When we started planning for this issue, we knew we wanted to talk about talking and we knew we wanted to try something new. So we decided to eavesdrop on some of our favorites “in conversation.” Even via Zoom, two people looking at each other and really talking feels so refreshing.
In this special issue, the incomparable Ruth Reichl and dynamo food writer, Lisa Donovan, talk about the power of a simple phone call and the value of preserving ephemera while getting insidery about the food world. One of our favorite authors, Silas House and the great novelist Barbara Kingsolver sit on her porch and chat about writing, home, and their friendship. Nashville artist Sai Clayton and performance artist Pat Oleszko dive into the singular value of communication through art making. In writer Mike Jordan’s conversation with our cover star — the one and only Leon Bridges — Leon gets real about the power of positivity and joy and also about being an introvert who sometimes needs to retreat to a quiet room and not talk at all. Writer Gray Chapman shares a deeply reported story about two women with the shared experience of addiction and jail sentences who talked and connected about recovery and motherhood. Co-founder and editor at large of The 19th News, President of the National Association of Black Journalists, and my friend, Errin Haines, writes in her beautiful “Letter From Home” about how finding herself seen, heard, and understood among people in rich and storied Black communities was coming home. And finally, I spent time with the best conversationalist working today, the forever charming Sam Fragoso, host of the “Talk Easy” podcast. We spoke while he ate lunch in L.A., mostly about the art of talking and about meeting people where they are in conversations and in life.
And the poetry in this issue! Navajo Nation Poet Laureate Jake Skeets and former Poet Laureate of the United States Ada Limón are both here. We’re also sharing a third poem — about Dolly Parton’s passing by Silas House. Finally, do not miss our letter from Carson McCullers dated 1941. Connecting with our beloveds was different back then. A new book of her letters is over 1,000 pages long. (People wrote lots of letters.)
This magazine will reach most of you right before or right as we all go to the polls in November. As I type these words, I envision a big, blue, Cowabunga-style wave rippling across the U.S. People in small towns and big cities dancing in the streets. Of course, even with a tidal wave of wins, there will still be much work to do in this country. Much to prepare for (2028 elections, AI, so many issues) and so much to repair. To do this work we must band together. And to do that, we must talk with each other.
We’ve all been lulled into thinking we’re experiencing meaningful connections online. Let’s work to have real conversations with our people. Travel to see them. Pick up the phone.
I hope you enjoy this issue. As always, we are so grateful for your support.
All the love,
— Kyle
Kyle Tibbs Jones
Editor & Co-Founder,
The Bitter Southerner
