W. Matthew J. Simmons, Sr. is the Assistant Director of the Institute for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina and a self-described old-school humanist academic. He teaches courses on Southern culture and literature, as well as an immensely popular new course on barbecue. In this episode, Geoff and Matt discuss the identity of the South, changing cultures and places, barbecue, and more.
You can find Yeoman on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Youtube, and elsewhere.
Links
Institute for Southern Studies
Joseph Emory Davis and Plantation Socialism
Swallow Barn by Jonathan Kennedy
Invented Tradition by Eric Hobsbawm
Timestamps
0:00 – intro
1:04 – Matt’s teaching at USC, the Southern Studies department
7:52 – what is the American South? Geographic borders and definition
17:06 – why study the South? Cultural identities, American history, the South and New England
27:25 – Matt’s ancestry, mobility and sense of place, Scots-Irish history
35:10 – story of Georgia and Oglethorpe, other migration patterns and stories
44:39 – a changing South
58:09 – family identities and stories; do places inevitably change?
1:06:22 – Romantic fantasy of the South, lifestyle brand and commoditization
1:16:10 – BBQ class
1:33:56 – conclusion and where to find Matt
Yeoman 