won by making this game. Yeah.
- [56:24]
Annie Jones
Okay. And as part of our reader retreat, we did ask for audience questions during our happy hour. So Ashley has a couple questions, and if we have time we might ask from the audience. We're also blinded by the light, so we may just stick with the ones that Ashley has written from Yalls notes.
- [56:41]
Ashley Sherlock
All right, just a few. We'll start with Jeff. Where did the inspiration for a country singer protagonist come from?
- [56:48]
Jeff Zentner
Where did the inspiration for a country singer protagonist come from? So I wanted to write a book about a very public and messy fall from grace that resulted in somebody having to move back home and live with their mom again in their little town in Kentucky. And as it happens, it is very difficult to do that in most areas of media and entertainment. For the most part, if you are somebody in the entertainment world and you've very publicly and rapidly fallen from grace, it's for a reason that I don't want to be writing a protagonist about. Right. That sentence didn't make any sense. That was a terrible sentence. It means you've got a scummy protagonist for the most part. Right. They've said something awful or they've harassed somebody. Except in country music, you can have a situation like Natalie Maines, where they fell from grace in the world they were in by expressing an opinion that many, many reasonable people held. So that can happen in country music. So that was part of what drove the decision. But part of it, too, is I'm, you know, I'm from Nashville, and I love country music. I love the country music world, and I wanted to write somebody from that world. So all of those things really fit neatly together to drive that decision.
- [58:13]
Ashley Sherlock
All right, next question. We'll go to Annie. Annie, are you entertaining literary names for Baby Boy Jones?
- [58:24]
Annie Jones
So mostly we have kept the name under wraps. So. But we. I will say that. So Jordan and I have been married for 16 years. We've known each other for 20 plus. So I do think it's very funny that his sister, who knew us when we met, when we were like 18 in the Great books program, she just knew we were going to name our child Aristotle. And I am here to tell you we are not. We are not naming our child Aristotle. And then his parents thought we would name our child Atticus. And I will tell you we are not. And so I appreciate those literary guesses. I'll also take tell you I'm married to someone who probably five to 10 years ago came home, and he was like, I have the perfect baby name. And I was like, oh, what is it? And he was like, benaiah. And I was like, and that is biblical. It is literary. I suppose it is biblical. And I said, absolutely not. So you can Imagine that. Picking a name has been quite the adventure. I am pleased with what we have come up with, but I would say we have have gone the family route rather than the literary route.
- [59:32]
Jeff Zentner
By the way, you know what's a biblical name that blows my mind? Chloe. Yes, I just learned that, like, a month ago, and that absolutely blew my mind.
- [59:41]
Annie Jones
The Bible has a lot of names that we don't think of. Like Phoebe, I think might be one. Anyway, like, there's a lot that you just don't.
- [59:48]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah, well, did I ever say at one point I was desperate to have triplets and I was gonna name them Charmaine, Jocasta, and Zipporah? Zipporah.
- [60:00]
Annie Jones
You and Jordan should get together. I feel like you guys got some really great names.
- [60:04]
Hunter McLendon
Well, Zipporah is in the Bible.
- [60:05]
Jeff Zentner
It is Zipporah.
- [60:07]
Hunter McLendon
The makeup store derives from Zipporah. Jocasta was Oedipus Mom's name. You all know what happened with that. And then Charmaine I just thought was really cute.
- [60:15]
Annie Jones
You and Jordan have similar reasonings.
- [60:18]
Jeff Zentner
You know, if you did Aristotle Jones, your kid could become the protagonist in, like, a quirky middle grade series, like the Grand Adventures of Aristotle Jones.
- [60:27]
Annie Jones
You're onto something. Maybe that's my next book.
- [60:30]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah.
- [60:30]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [60:32]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay, question for everyone. Starting with Hunter. What are your audiobook preferences? Fiction, nonfiction, speed.
- [60:40]
Hunter McLendon
Okay, so if I'm listening to something that's. It's so funny, I have a lot of them. If I'm listening to something that's really poorly written, or if I'm reading something that's really poorly written, I'll have to listen to it because it kind of disguises some of the poor writing. If it's a. If it's a celebrity, I love to listen to them. If it's. I like to listen to memoir. If the person who wrote it is reading it. If it's a book that I'm having a really hard time finding, like, the cadence or the rhythm of the language, hearing it on audio, at least for, like, the first, like, chapter or two, will really help me kind of, like, fall into it. And even if I don't finish on the audiobook, it's a really great way for me to. And as far as speed goes, yeah.
- [61:17]
Annie Jones
I don't know the answer to this.
- [61:19]
Hunter McLendon
So when I start a book, it's between 1.3, 1.5. If I'm loving the book, I might go up to, like, 1.7, just because that's where my brain kind of naturally goes for most of them. Sometimes it'll go up to 2 if I'm hating a book. I listened to the last 50 to 100 pages of that Court of Thorns and roses book at 3.4, and I was like. And so you can just imagine that, you know, there's like. And I was like, ah, yes, the thorns and the roses.
- [61:54]
Annie Jones
So, yeah, that is mind boggling to me. I can't wrap my brain around that. Do you listen to audiobooks?
- [61:59]
Jeff Zentner
I listen. I do almost all of my reading through audiobooks now, and I. I do about probably 90% fiction to 10% nonfiction. I do love to read nonfiction, but if I play you just a very small snippet of the speed I listen to audiobooks at, will I get you into copyright trouble?
- [62:20]
Annie Jones
No.
- [62:21]
Jeff Zentner
Okay, so I do 2.2x speed. And this is Stephen King reading Bag of Bones at two point to exp. Ooh, one of my holds just came in. Sorry. Hang on one sec. Okay. All right, cool. So, Yep, I just.
- [62:41]
Annie Jones
You just won them over.
- [62:42]
Jeff Zentner
Okay, so here we go. Stephen king reading. Whoops. 2.2x speed. I asked, who did you think it was?
- [62:51]
Hunter McLendon
What was the first name that came into your mind?
- [62:53]
Annie Jones
Devore.
- [62:53]
Jeff Zentner
She said, see, that just sounds normal to me. It sounds completely normal to me now when I listen. Now when I listen to a normal audiobook, like, Julia Whelan is a friend of mine. And I told her this to her face. Like, now when I listen to an audiobook at normal speed, it sounds like. Then Mike opened the refrigerator and pulled out a cold Coke. It's, like, unlistenable to me at this point.
- [63:27]
Annie Jones
That is wild. Yes.
- [63:28]
Hunter McLendon
I think people. I think a lot of people also. I don't know if this is entirely true, but I have this theory that people sometimes listen to the audiobooks at the speed that they talk.
- [63:36]
Annie Jones
Okay.
- [63:37]
Hunter McLendon
And so if you're, like, a fast talker, you're probably, like, listening.
- [63:39]
Annie Jones
Okay. Do you think? Okay, so my answer is I will listen to both fiction and nonfiction, but I find that I can pay better attention to a nonfiction audiobook, whether that's a memoir or general novel. Nonfiction. So I will listen to fiction, but I often find myself wishing I was reading it because I read physically faster than I can listen, and I'd rather switch to physical format. So I listen to both, but I prefer nonfiction. And then I. I think the highest I have ever gone. And now I'm like, am I. Am I weird? That is 1 point. 1.4 or 1.5 is the highest I can go. Am I a slow talker?
- [64:13]
Hunter McLendon
You're not A slow talker. But I think that, like, you know how to, like, speak, like, enunciate. And so, like, I can always understand you. Whereas, like, there are people up north who, like, they think it's my Southern accent, and I'm like, no, no, no, no. I just. I just, like, slur every word into the other because I get a car crash of, like, car crash of language.
- [64:33]
Annie Jones
Yeah. I cannot listen to higher than I think. Maybe the highest I did was 1.5. And it was partly just to, like, finish a book. But, yeah, I can't. I can't do 1.1 or 1.2.
- [64:43]
Jeff Zentner
I think mostly the beauty of 2.2 is you are taking down books. Like, I read.
- [64:48]
Annie Jones
I guess so.
- [64:49]
Jeff Zentner
I mean, I read, like, a hundred books last year, and that was on top of the day job and all the writing and the traveling for the writing. And, you know, anytime I'm doing any chore that's gonna take more than five minutes, my earbuds are in, and I'm taking down another, like, 10 pages.
- [65:07]
Annie Jones
I mean, more power, too. I feel like I would be. It would make. I would. I would feel frenzied. I feel frenzied right now. Like, just listening to it.
- [65:14]
Hunter McLendon
I'm like, Just.
- [65:15]
Jeff Zentner
The sample was like, I'm stressed.
- [65:16]
Annie Jones
I'm on edge.
- [65:19]
Ashley Sherlock
All right, next up for everyone, favorite gravy examples. Red eye chocolate sausage.
- [65:27]
Hunter McLendon
Oh. Oh, I was thinking about, like, pawpaws has this cage engraving.
- [65:31]
Annie Jones
I know. I was thinking, whataburger's gravy is great.
- [65:34]
Hunter McLendon
Oh, yeah.
- [65:34]
Annie Jones
Yeah. Actually, yeah. Okay. Sausage gravy for me.
- [65:38]
Hunter McLendon
Yeah.
- [65:38]
Jeff Zentner
I'm a sausage gravy man.
- [65:40]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [65:40]
Ashley Sherlock
Is that what they put with biscuits?
- [65:41]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah.
- [65:42]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [65:42]
Hunter McLendon
Well, wait, like, so what's Cajun like? Because. Have you ever had Popeyes?
- [65:46]
Annie Jones
Cajun gravy?
- [65:48]
Ashley Sherlock
I've never had Popeyes.
- [65:49]
Jeff Zentner
By the way, Hunter, I feel like I should tell you I had church's chicken tonight for dinner. Like, I feel like that. Like, you can relate to that. I love it. I. Well, and that's. I don't have a church as near me, so I had to go while I was here in the basement.
- [66:03]
Annie Jones
Their baskets are legitimately great.
- [66:05]
Jeff Zentner
They are excellent. Every time I eat fast food chicken, I am never thinking, boy, I wish that I could get this. But, like, at three times the price, that's one of those things that I feel like doesn't improve, like, with fancy restaurants. Like, I feel like trashy fried chicken is the best fried chicken.
- [66:24]
Annie Jones
You're speaking his language now.
- [66:27]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay, last question of the evening rest in peace. Carl Dean, what is your favorite Dolly Parton song?
- [66:38]
Annie Jones
Okay, I will. I do like a lot of them, and this feels like a very common answer, but I tell this anecdote in the book, but I will say it is I will always love you. And it is because I have a very distinct childhood memory of my best friend. We were 11, and she was moving and I was staying, and we were getting together one last Sunday afternoon, like, her dad was our minister. And so we frequently got together on Sunday afternoons and we karaoke and sang I will always love you to each other as, like, a duet. And I have a distinct memory of standing on top of her brick fireplace singing that song to each other. And so that is my very earnest answer, even though it's a slightly typical one, I guess.
- [67:25]
Jeff Zentner
Well, I'm going to out typical you here with my answer, which is Jolene, which is just. I mean, it's a perfect country song. I mean, it sounds like an ancient ballad. It's got that, like. It's got that weight of history. Speaking of Carl Dean, the legend I've heard is that it was about a bank teller who was flirting with Carl, who. So instead of getting mad at Carl and writing a song about Carl, Dolly Parton wrote a song about how hot the woman flirting with Carl was. And by the way, what a legend this Carl Dean was. The man laid asphalt, apparently for fun, because they didn't need the money. I'd been to Dollywood, like, they were doing fine, but he worked laying asphalt, I guess, because he liked it. And that man is a legend.
- [68:17]
Annie Jones
Yeah.
- [68:17]
Jeff Zentner
Yeah.
- [68:18]
Hunter McLendon
My favorite Dolly Parton song is actually here I Am. And for anyone who doesn't know, like the chorus says, here I am Reaching out to give you love that you're without I can help you find what you've been searching for oh, here I am Come to me Take my hand Because I believe I can give you all the love you need more and the first time I ever heard it, I, like, burst into tears because I just thought it was so beautiful. And it's one of those things where the first time I ever heard it, I was sitting in my car. I was just feeling very lonely in the world. And I don't know why, but I just imagined Dolly singing to you, telling me this. And I was so moved that I was like, oh, Dolly, thank you for being there for me. And the thing is. And it's so funny, cause, like, every time that I. Every time that, like, anyone has, like, shown me love, whether it, like, Romantic or platonic, like, familial. Like, that is the thought that kind of goes. You know, it's like someone showing up and saying, like, hearing it. And, like, in my granny, especially, like, Like. And so, like, oftentimes, if that song comes out, I do also think of, like, my granny. Yeah. And so it's. That's. That is my favorite.
- [69:24]
Jeff Zentner
So I. You know, I'm from Tennessee, and I don't know how, like, attuned y'all are to Tennessee politics, but anytime there's a movement to rename something, you know, this was named after a Confederate general. We're gonna rename this every time. The suggestion is to rename it after Dolly Parton. Every time. Does not matter what it is. Like, there could be, like, a can, like a cannon, like a statue in the town square, and it's named, like, General Ruford B. Rufus, whatever. And they'll be like, let's name it the Dolly Parton canon or whatever, you.
- [70:01]
Annie Jones
Know, I think she is one of the last, like, things that we can all rally around, truly.
- [70:07]
Jeff Zentner
And I just am, like, the least divisive celebrity.
- [70:11]
Annie Jones
Yes. And I hope it remains that way until the day of her death, you know, like, because she is just. It's like the last kind of. I don't know, the last good thing in the world. Yeah. Thanks, Dolly. No pressure.
- [70:24]
Ashley Sherlock
Okay, I'm gonna interject my favorite Dolly song. Yes, it is the song Applejack. It's not her best song. It is my current favorite song. It's about the banjo. It's about a man named Jack who picks apples and he picks the banjo. It's very cute. But also, I think it's important for you to know that Dolly Parton has a whole album that she did with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris called Trio, and it is harmonies from Angels.
- [70:49]
Jeff Zentner
Oh, my goodness.
- [70:50]
Ashley Sherlock
So good.
- [70:51]
Annie Jones
Yes. That was worth plugging. Thank you.
- [70:54]
Hunter McLendon
Wait, last thing. But, like, I love. Whenever they were doing it, whenever Linda Ron said they're doing an interview about her, like, whenever she, like, had to retire because of. What was it? Parkinson's, I think. And whenever they told Dolly Parton that they were gonna interview her, they're like, oh, you're really gonna interview her? I didn't know she could do the camera work, and I don't know why, but I think that's the most charming thing.
- [71:14]
Ashley Sherlock
That's you vibe.
- [71:15]
Annie Jones
Yeah. You know, have similarities, I think. Thank you so much, Jeff, for being our special guest this evening. Thank you to Ashley and to Hunter for always being along for the ride. I'm very grateful to not be on the stage alone, and thank you all for being here tonight. That was from the Front Porch. Live from the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of the Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in Thomasville, Georgia. You can follow the bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram @bookshelf tville, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, bookshelfthomasville.
- [71:56]
Hunter McLendon
Com.
- [71:57]
Annie Jones
A full transcript of today's podcast episode can be found at.