Mama, before I was born...

Compromising America: John Prine, Family Farming, and Evil Geniuses

John Prine's The Great Compromise and the genesis of the American super-wealthy class.

The Poinsettia Lecture

Ola Belle Reed's Over Yonder in the Graveyard and the tragic history of the human thymus.

Mama, before I was born...

States of matter, religion, and reincarnation in Tyler Childers' "Born Again"

Old Dogs, Children, and the Simple Life

Tom T. Hall plays a country music concert across from the Democratic National Convention in Miami in 1972 and has an interesting conversation with a janitor at a cheap airport hotel, birthing one of the greatest songs in traditional American music: Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine. This songs is full of beautiful imagery, sagely advice, and the purest values held by poor people in America and beyond. Why did Tom T. Hall write this song? What is it really about? How has it been informed by the events of the time? Join us for this month's episode and find out.