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THE BITTER SOUTHERNER

Better South / Better Word

Weekly Columns

Essays, opinions, commentary, criticism, and fiction from Southern writers.

THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
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September 04, 2017

Discussing Dixie: A Teachable Moment

September 04, 2017/ Adam W. Jordan and Todd S. Hawley
Discussing Dixie: A Teachable Moment

Our Southern Schooling columnists — Adam Jordan and Todd Hawley — have some challenges for public-school teachers in our region, who, in the wake of Charlottesville, are wrestling with how to teach about institutional racism and hate groups. They also offer some tools to help teachers get it done.

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September 04, 2017/ Adam W. Jordan and Todd S. Hawley/
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August 31, 2017

Woe is Houston? Aw, Hell, No.

August 31, 2017/ Amy C. Evans
Woe is Houston? Aw, Hell, No.

One of our friends, writer/painter/photographer/historian Amy C. Evans, lives in Houston. She writes today to give us a “tiny taste of how people on the ground are making do.”

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August 31, 2017/ Amy C. Evans/
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August 28, 2017

Three Peauxdunquians Drive to Selma

August 28, 2017/ L. Kasimu Harris
Three Peauxdunquians Drive to Selma

After the Confederate monuments in New Orleans came down, our Southern Food columnist, L. Kasimu Harris, took a road trip with two writing buddies to see if folks in Selma, Alabama, felt differently about the monuments. The rural South, Harris learned, is not always a feast for a food writer. 

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August 28, 2017/ L. Kasimu Harris/
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August 25, 2017

A Homegrown, Hospitable Bar Scene in Birmingham

August 25, 2017/ Clair McLafferty
A Homegrown, Hospitable Bar Scene in Birmingham

Despite the city’s smaller size, Birmingham, Alabama, barkeeps have built a fine cocktail community that’s homegrown to the core.

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August 25, 2017/ Clair McLafferty/
Best Bars, Southern Bars, Birmingham, second
August 21, 2017

Southern Startups Have New Tricks to Solve the Food-Waste Problem

August 21, 2017/ Muriel Vega
Southern Startups Have New Tricks to Solve the Food-Waste Problem

The South is built on agriculture. These startups are making sure the fruits of farmers’ labor doesn’t go to the landfill.

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August 21, 2017/ Muriel Vega/
top, second
August 18, 2017

The Best Anti-Racism Teacher? Hip-Hop.

August 18, 2017/ Dr. Joycelyn Wilson
The Best Anti-Racism Teacher? Hip-Hop.

Dr. Joycelyn Wilson wonders what might have happened if James Alex Fields Jr. had been drunk on the raps of Run the Jewels instead of the chants of neo-Nazis?

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August 18, 2017/ Dr. Joycelyn Wilson/
hip-hop, second
August 14, 2017

The Perpetual Unpleasantness

August 14, 2017/ Guest User
The Perpetual Unpleasantness

Three members of The Bitter Southerner team look back at the attacks and the murder committed by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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August 14, 2017/ Guest User/
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August 11, 2017

Alone Together: The Persistent Problem of Beer Cocktails

August 11, 2017/ Bob Townsend
Alone Together: The Persistent Problem of Beer Cocktails

These days, folks are rethinking the whole shot-and-a-beer thing, coming up with more interesting ways to combine beer and spirits. Bob Townsend examines the still evolving world of beer cocktails with Atlanta barman Greg Best. 

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August 11, 2017/ Bob Townsend/
Atlanta, beer, cocktails, recipes, second
August 07, 2017

Katherine Dieckmann's Strange Southern Weather

August 07, 2017/ Guest User
Katherine Dieckmann's Strange Southern Weather

New York film director Katherine Dieckmann doesn't take kindly to the disparagement of Southerners. Her new film is a gift to Southerners hungry for an honest movie about real folks.

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August 07, 2017/ Guest User/
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August 03, 2017

That One Time at Band Camp, When the Flood Came...

August 03, 2017/ Guest User
That One Time at Band Camp, When the Flood Came...

A year after a monumental flood in Louisiana, one of the South’s finest soul bands, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, is teaming up with The Bitter Southerner to put instruments back into the hands of Louisiana school bands. 

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August 03, 2017/ Guest User/
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July 31, 2017

Are Teachers Professionals?

July 31, 2017/ Adam W. Jordan and Todd S. Hawley
Are Teachers Professionals?

When our cars break down, we call mechanics. So, why do we call on politicians who have never stood before a classroom when we talk about our public schools?

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July 31, 2017/ Adam W. Jordan and Todd S. Hawley/
education, teachers, second
July 28, 2017

Fifteen Years of Drinking Tales

July 28, 2017/ Clair McLafferty
Fifteen Years of Drinking Tales

For 15 years, bartenders from around the world have converged on New Orleans every July for the world’s largest gathering of bartenders. Some of them wind up face down on the floor in their underwear.

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July 28, 2017/ Clair McLafferty/
New Orleans, second
July 24, 2017

How to Make and Eat a Tomato Sandwich

July 24, 2017/ Guest User
How to Make and Eat a Tomato Sandwich

Our editor explains how to do a tomato sandwich the right way — you know, as your grandmama intended.

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July 24, 2017/ Guest User/
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July 21, 2017

It’s Deeper Than “Florida Man…”

July 21, 2017/ Emma Sarappo
It’s Deeper Than “Florida Man…”

Sarah Gerard spent her childhood in the Tampa Bay area, and her highly acclaimed new book of essays, “Sunshine State,” challenges us to look deeper than the standard “Florida Man” jokes.

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July 21, 2017/ Emma Sarappo/
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July 17, 2017

Meet the Coffee Entrepreneurs

July 17, 2017/ Holly Beilin
Meet the Coffee Entrepreneurs

You can’t grow the coffee bean in the South. But with their roasting skills, flavorful pours, free Wi-Fi, and plentiful seating, these entrepreneurs grew communities.

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July 17, 2017/ Holly Beilin/
Atlanta, coffee, second
July 14, 2017

The Basement Tastes

July 14, 2017/ Bob Townsend
The Basement Tastes

What started as a home brewery in a mother-in-law’s basement has quickly turned into a full-scale brewery and market success for Atlanta’s Scofflaw Brewing, which quickly gained fame with its flagship beer, the appropriately named Basement IPA.

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July 14, 2017/ Bob Townsend/
breweries, Atlanta, second
July 10, 2017

What Has Happened Down Here Is the Winds Have Changed

July 10, 2017/ Tom Lee
What Has Happened Down Here Is the Winds Have Changed

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam seems to have threaded the political needle with new programs, using lottery funds to extend opportunities for kids to go to community colleges. 

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July 10, 2017/ Tom Lee/
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July 07, 2017

Are These the Schools Southerners Want?

July 07, 2017/ Adam W. Jordan and Todd S. Hawley
Are These the Schools Southerners Want?

Public schools in the South — and all over the nation — are rapidly resegregating. The trend is documented, but what can parents who want their children to learn in diverse environments do to slow down, or even reverse, it?

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July 07, 2017/ Adam W. Jordan and Todd S. Hawley/
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June 30, 2017

Seven Years of Cocktails

June 30, 2017/ Clair McLafferty
Seven Years of Cocktails

A longtime fixture behind Atlanta bars, Kellie Thorn is thriving amid the classic-cocktail revival. And her heart is fully behind the South’s ambitious bartenders.

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June 30, 2017/ Clair McLafferty/
Southern Bars, Atlanta, second
June 26, 2017

How Mentors Season Our Lives

June 26, 2017/ L. Kasimu Harris
How Mentors Season Our Lives

Mentorship is a good thing, but mentorship at the table is better. New Orleans-based Southern Food columnist L. Kasimu Harris recounts two experiences about mentors and meals — his own with musician Delfeayo Marsalis, and about historian John Hope Franklin’s mentorship of NASA rocket scientist (and barbecue pitmaster) Howard Conyers.

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June 26, 2017/ L. Kasimu Harris/
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