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Walter Edgar's Journal Archive

2012 | 2011

2013

May 24, 2013
Man and Moment: T. Moffatt Burriss and the Crossing

(Originally broadcast 06/29/12) - Anderson native T. Moffatt Burris is a WWII veteran and concentration camp liberator who also participated in the invasions of Sicily and Italy. During Operation Market Garden in Holland, he led the amphibious assault across the Waal River made famous in the movie, A Bridge Too Far. Burriss is the subject of the upcoming ETV special Man and Moment: T. Moffatt Burriss and the Crossing. He joins Dr. Edgar, State newspaper reporter Jeff Wilkinson, and documentary producer Lee Ann Kornegay, to talk about the war and about making the film.

May 17, 2013
Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: Mary Chesnut’s Civil War

Julia Stern, professor of English and American Studies at Northwestern University and author of Mary Chesnut's Civil War Epic, will "unpack the way in which at levels domestic, historical and epic, Chesnut's literary genius uniquely illuminated the greatest conflict of the American 19th century." Her conversation with Dr. Edgar was recorded before an audience at the University of South Carolina, part of the series Conversations on the Civil War, 1863, sponsored by USC's College of Arts and Sciences, and by USC's Office of the President.

May 10, 2013
Ellen Schlaefer - For the Love of Opera

Growing up in Columbia, Ellen Douglas Schlaefer never dreamed that she would one day direct operatic productions for some of the great opera companies around the world. But, she has. And now she brings her energy and talent to Opera at USC, one of only a handful of colleges and universities in the country that offer special training and practice for aspiring opera stage directors. Schlaefer is also the creator of the non-profit FBN Productions, which brings specially commissioned operas for children into schools around the southeast.

May 03, 2013
Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection

Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection (Cane Ridge/USC Press, 2013) is a lavishly illustrated volume exploring romanticism in iconic Southern masterworks. Many of the artists under consideration in the book created works of art that have achieved iconic status in the annals of painting in the South, including William Dickinson Washington, William Thompson Russell Smith, Gustave Henry Mosler, Thomas Addison Richards, Joseph Rusling Meeker, Robert Walter Weir, and Thomas Sully.

In this study of thirty-two artists represented in the Johnson Collection, noted art historian Estill Curtis Pennington delineates the historical, social, and cultural forces that profoundly influenced their aesthetic sensibilities. Walter’s guests, Martha Severens, art historian and curator; and collector Susu Johnson, talk with him about the art of the era and about the Johnson Collection, as well as the book and the Romantic Spirits exhibition at the Morris Museum in Augusta, Georgia.

April 26, 2013
Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: The Fight for Charleston

In the summer of 1863 three major campaigns occurred that affected the outcome of the Civil War. Two of three, Gettysburg and Vicksburg were dramatic turning points, while a third campaign directed against Charleston, South Carolina, proved instrumental for the Civil War but also future battles. The campaign introduced a new era of engineering and gunnery; it was a testing ground for African American troops and had a tremendous impact on life in Charleston and the Palmetto State.

Dr. Stephen R. Wise, curator of the Parris Island Museum of Marine Corps History, is author of Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running during the Civil War (USC Press) and Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863 (USC Press). He talks with Dr. Edgar about the Battle for Charleston, and about blockade runners, in a presentation that is part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1863,” held at USC, Columbia, in January and February, 2013. The series was sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

April 19, 2013
Conversations on the Civil War - 1863: Vicksburg

Winston Groom, novelist and author of Forrest Gump, has also written a number of well received histories, including Vicksburg, 1863. This narrative history of the Civil War’s most strategically important campaign describes the bloody two-year grind that started when Ulysses S. Grant began taking a series of Confederate strongholds in 1861, climaxing with the siege of Vicksburg two years later. For Grant and the Union it was a crucial success that captured the Mississippi River, divided the South in half, and set the stage for eventual victory.

Groom talks with Dr. Edgar about the siege of Vicksburg in a presentation that is part of the series “Conversations on the Civil War, 1863,” held at USC, Columbia, in January and February, 2013. The series was sponsored by the USC College of Arts and Sciences.

April 14, 2013
What is real Southern cooking?

Sunday at 4:00 on ETV Radio's News Stations
(Originally broadcast 07/09/10) - Today’s edition of The Journal is an encore of our 2010 “preview” of a Take on the South episode which aired on ETV in July. The question before the debaters that July, “What is real Southern cooking?” The Lee Brothers and John T. Edge are our guests.

2012

December 28, 2012
John Martin Taylor: Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking

At oyster roasts and fancy cotillions, in fish camps and cutting-edge restaurants, the people of South Carolina gather to enjoy one of America's most distinctive cuisines--the delicious, inventive fare of the Lowcountry. In the 25^th anniversary edition of his classic, Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking, John Martin Taylor offers 250 authentic and updated recipes for regional favorites, including shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, pickled watermelon rinds, and Frogmore stew. Taylor, who grew up casting shrimp nets in Lowcountry marshes, adds his personal experiences in bringing these dishes to the table and leads readers on a veritable treasure hunt throughout the region, offering a taste of an extraordinary way of life.

December 21, 2012
Pam Stone: I Love Me a Turkey Butt Samich

Former actress and comedienne Pam Stone talks with Dr. Edgar about her new book, I Love Me a Turkey Butt Samwich: Finding a Farm Life after Hollywood, a collection of readers’ favorites from Pam’s syndicated column, "I'm Just Saying."

Stone and her husband, Paul Zimmerman, owner of Ashdown Roses in Gowensville, moved in 1993 to Gowensville where she followed her passion and became a horse riding instructor. She previously toured as a stand-up comic, and was named in 1993 the Funniest Female Stand-Up Comic. She also played the role of Judy Watkins on the television series, "Coach," from 1989 to 1997.

December 14, 2012
Willard Hirsch: Charleston Sculptor

Dr. Edgar and his guests look at the life and work of Charleston sculptor Willard Hirsch. An exhibition at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston, Willard Hirsch: Charleston Sculptor, examines the body of work Hirsch developed over the course of his fifty-year career. Taking part in the conversation are Sara Arnold, Curator of Collections at the Gibbes Museum, Jane Hirsch; Martha Severens, former Chief Curator at the Greenville County Museum of Art; and Jane Hirsch, Willard Hirsch’s daughter and editor of the recent book Art Is a Powerful Language: Willard Hirsch--The Man, The Artist.

Willard Hirsch: Charleston Sculptor will be on display at the Gibbes Museum through December 30. It next will be on display in the Rainey Sculpture Pavilion in Brookgreen Gardens, January 26 through April 21, 2013.

December 07, 2012
Michael Morris: Man in the Blue Moon

Author Michael Morris talks with Dr. Edgar about his new novel Man in the Blue Moon. Pat Conroy writes, “Man in the Blue Moon is a beautifully wrought portrayal of small town southern life where poverty, tragedy and human love engage in a ritualistic dance.”

November 30, 2012
Dr. Harvey Jackson: The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera

In his book, The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera, Dr. Harvey H. Jackson III traces the development of the Florida-Alabama coast as a tourist destination from the late 1920s and early 1930s, when it was sparsely populated with "small fishing villages," through to the tragic and devastating BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.

Jackson focuses on the stretch of coast from Mobile Bay and Gulf Shores, Alabama, east to Panama City, Florida—an area known as the "Redneck Riviera." Jackson explores the rise of this area as a vacation destination for the lower South's middle- and working-class families following World War II, the building boom of the 1950s and 1960s, the emergence of the Spring Break "season, and the severe hurricane destruction of the many small motels, cafes, bars, and early cottages that gave the small beach towns their essential character.

Jackson traces the tensions surrounding the gentrification of the late 1980s and 1990s and the collapse of the housing market in 2008. While his major focus is on the social, cultural, and economic development, he also documents the environmental and financial impacts of natural disasters and the politics of beach access and dune and sea turtle protection.

November 23, 2012
Dr. Blake Gilpin: Hopping Freight Trains

(Originally broadcast 08/24/12) -On his way to a degree at Yale University, Blake Gilpin, chose a unique approach in tackling his master’s thesis. Riding the rails, illegally catching rides by hopping onto freight trains, much as the hobos of the early 20^th century had done, he journeyed hundreds of miles, living the hobo life. He also kept a diary that eventually became his thesis. Now an assistant professor of history at USC in Columbia, he joins Dr. Edgar to recount some of his journeys and what he learned while “hopping freights.”

November 16, 2012
Rev. Dr. Ken Walden, Claflin Univeristy

Dr. Ken J. Walden is University Chaplain at Claflin University, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Claflin University was founded in 1869 and is the oldest historically black college or university in the state of South Carolina. Dr. Walden comes to Claflin after spending a number of years serving as a United Methodist Pastor in the North Carolina Annual Conference, the Detroit Annual Conference, and the California Pacific Annual Conference

He talks with Dr. Edgar about his journey as a pastor from South Carolina to North Carolina, Detroit, California, and back.

November 09, 2012
Greg Johnsman: Geechee Boy Market and Mill

When Greg Johnsman and his wife Betsy moved from the Upstate in 2003 to an Edisto Island farm that had been in her family for generations, they began growing fruits and vegetables which the sold from their own roadside stand. It was 2007, though, when Greg took a big step toward fulfilling a dream to mill and sell his own freshly ground grits: he bought and restored a 1945 grist mill that had been stored in a barn for 40 years.

Now, Geechee Boy Market and Mill mills about 2,000 pounds of grits and cornmeal each week, much of which it sells locally. Greg also supplies four James Beard Award-winning restaurants in Charleston and ships his products around the country. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about how he first learned to mill corn, and about realizing the dream of milling and selling his own products.

November 02, 2012
South Carolinians in World War II: A World War

The Emmy-nominated documentary television series (produced in partnership by ETV and The State newspaper), South Carolinians in World War II, returns to ETV November 8^th with its latest episode, A World War. Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about this episode, and the war, are John Rainey, co-creator of the series; Wade Sellers, series director; and The State's Jeff Wilkinson, series producer.

October 26, 2012
James Cobb: The South and America since WWII

In his new book, The South and America since WWII, James C. Cobb provides the first truly comprehensive history of the South since World War II, brilliantly capturing an era of dramatic change, both in the South and in its relationship with the rest of the nation.

Here is a panoramic narrative that flows seamlessly from the Dixiecrats to the "southern strategy," to the South's domination of today's GOP, and from the national ascendance of southern culture and music, to a globalized Dixie's allure for foreign factories and a flood of immigrants, to the roles of women and an increasingly visible gay population in contemporary southern life.

October 19, 2012
A Plan to “Enlighten and Empower Gullah Geechee People to Sustain the Culture”

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission’s Management Plan, Enlighten and Empower Gullah Geechee People to Sustain the Culture, is completed and available for public review and comment. Ron Daise, Chair of the Commission; Michael Allen, Community Partnership Specialist, U.S. Park Service, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the plan, which represents an almost four-year planning effort on the part of the Commission, with input from the public, stakeholders, prospective partners, and Gullah Geechee community and grassroots organizations.

For more information, visit:

October 12, 2012
Best of WEJ Pledge Special

This week’s program offers highlights from past shows and an opportunity for you to support Walter Edgar’s Journal with your pledge.

This program will not be podcast.

October 05, 2012
Jon Buchan: Code of the Forest

Jon Buchan, a First Amendment attorney and former newspaper political reporter, drew on his expert knowledge to produce Code of The Forest, a legal drama that, in the words of New York Times best-selling author Ron Rash, is “nearly impossible to put down.” An authoritative voice with an insider’s understanding of Southern politics, Buchan takes readers into the courtrooms, newsrooms and political backrooms of the South Carolina Lowcountry in this tale of corruption and quest for human connection.

September 28, 2012
The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership

The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership, named for former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education Richard Riley, is a multi-faceted, non-partisan institute affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University. The Institute is unique in the United States in the emphasis it places on engaging students in the various arenas of politics, public policy, and public leadership.

Since its inauguration in 1999, the Riley Institute has developed a broad array of programs, symposia, and conferences designed to promote discussion and analysis of the dynamics of important public policy issues ranging from social security to national security policy. Among the most important programs of The Riley Institute are those created to promote civic participation, responsibility, and public leadership: Our Teachers of Government and Emerging Public Leaders programs, the Wilkins Excellence in Legislative Leadership program, the Law and Society Series, and the award winning Riley Diversity Leaders Initiative.

Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the Riley Institute and its programs are Richard W. Riley and the Institute's Executive Director, Donald L. Gordon.

September 21, 2012
South Carolina’s Virtual Library: DISCUS

DISCUS, South Carolina’s Virtual Library is the “information place” for all South Carolinians. DISCUS, which stands for Digital Information for South Carolina USers, provides free access to an electronic library that’s available 24/7. DISCUS provides a variety of organized resources, called databases, for individuals of all ages, educational levels and interests. The databases include professional journals, reference material, newspapers, maps, encyclopedias, magazines, multimedia, and e-books. Among the encyclopedias accessible through DISCUS is the new, on-line-only edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

DISCUS Program Director Amy Duernberger joins Dr. Edgar to talk about this unique, free learning resource, how it came to be, and the scope and reliability of its content. Then, Darcy McCanless, Manager of Professional Development for Britannica Digital Learning, will tell us about the unprecedented move by Encyclopedia Britannica in publishing its latest iteration solely in the digital realm.

Contact the SC State Library

September 14, 2012
Ric Burns: Death and the Civil War

With the coming of the Civil War, and the staggering casualties it ushered in, death entered the experience of the American people as it never had before--permanently altering the character of the republic and the psyche of the American people.

On Tuesday, September 18^th, at 9:00pm, ETV will air Ric Burns’ American Experience documentary Death and the Civil War. Burns joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the film, and the ways in which the Civil War forever changed how Americans deal with death. Also taking part in the discussion are David W. Blight, Professor of American History at Yale University, and the Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale; and Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust, the 28th President of Harvard University and the Lincoln Professor of History in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Her 2009 Bancroft Prize-winning book, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008) forms the basis for Burn’s documentary.

(Photo:Rahoul Ghose/PBS)

September 07, 2012
Messages from Home: the Art of Leo Twiggs

(Originally broadcast April 13, 2012) - This week’s guest is renowned artist Leo Twiggs. His new book Messages from Home: the Art of Leo Twiggs brushes a broad stroke over the 40-year career that has made Twiggs an internationally renowned name in the world of art. It is the first book to be published by the Claflin University Press, making the institution one of only two Historically Black Colleges and Universities to have their own publishing house.

Twiggs tells Dr. Edgar that he sought to make the book itself an artistic experience by carefully selecting and placing his reproduced art in a meaningful way throughout. They talk about the book and Twiggs' career.

August 31, 2012
Reading, Publishing, and Selling Books in S.C.

(Originally broadcast 12/09/11) - As the old slogan says, “Reading is fundamental.” However, with ever more numerous electronic media vying for our attention, reading is not always a priority for the average South Carolinian. Wanda Jewell and Curtis Rogers are working to change that through the South Carolina Center for the Book, a cooperative project of the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science, and the Humanities Council SC. They join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Center, the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance, USC Press, the S.C. State Library, and the Center for the Book’s Speaker at the Center series.

August 17, 2012
Camille 1969: Histories of a Hurricane

(Originally broadcast 07/19/11) - Thirty-four years ago, Hurricane Camille savaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In his book, Camille, 1969: Histories of a Hurricane, Dr. Mark Smith has written three highly original histories of the storm’s impact in southern Mississippi. Smith is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of History in USC’s College of Arts and Humanities. He is also a leading expert on “sensory history.” He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, and about sensory history.

August 10, 2012
The Peach Bush Book Club: Flying Helicopters in Vietnam

(Originally broadcast 05/27/11) - Walter Edgar talks with Col. Walt Ledbetter and Duncan McCrae, veterans of the 263rd Marine Helicoptor Squadron. Their aim is to compile a history of their experiences in the Vietnam War in 1969-70. They share stories from some of the missions they flew. Ledbetter and McCrae are joined by Clint Chalmers, producer.

August 03, 2012
Troy Nooe: Ocean Forest - Murder in Myrtle Beach

Frankie McKeller hates the beach. He has ever since that day on the one they called Omaha. If the guy who saved his life during the war wasn’t getting married he’d never have made the trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

As a low budget gum shoe out of Baltimore, he isn’t prepared for a weekend of hobnobbing with the Southern elite. When a prominent wedding guest is found with a bullet to the brain, the six week course he took in private investigation proves lacking as well. Southern tradition meets old school mystery in this twisting tale as rival families attempt to alter the course of what is destined to become one of America’s top vacation destinations.

In his novel Ocean Forest: Murder in Myrtle Beach, Toy D. Nooe takes readers on a noir ride through post-WWII Myrtle Beach, SC. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the novel and his growing career as a novelist.

July 27, 2012
Renovating 701 Whaley in Columbia

Most people looked at the building at 701 Whaley St. as a crumbling eyesore. But developer Richard Burts saw much more. He tells Dr. Edgar he brought the historic structure back to life.

Built in 1903 as the Granby and Pacific Mill village's company store, 701 Whaley, a 35,000 square-foot brick building in Columbia, S.C. has served many purposes. It quickly became a community center for the mill workers and everybody just called it "The Y." It included a bowling alley, library, auditorium, gymnasium, pool and dance hall. With dances every Friday night, a movie on Saturdays, basketball and billiards, socials and civility, this cornerstone of the community was hopping with action for several decades.

July 20, 2012
Nathalie Dupree’s Southern Biscuits

(Originally broadcast 12/16/11) - Nathalie Dupree joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her new book, Southern Biscuits, co-authored by Cynthia Stevens Graubart. Dupree is the author of eleven cookbooks about the American South, entertaining, and basic cooking. She has hosted over 300 television shows on the Food Network, The Learning Channel and PBS. She has been a spokesperson for Wild American Shrimp, the Catfish Institute and many other organizations. She currently writes for The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., as well as Charleston Magazine and other publications.

July 13, 2012
The Liberty Fellowship of S.C.

This week, Hayne Hipp and Dr. Benjamin Dunlap, founders of the Liberty Fellowship, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Fellowship. In 2002 and 2003, Hipp and Dunlap began the process of creating the Fellowship. The Fellowship seeks to promote outstanding leadership in South Carolina, empowering the state and its future leaders to realize their full potential. The Liberty Fellowship is less than a decade old, but its roots go back centuries to concepts of creating a just society.

In 2012, Fellows, senior advisors and passionate community members are seeking to address challenges in the areas of health, environment, public policy, education, and economic development through action groups. Though separate from Liberty Fellowship by design, each action group seeks to move South Carolina forward.

July 06, 2012
Mary Alice Monroe: Beach House Memories

Lowcountry author Mary Alice Monroe talks with Dr. Edgar about her new novel, Beach House Memories. The novel is the third book in a series that began 10 years ago with Beach House. It's the poignant and emotional tale of Lovie Rutledge, a strong, passionate woman torn between duty and desire, between the traditions of the old South and the social changes that were sweeping America in 1974. For Lovie, it is an empowering journey of seasons of self-discovery.

June 22, 2012
Dorothea Benton Frank: Porch Lights

Dorothea Benton Frank joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her new novel. With Porch Lights, the New York Times bestselling author is back home in the Carolina Lowcountry, spinning a tale that brims with the warmth, charm, heart, and humor that has become her trademark. The novel is a stirring, emotionally rich, multigenerational story—a poignant tale of life, love, and transformation—as a nurse, returning to Sullivans Island from the Afghanistan War, finds her life has been irrevocably altered by tragedy…and now must rediscover love and purpose with the help of her son and aging mother.

June 15, 2012
Piano Music During the Civil War Era

The American Civil War shaped every aspect of life in the South, including music. Along with songs and military band music published in the South during the war, a considerable repertoire of solo keyboard music also exists, written by white, black, male, and female composers. Dr. David B. Thompson, a professor of music at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C., has created and gives performances of a program called “Confederates at the Keyboard: Piano Music during the Civil War Era.”

Thompson discusses the Southern composers whose music was prominent during the Civil War, and the role of the keyboard in Confederate society with Dr. Edgar. He’ll also sit down at the piano to play some of this music.

June 08, 2012
Common Sense and Whiskey: Modest Adventures Far from Home

(Originally broadcast 01/06/12) - Author Bill Murray and his wife Mirja live on a horse farm in the southern Appalachian mountains of Georgia, but they are seasoned world travelers. His book, Common Sense and Whiskey: Modest Adventures Far from Home, offers stories from their journeys to some distant places that are off the beaten path.

He brings together tales of treks in Africa, Azerbaijan and the Arctic; headhunters and prayer flags; liars and thieves; evil spirits and atrocious food. From Tbilisi to Tibet to the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Common Sense and Whiskey is a crisp survey of what it's like in the real world. He tells Dr. Edgar, and his readers, "You can handle just about anything out on the road with a believable grin, common sense and whiskey."

Bill's & Mirja's photos are at earthphotos.com.
Contact Bill: bill@commonsenseandwhiskey.com

June 01, 2012
Winston Groom: Shiloh, 1862

The Civil War saw some of the bitterest battles ever fought by American soldiers. According to Winston Groom, distinguished Civil War historian and author of the bestselling Forrest Gump, one battle set the stage for those to come. In his new book, Shiloh, 1862, Winston Groom gives a masterful account of the Battle of Shiloh, which marked a violent crossroads in the war.

Winston Groom joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his new book, and about his career. Groom is the author of 15 previous books, including Vicksburg, 1863; Forrest Gump, which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary; and (with Duncan Spencer) Conversations with the Enemy, a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

May 25, 2012
Julian Wiles. Playwright and Producing Artistic Director of Charleston Stage

In early 1942, Navy Ensign Jack Kennedy and his current fling, Danish blond bombshell and suspected Nazi spy, Inga Arvad, planned a clandestine tryst at the Fort Sumter House Hotel in Charleston, S.C. So goes the plot for playwright Julian Wiles’ screwball comedy, Inga Binga, recently performed by Charleston Stage.

Wiles, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Charleston Stage, has written or adapted 27 original plays and musicals for the company, including Edgar Allen Poe, the Final Mystery; Denmark Vesey: Insurrection; and Gershwin at Folly. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about writing and directing Inga Binga, and some of his other works that also have South Carolina roots.

May 18, 2012
South Carolinians in WWII: Liberation

With about 184,000 South Carolinians serving in World War II, and thousands more who moved here after the war, ETV and The State newspaper partnered together to tell the stories of these veterans in their own words. The result is a new Emmy-nominated documentary series, South Carolinians in World War II.

The series returns to ETV May 24 with its fourth episode, Liberation. Series co-creator John Rainey, producer Jeff Wilkinson and veteran Mickey Dorsey talk with Dr. Edgar about the program and the end of the war.

To contact Jeff Wilkinson at the State newspaper: (803) 771-8495.

(Photo: L to R, Jeff Wilkinson, Mickey Dorsey, John Rainey)

May 11, 2012
Carolyn Hart: “Death Comes Silently”; William Cleveland & Tate Nation: “Yo, Millard Fillmore!”

Max and Annie Darling are back in Death Comes Silently, the 22^nd mystery in Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series. Max and Annie live on the fictional island of Broward’s Rock, just off the coast of South Carolina, where they operate the mystery bookstore called Death on Demand. Carolyn Hart joins Dr. Edgar to talk about this latest book, the re-issue of one of her earliest novels, and the upcoming What the Cat Saw.

And Walter will chat with William Cleveland and Tate Nation, two Charlestonians, whose Yo, Millard Fillmore, was named by USA Today as one of the top e-books in 2012. The book is a light-hearted but educational tool to help kids learn not only the names of the U.S. presidents, but also a bit about their histories.

May 04, 2012
Rich Williams May Have the World’s Strongest Grip

Since its 1989 beginning as The Arnold Classic, a one-day professional men’s bodybuilding competition, The Arnold Sports Festival has grown to include 45 sports and events, including 11 Olympic sports. In March 2012, Columbian Rich Williams won first place in The Arnold’s Mighty Mitts grip competition.

Rich Williams talks with Dr. Edgar about training and competing. They are joined by Mighty Mitts’ Richard and Bert Sorin, of Sorinex Excerise Equipment, Columbia.

April 27, 2012
John’s Island Presbyterian Church - Three Centuries

First founded three centuries ago by British Dissenters and French Huguenots, Johns Island Presbyterian Church was built on a promise of religious freedom and tolerance offered by the South Carolina charter. The church is one of the oldest continuously active congregations of any denomination in North America, and it has survived multiple wars and the clash of different cultures to endure into the twenty-first century. Dr. Charles Raynal joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his new book Johns Island Presbyterian Church: Its People and Its Community from Colonial Beginnings to the Twenty-First Century, and the history of religious tolerance in Carolina.

April 20, 2012
Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations

Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations is a collection of portraits of many remarkable Alabamians, famous and obscure, profiled by award-winning journalist and novelist Roy Hoffman. Written as Sunday feature stories for the Mobile Press-Register with additional pieces from the New York Times, Preservation, and Garden & Gun, these profiles preserve the individual stories—and the individual voices within the stories—that help to define one of the most distinctive states in the union.

Roy Hoffman joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, and about the people he has profiled.

April 06, 2012
Carolina Planters on the Alabama Frontiers

Edward Pattillo's book Carolina Planters on the Alabama Frontier: The Spencer-Robeson-McKenzie Family Papers collects the papers of Elihu Spencer, a fourth-generation New Englander, and his family and Southern decedents, to form a history of the American nation from the point of view of planters and those they held in slavery. The documents in this volume are accounts of a privileged world that was afflicted by constant loss and despair. The papers together form a dramatic narrative of early Americans from the mid-eighteenth century to the harsh years after the Civil War. They created their new society with courage, imagination and tenacity, while never recognizing their own moral blind spot regarding the holding of human beings in slavery.

March 30, 2012
American College of the Building Arts - A “Hero of the New South”

In its March 2012 issue, Southern Living magazine selected Charleston, South Carolina’s, American College of the Building Arts as one of the first recipients of its “Heroes of the New South” award. The school was named in the category of Architecture. "In a time when we are returning to the values of craftsmanship, this college is leading the way,” says Heroes juror Jim Strickland. “Their graduates are continuing crafts that we once feared would be lost.” The American College of the Building Arts (ACBA) gives students the opportunity to receive a quality liberal arts education while learning the skills needed to excel in their chosen field. Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the award, and about the ACBA, are the college’s president, Lt. General (Ret.) Colby M. Broadwater, III; Kerri Forrest, Director of Institutional Advancement; Emily Gillett, a senior plaster student; and Erin Street, an editor for Southern Living.

Photos on Flickr.

Meghan Shogan of the American College of the Building Arts from Building Arts College on Vimeo.

March 23, 2012
The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston

The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston has created a retrospective exhibition entitled The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston. Hutty is of one of the principal artists of the Charleston Renaissance of the early 20^th century, and the exhibition features over 50 works in oil, watercolor, pastel, and most importantly, his exquisite prints created in Charleston and Woodstock, New York.

Gibbes Curator of Collections Sara Arnold, author and scholar Harlan Greene, and collector Edith Howle, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Charleston Renaissance, the life and art of Hutty, the exhibition, and its companion book (USC Press). After it makes its debut at the Gibbes, the exhibition will travel to the Greenville County Museum of Art and the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, GA.

March 16, 2012
Revitalizing the Grounds of the Hampton-Preston Mansion in Columbia

A four-acre garden once graced the grounds of the Hampton-Preston Mansion, and was a destination for travelers beginning in the 1840s. The gardens were destroyed by 1947 to clear the block for commercial development. Historic Columbia Foundation has broken ground on a 3-phase, multi-year garden revitalization project. Included in the first phase will be installation of new irrigation, pathways, edging, lighting, as well as new plantings selected from plants available prior to 1865, in general, and, specifically, from those known to have been grown on the property during the 1830s through 1860s.

Historic Columbia Foundation’s Director of Grounds, David Simpson, and John Sherrer, the Foundation’s Director of Cultural Resources, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the history of the property, its gardens, and the revitalization that is underway.

See early magazine illustrations of the house and garden

March 09, 2012
A History of Kershaw County

(Originally broadcast 05/06/11) Joan A. Inabinet and L. Glen Inabinet join Dr. Edgar to talk about their new book, A History of Kershaw County, and to share insightful tales of the region's inhabitants through defining historical moments. Their history is a much-anticipated, comprehensive narrative describing a South Carolina community rooted in strong local traditions. From prehistoric to present times, the history spans Native American dwellers through the county's major roles in the American Revolution and Civil War, to the commercial and industrial innovations of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The conversation takes place in our studios before an audience of longtime supporters of ETV and ETV Radio.

March 02, 2012
Troxler’s Truckers: Vietnam Memories

In 1968, the 319th Transportation Company, an Army Reserve unit, was sent to fight in the Vietnam War. The unit drew most of its members from the Augusta, Georgia/Aiken, S.C. area. During their 11 month tour of duty, they drove their trucks over one million miles, delivering ammunition, supplies, and soldiers to bases around South Vietnam. They called themselves “Troxler's Truckers,” after their commanding officer.

Two of Troxler’s Truckers, Arthur Beaufort and Wallace Zealy, talk with Dr. Edgar about their unit’s time in Vietnam. They are joined by James Henderson, who created a documentary film called Troxler’s Truckers: Vietnam Memories.

February 24, 2012
Voices of Our Ancestors

As language development reflects historical development, linguistics can also serve as an avenue of inquiry into South Carolina's social history from the epoch of Native American primacy to the present day. In her book Voices of Our Ancestors: Language Contact in Early South Carolina, linguist and author Patricia C. Nichols pays particular attention to the development of the Gullah language among the coastal African American peoples and the ways in which this language—and others of South Carolina's early inhabitants—continues to influence the communication and culture of the state's current populations. She joins Dr. Edgar to discuss the book, which provides the first detailed linguistic history of South Carolina. Patricia Nichols is a professor emeritus of linguistics at San Jose State University. She has published at length on Gullah Linguistics and in the cross field of Linguistic Anthropology.

February 17, 2012
Preserving the Roadside Stands of Sweetgrass Basket-Makers

The U.S. Highway 17 widening project in Mount Pleasant affects the heart of the traditional sweetgrass basket-making community in South Carolina, and is part of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, a National Heritage Area, which extends from Wilmington, North Carolina to St. Augustine, Florida.

Working with a number of partners, the town of Mount Pleasant has created a plan to minimize the impact of widening U.S. 17 on the basket- makers’ roadside stands, many of which have been in the same families for generations. Joining Dr. Edgar to tell the story of this unprecedented project are Michael Allen of the National Park Service; Thomasena Stokes-Marshall, Mt. Pleasant Town Council Member and executive director of the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association; and a Mt. Pleasant sweetgrass basket-maker, Lynette Yousin.

February 10, 2012
Pledge Drive Edition

It's ETV Radio's Spring Membership Drive! So, today we will look back at some of our favorite stories from the past year, and offer you a chance to support Walter Edgar's Journal with your pledge. Today's show will not be podcast.

February 03, 2012
Saving History: The Prosperity Train Depot

The town of Prosperity, along with the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, rededicated the historic Prosperity Depot on October 8, 2011. Originally built during the 1920s as a railroad passenger terminal for Prosperity, the depot served the town until 1971. The rededication took place 40 years to the day after the closing.

A.M.E. Church Bishop Frank James (retired) took part in the ceremony, reflecting on the era in which he waited to take the passenger train in the depot's "colored-only" waiting room. He joins Michael Bedenbaugh, the Palmetto Trust's Executive Director, to talk with Dr. Edgar about the depot, its restoration, and about growing up in the community in the early 20th century.

January 27, 2012
Working South: Artist Mary Whyte

Dr. Edgar’s guest is renowned Charleston watercolorist Mary Whyte. Whyte has gained national recognition for her figurative watercolors. Most noted for her depictions of the African American Gullah women of Johns Island, South Carolina, near where she lives, Whyte has, in recent years, turned her attention to paintings of southern workers. Fifty of these paintings and drawings are now part of a traveling exhibition of her work, called Working South, and a book of her paintings by the same name has been published (USC Press).

Gallery of some images from Working South

CBS Sunday Morning feature on Mary Whyte

January 20, 2012
Jason Scott Luck, Sixth-Generation Potter

Beginning with William Luck in the 19^th century, the Luck family has continued the time-honored techniques of wheel-thrown pottery for six generations. Jason Scott Luck is a member of the latest generation of accomplished potters in the family. Jason, an attorney, turns pottery when he's home in Seagrove, N.C., and at various art facilities in Charleston where he works. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about creating wheel-thrown pottery.

January 13, 2012
The Evolution of the S.C. Republican Presidential Preference Primary

The presidential primary season is in full swing, with South Carolina’s Republican Presidential Preference Primary coming up Saturday, January 21. South Carolina’s presidential primaries have proven important to presidential nominees of both major parties. This is particularly true for the Republican contenders.

State Senator John Courson has been active in Republican politics for over thirty years and was one of the organizers of the first S.C. Republican Presidential primary in 1980. He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the history, evolution, and importance of the Republican Presidential Preference Primary in South Carolina.

2011

December 23, 2011
Restoring the American Chestnut

(Originally broadcast 04/22/11) - The American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in the eastern United States, occupying about 25 percent of the hardwood canopy in eastern forests. By the early 1950s, the tree was virtually eliminated by an exotic fungus from Asia, called the chestnut blight.

The U.S. Forest Service, The American Chestnut Foundation, and the University of Tennessee have been conducting research and tests to produce a blight-resistant American chestnut, with aspirations of restoring the species throughout the Southeast. Bryan Burhans, President and CEO of the American Chestnut Foundation, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about efforts to bring back the tree.

December 09, 2011
South Carolina’s Literary Culture

As the old slogan says, “Reading is fundamental.” However, with ever more numerous electronic media vying for our attention, reading is not always a priority for the average South Carolinian. Wanda Jewell and Curtis Rogers are working to change that through the South Carolina Center for the Book, a cooperative project of the South Carolina State Library, the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science, and the Humanities Council SC. They join Dr. Edgar to talk about the Center, the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance, USC Press, the S.C. State Library, and the Center for the Book’s Speaker at the Center series.

December 02, 2011
Protecting the Cowasee Basin

Billy Cate and John Cely, Land Protection Director of the Congaree Land Trust, talk with Dr. Edgar about the Trust and its Focus Area in the Cowasee Basin. The Trust is currently working on conservation easements totaling 3,700 acres, of which 700 acres are in the Basin area.

November 25, 2011
Kirk H. Neely: Santa Almost Got Caught

Author Kirk H. Neely joins Dr. Edgar in a special Journal, recorded at ETV Radio before a live audience, to talk about his collection of holiday stories, Santa Almost Got Caught: Stories for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. Guiding us through the holiday season from Thanksgiving through Epiphany, Neely takes us into the woods in search of the perfect red cedar Christmas tree. He’ll remind us of the real reason sweet potatoes were part of holiday meals. In this long-anticipated volume, we’ll hear tales about a flaming Advent wreath and the Christmas tree emergency that required an exterminator.

Neely also tells us about his book, Banjos, Barbecue and Boiled Peanuts. This follow-up to the award-winning A Good Mule Is Hard to Find delves even deeper into the humor and lore of Southern life, the mysteries and truths that are wedged between its mountains, snake down its rivers, stalk its gardens and graveyards, lie hidden in its abandoned boxcars, and collect beneath its fingernails.

November 18, 2011
South Carolina’s Supreme Court Rules to Protect Isolated Wetlands

Dr. Edgar and his guests take a look at wetlands—what they are and why they are so ecologically important, focusing particularly on a recent ruling by the S.C. Supreme Court extending legal protection to isolated wetlands. The suit was filed over a 0.332-acre lot in Pawleys Island, 0.19 acres of which is an isolated wetland, meaning it does not have a direct connection to other waters or wetlands. Such wetlands were previously ruled outside of the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s purview.

Taking part in the discussion are Amy Armstrong, Chief Counsel for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, and Dr. James Morris, Director, Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine & Coastal Sciences of USC.

November 11, 2011
Bernardin

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Columbia native Joseph Bernardin, who rose to the position of Cardinal in the American Catholic Church. Around the ethical/moral life issues facing society, Bernardin advocated a "consistent ethic of life" and later initiated a project of reconciliation called "Common Ground," a healing legacy that transcends ideological boundaries.

The documentary, Bernardin, (airing statewide on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 5:00 p.m. on ETV and at 9:00 p.m. on ETV's SC Channel) examines the life of a man who helped define many of the critical issues facing the nation and recalls how America stood with him, as he was called to publicly define himself.

Martin Doblmeier, producer of Bernardin will talk with Dr. Edgar about the making of the documentary and the legacy of Cardinal Bernardin.

November 04, 2011
South Carolinians in WWII: A Path to Victory

About 184,000 South Carolinians served in World War II, and thousands more, who moved here after the war. ETV and The State newspaper partnered together to tell the stories of these veterans in their own words. The result is a new Emmy-nominated documentary series, South Carolinians in World War II.

The series returns in November with its final episode, A Path to Victory. Executive Producer John Rainey, Co-Producer Jeff Wilkinson, and two veterans featured in the series--Dr. Jack Keith and Chris Carawan--talk with Dr. Edgar about the program and share stories of their experiences in the war.

October 28, 2011
E.J. Dionne, Washington Post Syndicated Columnist

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post syndicated columnist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is familiar to ETV Radio listeners from his appearances as a news analyst and commentator on NPR’s All Things Considered. Dionne is coming to USC in Columbia, to speak as part of the Cardinal Bernardin Lectureship in Ethical, Moral, and Religious Studies. His topic will be, "Reweaving the Seamless Garment: Cardinal Bernadin's Living Legacy to American Public Life."

Dionne and Dr. Edgar will talk about the life and work of Bernardin, USC’s Bernardin Lectureship, and Dionne’s perspective on the current, as well as historic, political and religous landscapes.

October 21, 2011
William W. Starr: Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster

Dr. Edgar has a lively conversation with William W. Starr, author of Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster, a twenty-first-century literary pilgrimage to retrace the famous 1773 Scottish journey of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson, two of the most celebrated writers of their day. Starr enlivens this crisply written travelogue with a playful wit, an enthusiasm for all things Scottish, the boon and burden of American sensibility, and an ardent appreciation for Boswell and Johnson—who make frequent cameos throughout these ramblings.

October 14, 2011
October Pledge Special

It's time again for our Fall Membership Drive. Show your support for Walter Edgar's Journal by calling in your pledge of financial support at 1-800-256-8535. You can also pledge on-line! This episode of the journal features clips from three of our favorite episodes from the last year: "Marine helicopter crews in the Vietnam War," "Remembering two SC Revolutionary War heroes," and "Benjamin Dunlap: a life in higher education."

October 07, 2011
Found: Mary Chesnut’s Civil War photo albums

Mary Chesnut’s diary, originally published forty years after the Civil War as Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, is generally acknowledged today as the finest literary work of the Confederacy. Spiced by the author's sharp intelligence, irreverent wit, and keen sense of irony and metaphorical vision, it uses a diary format to evoke a full, accurate picture of the South in civil war. Her words, however, were originally complemented by three personal photograph albums that were filled with annotated pictures of the many people found throughout the diary.

Lost or stolen since the 1930s, the albums were only rediscovered in 2007. Now the photos are about to be published, with the original, Diary from Dixie-version of Chesnut’s diary, as Mary Chesnut’s Illustrated Diary, Mulberry Edition Boxed Set. In addition, the photo albums are being given by Chesnut’s descendents to USC’s Caroliniana Library to be re-united with her original journals.

Joining Dr. Edgar to tell the story of these remarkable photos are Martha Daniels, a descendant of Mary Chestnut; Harvey Teal, an authority on 19th century photographs and author of Partners with the Sun; and Henry Fulmer, Curator of Manuscripts, for the South Caroliniana Library.

September 30, 2011
Mercy Creek

Matt Matthews, pastor at St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his first novel, Mercy Creek, winner of the South Carolina Arts Commission First Novel Prize.

On his first day out of school, 16 year-old Isaac doesn't feel that events of June in a town on Virginia's Eastern Shore could threaten his life or even change it. But there are signs. By the middle of a sultry July, Isaac has discovered that small towns in which everybody knows everybody else's business often hide the most vicious secrets. By solving mysteries of a twisted communal past, laying bare the stains of a history that includes the Klan, Isaac has resolved where he belongs in the world, opening the future.

In this quietly suspenseful story with splashes of manic humor, the eccentrics, the recluses, the bigots and the bores join the human parade. The march for that parade, however, is the heart-stirring strains of forgiveness.

For more information, visit:

September 23, 2011
Linda O’Bryon, President & CEO of SC ETV

Linda O’Bryon began her work as President and CEO of ETV in December of 2010. She talks with Dr. Edgar about her career in public broadcasting and about her work at ETV. They also look at the opportunities and challenges in ETV’s future, as well as ETV Radio’s move to its new studios in October.

Linda O'Bryon has previously served as Chief Content Officer at KQED/Northern California Public Broadcasting in San Francisco. She is also the founding executive editor of PBS' Nightly Business Report (NBR) which debuted in 1979 and is currently carried on more than 250 public television stations across the nation. In 2009, O'Bryon received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in Business and Financial Reporting by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Links of interest: ETV - South Carolina's Lifeline, ETV, Knowitall.org, StreamlineSC, Teacherline Southeast, Educator Plus, State Agency Training, National Teacher Training Institute, ETV Public Services Network; ETV Radio

September 16, 2011
Dorothea Benton Frank: Folly Beach

The incomparable Dorothea Benton Frank joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her latest Lowcountry novel, Folly Beach. As she has with many other delightful literary excursions to this magical Southern locale, the perennial New York Times bestselling author creates a heart-warming tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love—as a woman returns to the past to find her future. Dorothea Benton Frank is “a masterful storyteller” (Booklist) who has already secured her place alongside Anne Rivers Siddons, Sue Monk Kidd, Rebecca Wells, Barbara Delinsky and other contemporary authors of bestselling women’s fiction.

September 09, 2011
Fr. Lyndon Harris: after 9/11

Fr. Lyndon Harris was the Priest in Charge of St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel across from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He talks with Dr. Edgar about the extraordinary ministry begun at St. Paul’s on 9/12 and about his current work with Gardens of Forgiveness. An exhibition at the Cherokee County History and Arts Museum through September 17th, Eyewitnesses to 9/11: From Tragedy to Transformation, brings together artifacts, art, and photos from St. Paul’s to tell the story.

September 02, 2011
The Republican Primary

How important is South Carolina’s first-in-the-South Republican Primary in the 2012 presidential election? To discuss the question, Dr. Edgar is joined by James Hammond, Editor of the Columbia Regional Business Report; Peter Applebome, NY Times writer and author of Dixie Rising; and Dr. James Guth, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science at Furman University.

Note: this program was recorded on Tuesday, August 30, 2011.

August 26, 2011
City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886

(Originally broadcast 03/02/07) -- On this 125^th anniversary of the Charleston earthquake of 1886, the Journal offers an encore presentation of an episode with author Richard Côté. His book, City of Heroes: The Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886, is an action-packed, heavily illustrated, non-fiction book filled with gripping, first-hand accounts of the earthquake, drawn directly from the personal diaries, journals, and letters of survivors and from the daily newspapers. It also presents the story of the handpicked team of local and federal scientists who worked tirelessly to discover what caused the disaster.

A native of Connecticut, Richard N. Côté studied political science and journalism at Butler University. After serving on the staff of the South Carolina Historical Society for several years, he spent the 1980s and 1990s researching and writing about Southern plantation life, social history, architecture, and exploring exotic local micro-cultures. In 2001, he published his first novel, The Redneck Riviera.

www.scearthquakes.com; scearthquakes.cofc.edu; www.dnr.sc.gov/geology/earthquake

August 19, 2011
Remembering two SC Revolutionary War heroes

In 1887, The US Army Corps of Engineers chose Brigadier General Francis Marion, “The Swamp Fox,” for the honors when they named Marion Park, which sits on South Carolina Avenue, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., and is one of four Capitol Hill East National Parks. Over a century-and-a-score years later the Palmetto Conservation Foundation is leading the effort to place a monument in Marion’s name in the park. President Obama and signed the enabling legislation for the monument into law on May 8, 2008, completing the first step of the five step process. John McCabe joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the challenges still ahead.

And, Doug MacIntyre will tell us about a virtually un-sung Revolutionary War hero, South Carolina’s Col. William “Danger” Thomson, and the new park created on Sullivan’s Island to honor his leadership in repelling the British invasion in June of 1776.

August 12, 2011
The Hunley, 10 years later

(Originally broadcast 12/03/10) – The study and conservation of the Confederate submarine Hunley took a major step forward in June, 2011, when conservationists rotated the vessel, in its salt-water tank, into an upright position for the first time since it sank in 1864. The Hunley and its crew had vanished after becoming the first submarine to successfully sink another warship, the USS Husatonic.

To mark this milestone we are revisiting a Journal episode with Senator Glen McConnell, Chairman of the South Carolina Hunley Commission, and Dr. Maria Jacobs, Chief Archaeologist for the Hunley project. We’ll hear the fascinating story of this project which has brought together historical research, cutting edge technology, and experts from across the scientific and academic spectrum, all to answer the question: what happened to the Hunley.

August 05, 2011
Mary Chestnut’s Civil War Epic

(Originally broadcast 04/30/10) - A genteel southern intellectual, saloniste, and wife to a prominent colonel in Jefferson Davis's inner circle, Mary Chesnut today is remembered best for her penetrating Civil War diary. Composed between 1861 and 1865 and revised thoroughly from the late 1870s until Chesnut's death in 1886, the diary was published first in 1905, again in 1949, and later, to great acclaim, in 1981. This complicated literary history and the questions that attend it—which edition represents the real Chesnut? To what genre does this text belong?—may explain why the document largely has, until now, been overlooked in literary studies.

Dr. Julia A. Stern joins Dr. Edgar to discuss the life and writings of Mary Chestnut. In her book Mary Chesnut's Civil War Epic Stern's critical analysis returns Chesnut to her rightful place among American writers. By restoring Chesnut's 1880s revision to its complex, multi-decade cultural context, Stern argues both for Chesnut's reinsertion into the pantheon of nineteenth-century American letters and for her centrality to the literary history of women's writing as it evolved from sentimental to tragic to realist forms.

July 22, 2011
The Revitalization of downtown Greenville, SC

(Originally broadcast 12/10/10) - Greenville's downtown began to languish in the 1960s, as shopping centers lured the major retailers to the suburbs. Downtown was left with countless vacant buildings and no people. Greenville faced what other cities faced, a dying downtown in the midst of a growing region. To meet the challenge, Greenville embarked on "downtown redevelopment," remaking Main Street and creating an atmosphere conducive to office, residential, specialty retail, entertainment and the arts. Downtown Greenville’s renaissance became an evolutionary process marked with significant achievements over twenty-five years. Greenville Mayor Knox White joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the on-going renaissance of the city.

July 15, 2011
Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte’s Big Banks

Dr. Edgar welcomes Rick Rothacker, a journalist who has written about Bank of America and Wachovia for the Charlotte Observer since 2001. Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks covers everything from the brash CEOs that built these banks into national giants to the near collapse of Wachovia in 2008 to the government rescue of Bank of America.

July 08, 2011
Horse Creek Valley… A Tale Worth Telling

The documentary, Horse Creek Valley... A Tale worth the Telling, premiered June 9 at a gala event at Aiken County Historical Museum. It will be broadcast July of 2011 on ETV. Producer/Director Christi Koelker, Elliott Levy, Executive Director of the Aiken County Historical Society, and Dr. Chester DePratter, a USC anthropologist, will tell Dr. Edgar about the fascinating history of the region.

June 24, 2011
Still in Print: the Southern Novel Today

(Originally broadcast 01/28/11) - Dr. Edgar’s guest is Prof. Jan Nordby Gretlund, Chair of the English Department at the Center for American Studies, University of Southern Denmark. Their topic is a new book of essays edited by Gretlund, Still in Print: the Southern Novel Today. In a lively conversation the two also take a look at the interest in Southern studies in Europe and the popularity around the world of literature from the American South.

June 17, 2011
The Dogs of War

Dr. Emory Thomas, the Regents Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Georgia, joins Dr. Edgar for a discussion of the Civil War in this 150^thyear anniversary of its beginning. Thomas has served as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer and is author of numerous books including The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience; Confederate State of Richmond: a Biography of the Capital; The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865; and Bold Dragoon: The Life of J.E.B. Stuart.

His biography of Robert E. Lee was published in 1995 and was named a Notable Book by the New York Times. His newest book, Dogs of War, will be available in April 2011.

June 10, 2011
The Civil War at 150 - Dr. James McPherson and Dr. Mark Smith

Dr. James McPherson, professor emeritus of American History at Princeton University, won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom, which has since sold more than six hundred thousand copies. His success with Battle Cry of Freedom and other Civil War publications are considered to have paved the way for the success of the films Glory and Gettysburg and the television documentary The Civil War by Ken Burns. In April 2011 McPherson presented lecture Inheriting the Wind: American Youth at the Onset of Battle in Charleston, SC. He joins Dr. Edgar for a discussion of the Civil War in this 150^thyear anniversary of its beginning.

Dr. Mark Smith is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of History in USC’s College of Arts and Humanities. He is also a leading expert on “sensory history.” He joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the about the sensory history of Gettysburg and other battles.

June 03, 2011
Mary Alice Monroe: The Butterfly’s Daughter

South Carolina author Mary Alice Monroe joins Dr. Edgar to talk about her newest novel, The Butterfly’s Daughter.

May 27, 2011
Marine helicopter crews in the Vietnam War

Walter Edgar talks with Col. Walt Ledbetter and Duncan McCrae, Vietnam veterans, and Clint Chalmers, video producer, about their experiences as Marines flying helicopters in 1969-70. They also tell us about an oral history they are making about their wartime experiences.

May 20, 2011
South Carolinians in WWII: a New Front

184,000 South Carolinians served in World War II. South Carolinians in WWII is ETV’s 3-part series that tells the story of some of these veterans.

Series co-executive producer John Rainey and producer/director Jeff Wilkinson will join Dr. Edgar to talk tell some of the extraordinary stories of South Carolinians in World War II and talk about the series’ second episode. A New Front covers the period from Italy’s Monte Cassino to D-Day as well as the buildup in Britain, doctors and nurses, and the Charleston Navy Yard.

South Carolinians in WWII: a New Front will be broadcast on ETV Thursday May 26 at 9pm and Monday May 30 at 10pm. It also airs on the South Carolina Channel Monday, May 30 at 9pm.

May 13, 2011
Take on the South: What influence has the South had on all American music?

Dr. Edgar is joined by two Dr. William Ferris, Senior Associate Director, Center for the Study of the American South, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Dr. Bill Malone, Professor Emeritus at Tulane University to discuss the roots of American music and its influence on music world wide.

Was the beginning of truly American music the advent of the blues, country or a mixture of both? The discussion is a preview of the debate to take place in the next installment of ETV’s Take on the South: What influence has the South had on all American music? That program will air May 25^th at 7:00 pm on ETV stations.

April 29, 2011
Benjamin Dunlap: a life in higher education

Dr. Benjamin Dunlap, President of Wofford College, joins Dr. Edgar for a lively and wide ranging conversation about his lifelong dedication to the field of higher education. Dunlap is a Columbia native who graduated summa cum laude from Sewanee: The University of the South. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard University as a graduate student, receiving his Ph.D. in English Language and Literature in 1967. From that year until 1993, he held academic appointments at Harvard and the University of South Carolina. In 1993, he accepted an appointment at Wofford College as the Chapman Family Professor in the Humanities, a position he still holds. In 2000, he became the 10th president of Wofford College.

April 22, 2011
Bringing back the American Chestnut tree

The American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in the eastern United States, occupying about 25 percent of the hardwood canopy in eastern forests. By the early 1950s, the tree was virtually eliminated by an exotic fungus from Asia, called the chestnut blight.

April 15, 2011
Observing the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War

On April 21^st, at 7:00pm, ETV’s The Big Picture will devote a full hour to a discussion of South Carolina’s commemoration of the Civil War’s sesquicentennial. The participants represent the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the NAACP, the National Park Service, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Fort Moultrie/Fort Sumter Trust, the SC Civil War Sesquicentennial Advisory Board, the SC Department of Archives and History, and the SC African American Heritage Commission.

Big Picture host Mark Quinn, Eric Emerson of the SC Department of Archives and History, and Michael Allen of the National Park Service join Dr. Edgar to talk about the commemoration, and about the singular nature of the coalition of disparate groups that have come together to plan the observances which began earlier this year.

April 08, 2011
Covering the world

Over the past three decades, Columbia native Don Belt has traveled to 65 countries, working as a writer and editor of articles for National Geographic magazine. Along the way, he has covered the defining issues of our time, such as environmental degradation, vanishing cultures, Islam and the West, the effects of global climate change and the geopolitical trends that are shaping our world. As senior editor of National Geographic from 1998 to 2010, he helped to guide the magazine’s coverage of topics ranging from weapons of mass destruction and the use of terrorism to the legacy of colonialism in the modern Middle East.

April 01, 2011
Family Meeting

Author Miles DeMott joins Dr. Edgar to talk about his new novel, Family Meeting. The novel revolves around the Camber family—one of the oldest and most respected families in a city known for old and respected families—and their plans to sell Plantation Trust, the bank that cemented their fortune and made their name a household word. Although their lives seem to have been lived in full public view, this intensely private family is rife with secrets and scandals that could derail the sale and redefine the family itself as they meet each other again for the first time.

March 25, 2011
Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South

(originally broadcast 10/15/10) - Professor Lacy K. Ford joins Dr. Edgar for a conversation about Lacy’s latest book, Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South (Oxford University Press, 2009). Lacy is the former Chair of the Department of History at USC in Columbia and has written numerous books and articles about the South.

Deliver Us From Evil has received critical claim. One historian called it “the most detailed and penetrating analysis of the ideology and public policy of American slavery ever written."

March 18, 2011
The Charleston Green Committee

The Charleston Green Committee (CGC) is comprised of 24 business, academic, nonprofit and government leaders who are advising the City of Charleston in the creation of a local action plan for climate protection and sustainability. The committee is supported by scores of volunteers and the City’s Staff Green Team. James Meadors, Jenny Humphries, and Dennis Knight join Dr. Edgar to talk about CGC's the Plan for Climate Protection and Sustainability for the City of Charleston.

March 11, 2011
Envirodwell, re-using shipping containers to create buildings

Envirodwell uses existing steel shipping containers as the core of their homes and buildings. Jim Copland and Bob Probst join Dr. Edgar about the “greenness” and usefulness to this approach.

March 04, 2011
Charleston Gardens and the Landscape Legacy of Loutrel Briggs

Charleston Gardens and the Landscape Legacy of Loutrel Briggs provides a fascinating account of the life and career of renowned landscape architect Loutrel Briggs (1893–1977), the individual most directly responsible for the development of Charleston's distinctive garden style. The author, accomplished landscape architect and award-winning garden historian James R. Cothran, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book, which paints the most complete portrait yet of Briggs, his continuing impact on the iconic gardens of Charleston, and his legacy in the lowcountry.

February 25, 2011
Lemon Swamp and South Carolina’s French Connection

(Originally broadcast 04/20/07) – Published in 1983, Lemon Swamp and Other Places: A Carolina Memoir is the work of Mamie Garvin Fields and her granddaughter, Dr. Karen Fields. The book recounts the "stories," or memoirs, of the life of Mamie Fields, who was born in 1888. The book has been described as a blend of "the scholarly with the personal, addressing the tensions between family and professional loyalties to produce a work meaningful in both spheres." A Distinguished Visiting Professor at USC's Institute for Southern Studies in 2007, Karen Fields joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the book.

They also explore the connection between colonial and antebellum South Carolina, and Bourdeaux, France.

February 18, 2011
Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor update

Designated by Congress in 2006, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, N.C. to Jacksonville, Fl. It is home to one of America's unique cultures, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern United States from West Africa and continued in later generations by their descendents. Emory S. Campbell, Chairman of the Corridor Commission, and Michael Allen, of the National Parks Service, join Dr. Edgar to talk about the ongoing journey of making the Corridor a reality.

February 11, 2011
SC African American Commission and the 150th anniverary of the Civil War

December marked the 150th anniversary of South Carolina’s secession from the United States and the beginning of the American Civil War. Many events across the state will commemorate the anniversary, and many will explore the history and causes of the war. The SC African American Heritage Commission plans to participate in a manner that will help present a complete picture of a history that is shared by both blacks and whites.

Joining Dr. Edgar to talk about the Commission’s plans and the wider implication of the events of 1865 are Dr. Abel Bartley of Clemson University, and Joseph McGill from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Southern Regional Office.

January 21, 2011
The Center for Women

The Center for Women in Charleston says of their mission: “Our Job: To Help Women Build Better Lives for Themselves.” The only comprehensive women's development center in South Carolina, the Center for Women (C4W) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to make personal and professional success an everyday event for women in the Lowcountry.

Jennet Robinson Alterman, the Center’s Director, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the Center’s mission.

January 14, 2011
Late Rain, a novel by Lynn Kostoff

In Lynn Kostoff’s novel, Late Rain, Corrine Tedros is a Lady Macbeth wannabe who sets in motion the murder of her uncle-in-law (a soft-drink mogul). Her plans go awry when the murder is witnessed by a senior citizen in the late stages of Alzheimers. Things are complicated by the fact that the daughter of the man with Alzheimers is involved with a former homicide detective who has resigned and moved South in an attempt to reshape and simplify his life.

Decovic starts to make connections in the case that cause Corrine Tedros to up the ante as she maneuvers to stay out of the murder investigation. Author Lynn Kostoff, a professor of English at Francis Marion University in Florence, joins Dr. Edgar to talk about the novel.

January 07, 2011
The Economic Impact of Boeing in SC

A 2010 economic impact report estimates that once North Charleston's new Boeing plant is up and operating it will add around $6 billion a year to the state's economy and will also generate close to $3 billion in state tax revenues. The report's author, Columbia economist Harry Miley of Miley & Associates, joins Dr. Edgar for a closer look at the plant’s impact and at economic development in South Carolina.