Logo for BATCH, A Bitter Southerner Podcast

BATCH, A Bitter Southerner Podcast

The Bitter Southerner

The Bitter Southerner wants to read you a story! (Make that batches of stories.) Yes, we’re launching a brand new podcast called BATCH, and in our first BATCH series we're sharing some of our most popular food stories. We Southerners love our food and we take our regional recipes seriously. In the coming episodes, we’re going talk about red beans, peaches, memories of the pound cake we had growing up and stories of people doing good and changing lives through food. We will laugh. We might cry. We’ll definitely have a good time. Join us here - for BATCH.

2023 Bitter Southerner

The Bitter Southerner wants to read you a story! (Make that batches of stories.) Yes, we’re launching a brand new podcast called BATCH, and in our first BATCH series we're sharing some of our most popular food stories. We Southerners love our food and we take our regional recipes seriously. In the coming episodes, we’re going talk about red beans, peaches, memories of the pound cake we had growing up and stories of people doing good and changing lives through food. We will laugh. We might cry. We’ll definitely have a good time. Join us here - for BATCH.

2023 Bitter Southerner
11hr 16min
Thumbnail for "Ep 007 - Jim Barger : The Untold Story of Hibiscus Grandiflorus".
In this episode we follow writer Jim Barger deep into the forest of a barrier island in search of prehistoric flowers once thought lost.
September 30, 202250min 44sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 016 - Taylor Brown : Ode to Blackwater Rivers".
Sturgeon that weigh half a ton. The legendary Altamaha-ha river monster. Hogzilla. Mystery awaits as Taylor Brown takes us upriver to the Blackwater.
March 26, 202438min 22sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 015 - Mickie Meinhardt : My Old Friend Natty Light".
To shore-living Marylanders (who do indeed qualify as Southerners), the humble, blue-collar, all-American staple is more than just cheap beer
August 14, 202337min 58sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 014 - Jennifer Justus : Country Cooking: Minnie's Corn Pudding and Tammy's Better Than Sex Cake".
These days, downtown Nashville is littered with bars named after stars, and most of those names belong to men. Jason Aldean’s Kitchen. Even (bless his heart) Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock ’n’ Roll Steakhouse. But it’s the women of country music who ought to be on those neon signs. Jennifer Justus explores the history.
August 8, 202331min 4sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 013 - Farhan Mustafa : Immigrant Spaghetti".
In Episode 13, our host Kyle Tibbs Jones chats with talented and hilarious writer Farhan Mustafa, author of The Bitter Southerner story, "Immigrant Spaghetti." For Farhan, spaghetti swaddled in a meaty tomato sauce electrified with spices like coriander, cumin, and turmeric was a regular recipe both at the family table and at mosque potlucks. Recently Mustafa, the child of North Indian immigrants, realized how special spaghetti has been to him and to so many others looking for a taste of home here in the South. In this episode he talks about reporting this story, Italian nights growing up in North Carolina, jacked up jars of Ragu, and his very southern take on a Charles Dickens classic. There's also a recipe in the show notes. Episode 13 is fun. Enjoy!
August 1, 202346min 9sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 012 - Alana Dao : Southern Hustle: Houston Hip-Hop & Chinese Chicken ".
Timmy Chan’s fried chicken is legendary in the Houston hip-hop world. Alana Dao delves into the restaurant chain that her grandparents started in the 1950s + the emergence of chop suey and chopped and screwed
July 25, 202337min 57sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 011 - Caroline Hatchett : The Elusive Roots of Rosin Potatoes".
The rosin potato - a baked potato cooked in a vat of boiling pine rosin - is a culinary oddity with mysterious roots. Caroline Hatchett joins us to talk about her unexpectedly long quest to find the truth
July 17, 202349min 20sec
Thumbnail for "Third Batch Trailer".
BATCH is back! We're bringing you conversations and excerpts from our new book Food Stories: writing that stirs the pot - we can't wait to share it with you! You're gonna love it
July 17, 20232min 1sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 010 - Lolis Eric Elie : The Whys".
August 29th, 2022, marked the 17th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating landfall on the gulf shore. Why did the people of New Orleans come back and rebuild their city? In 2015, we asked Lolis Eric Elie to help us find the answer. Today, he reads his piece The Whys.
October 21, 202233min 6sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 009 - Jessica Bradley Wells : Where the Tupelo Grows".
Did you know that tupelo honey actually comes from the Panhandle of Florida? That's right, it's not from Elvis' hometown!
October 14, 202233min 56sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 008 - Boyce Upholt : Down To The Tide Line".
Who loves the beach? Time to head for our ever changing Southern coastline.
October 7, 202229min 39sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 006 - Janisse Ray : Okefenokee, Heavy & Precious".
Acclaimed author, Janisse Ray, on one of the great wonders of this world - The Okefenokee Swamp. In this story we travel deep into the swamp, we meet the people working to fight off a mining company whose plan will have devastating effects. Janisse is a devoted environmentalist and a mesmerizing storyteller. This episode is so good.
September 23, 202259min 48sec
Thumbnail for "BATCH No. 2 is here!".
In our new BATCH of episodes - "Earth Stories" - we've recorded some of our favorite contributors reading their stories about special and fragile places across the South. Listen to these wonderful writers read their powerful words and then talk with our host, Kyle Tibbs Jones.
September 23, 20222min 57sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 005 - Sheri Castle: The Seven Essential Southern Dishes".
Sheri Castle talks us through her world famous, highly controversial, list of the Seven Essential Southern Dishes
July 30, 20221hr 1min
Thumbnail for "Ep 004 - Shane Mitchell : The Queen of Delicacies".
Shane Mitchell reads her piece "The Queen of Delicacies" about an iconic southern fruit: the peach!
July 23, 202258min 21sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 003 - Beans and Rice & Lemon Meringue Pie".
In the third episode of BATCH, we're actually sharing two stories: a tale of love and a tale of… well, also love, but with some hate mixed in too. Nikesha Elise Williams reads “Beans and Rice: More than a Poor Man’s Meal” and Kathleen Purvis reads “Lemon Meringue Pie: A Lesson In Love, Hate and Bravery”
July 16, 202236min 48sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 002 - Kate Medley : Meat and Three & 10 Dollars Worth of Regular".
Some people marvel at gas station food. Trust us, it's a beautiful thing.
July 9, 202223min 1sec
Thumbnail for "Ep 001 - Jennifer Kornegay : The Difference Between Happiness And Joy".
A restaurant in Brewton, Alabama does its part to fight hunger by giving up on the idea of being a business at all. Meet Lisa McMillan, a woman serving up love in the form of fried chicken, mac and cheese and cornbread. Her story is a good one.
July 2, 202240min 37sec
Thumbnail for "An Intro to Season 1/ Episode 1 of BATCH: A Bitter Southerner Podcast ".
Coming soon - a new Bitter Southerner Podcast!
June 30, 20222min 33sec

Ep 007 - Jim Barger : The Untold Story of Hibiscus Grandiflorus

Thumbnail for "Ep 007 - Jim Barger : The Untold Story of Hibiscus Grandiflorus".
September 30, 202250min 44sec

In our second BATCH (5 episodes called "Earth Stories"), we're digging into fragile, precious, and sometimes surprising places across the South. In Episode 7, writer Jim Barger reads his piece "The Untold Story of Hibiscus Grandiflorus." Listen as Jim takes us deep into the interior forest of a barrier island, where he witnesses a grove of gigantic prehistoric flowers - flowers the world had thought lost.

Jim is an outspoken advocate for conservation and protecting the Georgia coast. His magical story and conversation with our host, Kyle Tibbs Jones, make for an entertaining episode. 

Original Story

The Untold Story of Hibiscus Grandiflorus

Credits

Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones

Produced by Ryan Engelberger

Engineered by Anthony Stubelek (who is a real treasure) and Thomas Sully Allen

Featuring original music by Curt Castle

Recorded at Tweed Recording and Chase Park Transduction in Athens GA, and Rockstudio in Brunswick, GA

Made possible by the support of the Southern Environmental Law Center

Thumbnail for "Ep 007 - Jim Barger : The Untold Story of Hibiscus Grandiflorus".
Ep 007 - Jim Barger : The Untold Story of Hibiscus Grandiflorus
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