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**Walter Edgar’s Journal**

From books to barbecue, and current events to Colonial history, historian and author Walter Edgar delves into the arts, culture, and history of South Carolina and the American South. Produced by South Carolina Public Radio.

Latest Episodes:

frontis.hootie-and-the-blowfish.hi-res.jpg — **The inside story of Hootie and the Blowfish** Oct 31, 2022
Show notes

Hootie and the Blowfish(Micheal McLaughlin / Courtesy of the University of South Carolina Press)
In 1985, Mark Bryan heard Darius Rucker singing in a dorm shower at the University of South Carolina and asked him to form a band. For the next eight years, Hootie & the Blowfish—completed by bassist Dean Felber and drummer Soni Sonefeld—played every frat house, roadhouse, and rock club in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, becoming one of the biggest independent acts in the region.
In Only Wanna Be with You (2022, USC Press), Tim Sommer, the ultimate insider who signed Hootie to Atlantic Records, pulls back the curtain on a band that defied record-industry odds to break into the mainstream by playing hacky sack music in the age of grunge.
He chronicles the band's indie days; the chart-topping success—and near-cancelation—of their major-label debut, cracked rear view; the year of Hootie (1995) when the album reached no. 1, the "Only Wanna Be with You" music video collaboration with ESPN's SportsCenter became a sensation, and the band inspired a plotline on the TV show Friends; the lean years from the late 1990s through the early 2000s; Darius Rucker's history-making rise in country music; and one of the most remarkable comeback stories of the century.
Tim Sommer shares the Hootie story with Walter Edgar.
- Originally broadcast 06/17/22 -
News and Music Stations: Fri, Nov 04, 12 pm; Sat, Nov 05, 7 am
News & Talk Stations: Fri, Nov 17, 04pm; Sun, Nov 06, 4 pm

**Citadel professor redefines key battle that changed the course of the Hundred Years War** Oct 24, 2022
Show notes

( Courtesy of the author)
With his book, Crécy: Battle of Five Kings (2022, Osprey), Michael Livingston, professor of medieval history at The Citadel, has authored a remarkable new study on the Battle of Crécy, in which the outnumbered English under King Edward III won a decisive victory over the French and changed the course of the Hundred Years War.
The Battle of Crécy in 1346 is one of the most famous and widely studied military engagements in history. The repercussions of this battle, in which forces led by England’s King Edward III decisively defeated a far larger French army, were felt for hundreds of years, and the exploits of those fighting reached legendary status. Yet new, groundbreaking research by Michael Livingston has shown that nearly everything that has been written about this dramatic event may be wrong.
Michael Livingston talks with Walter Edgar about how he has used archived manuscripts, satellite technologies and traditional fieldwork to reconstruct this important conflict, including the unlocking of what was arguably the battle’s greatest secret: the location of the now-quiet fields where so many thousands died.
News and Music Stations: Fri, Oct 28, 12 pm; Sat, Oct 29, 7 am
News & Talk Stations: Fri, Oct 28, 12 pm; Sun, Oct 30, 4 pm

**Celebrating okra, seed to stem** Oct 17, 2022
Show notes

Okra for sale at the North Charleston Farmers' Market.(Ryan Johnson / Flickr)
Chris Smith’s first encounter with okra was of the worst kind: slimy fried okra at a greasy-spoon diner.
Despite that dismal introduction, Smith developed a fascination with okra, and as he researched the plant and began to experiment with it in his own kitchen, he discovered an amazing range of delicious ways to cook and eat it, along with ingenious and surprising ways to process the plant from tip-to-tail: pods, leaves, flowers, seeds, and stalks. Smith talked okra with chefs, food historians, university researchers, farmers, homesteaders, and gardeners. The summation of his experimentation and research comes together in The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration (2019, Chelsea Green), a lighthearted but information-rich collection of okra history, lore, recipes, craft projects, growing advice, and more.
The Whole Okra includes classic recipes such as fried okra pods as well as unexpected delights including okra seed pancakes and okra flower vodka. Some of the South’s best-known chefs shared okra recipes with Smith: Okra Soup by culinary historian Michael Twitty, Limpin’ Susan by chef BJ Dennis, Bhindi Masala by chef Meherwan Irani, and Okra Fries by chef Vivian Howard.
Chris joins Walter Edgar for a conversation about all things okra.
News and Music Stations: Fri, Oct 21, 12 pm; Sat, Oct 22, 7 am
News & Talk Stations: Fri, Oct 21, 12 pm; Sun, Oct 22, 4 pm

Jackson Station: Music, Community, and Tragedy in Southern Blues Bar Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

The smoke was thick, the music was loud, and the beer was flowing. In the fast-and-loose 1980s, Jackson Station Rhythm & Blues Club in Hodges, South Carolina, was a festive late-night roadhouse filled with people from all walks of life who gathered to listen to the live music of high-energy performers. Housed in a Reconstruction-era railway station, the blues club embraced local Southern culture and brought a cosmopolitan vibe to the South Carolina backcountry.

Over the years, Jackson Station became known as one of the most iconic blues bars in the South. It offered an exciting venue for local and traveling musical artists, including Widespread Panic, the Swimming Pool Qs, Bob Margolin, Tinsley Ellis, and R&B legend Nappy Brown, who loved to keep playing long after sunrise.

The good times ground to a terrifying halt in the early morning hours of April 7, 1990. A brutal attack—an apparent hate crime—on the owner Gerald Jackson forever altered the lives of all involved.

- Originally released 04/30/21 -

News and Music Stations: Fri, Oct 14, 12 pm; Sat, Oct 15, 7 am|
News & Talk Stations: Fri, Oct 14, 12 pm; Sun, Oct 16, 4 pm

Rediscovering some of South Carolina's signature foods and the stories behind them Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

In their new book, Taste the State: South Carolina's Signature Foods, Recipes, and Their Stories (2021, USC Press), authors Kevin Mitchell and David S. Shields present the cultural histories of native ingredients and showcase the evolution of the dishes and the variety of preparations that have emerged. They talk with Walter Edgar about true Carolina cooking in all of its cultural depth, historical vividness, and sumptuous splendor—from the plain home cooking of sweet potato pone to Lady Baltimore cake worthy of a Charleston society banquet.

- Originally broadcast 01/21/22 -

News and Music Stations: Fri, Oct 07, at 12 pm; Sat, Oct 08, 2022, at 7 am
News & Talk Stations: Fri, Oct 07, at 12 pm; Sun, Oct 09, 2022, at 4 pm