The airport can be a humbling place: Squeezed tight into a window seat, wanting for more sleep than I got, feeling sorry for myself, I glimpse down at the book the woman next to me is reading - “How to Understand Your Grief.” She looks up, tries to smile, looks back down. Scene.
Oxford being Oxford: Sat on the front porch this morn reading, mail carrier stopped, asked what I was reading (Cool Town by Grace Hale), and then walked me through the plot of the suspense novel he is writing. Hooked me in a three minute pitch.
“What Trump has described as an immigrant ‘invasion’ was actually a corporate recruitment drive for poor, vulnerable, undocumented, often desperate workers.”
Hey
@delta
Mr Chase Ford, the kind flight attendant on 2441 this morn, addressed everyone he served by last name. He called me Mr Edge and called the folks in the seats in front of me by their last names too. All up and down the aisles. And this was deep in coach. He’s a marvel.
People of Twitter, upset by my convictions that the 1906 Confederate monument should come down and the plantation honorific Ole Miss retards progress at the university where I earned 2 degrees and have worked for more than 20 years, please know that I've taken a stand.
I long resisted writing about my mother. More recently, I realized that I had to make sense of what went right and what went wrong in those Georgia woods. Sunday morn seems a good time to post MY MOTHER'S CATFISH STEW a new
@oxfordamerican
column:
What a lady - “Her diverse career path “included managing two amateur boxers and managing a racehorse bid for a local bookie.” Leah Chase, New Orleans’ matriarch of Creole cuisine, dead at 96 -
Can’t wait for y’all to see the new
@TrueSouthTV
episode tonight November 21 at 7E on
@secnetwork
Here’s a sonic explainer of our show, written by our exec producer, Wright Thompson: Jason Isbell Is Soundtracking the Modern South | GQ
Just realized that my incessant texting of articles for my wife and son to read, is the digital equivalent of my father clipping newspaper stories and mailing them to me. Generational transfer for the 21st century.
Here is my mother’s catfish stew recipe, in her own hand. What Blair now cooks borrows from this, and from a Scott Peacock + Edna Lewis recipe. We’ll post both later…
That’s my great friend and colleague Wright Thompson, executive producer for TrueSouth, on the left. He joins me on my front porch in Oxford to talk restaurants we missed and where we’ll eat and drink when the plague lifts. Pour a drink & join us Thursday at 7E/6C on
@secnetwork
.
We’re back! Season Four starts in Scott, Louisiana, the buckle on the Boudin Belt, hard by I-10. See y’all on the tee-vee September 12 on
@SECNetwork
All hail
@Bluefoot_tv
and WWT. Poster art by the brilliant
@BurtDurand
of Lafayette.
Proud as hell to work w/ Wright Thompson and
@Bluefoot_tv
to tell honest food and culture stories of this complicated place I call home.
#TrueSouth
debuts Sept 18 at 7/6 on
@SECNetwork
First show goes deep on Birmingham Greeks. Trailer here
Florida - In 1565, “free black woman named Luisa de Abrego married Spanish soldier Miguel Rodríguez...To date, their union is the oldest documented Christian marriage” in continental US, an interracial union that predates Jamestown by more than 4 decades.
That's our boy Jess. And that's our family dining table in Oxford. To tell the story of my mother's catfish stew, we begin at this table, as Jess gets ready to go off for college. TrueSouth Bowman premiers Feb 22 at 7E on
@secnetwork
.
MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: We Found Photos of Ole Miss Students Posing With Guns in Front of a Shot-Up Emmett Till Memorial. Now They Face a Possible Civil Rights Investigation.
@JMitchellNews
When I was a boy, I peddled my Schwinn two miles to this bbq joint. It was a place of solace. And a place for a sandwich. Their sauce still courses through my veins. TrueSouth Bowman, SC (with a detour to Clinton, GA) premiers Feb 22 at 7E on
@secnetwork
.
On this day of thanksgiving,
@truesouth
is grateful for the hundreds of responses to our Dublin, GA, episode. Notes like this one, full of heart and hope. If you missed it, or want to watch again with family, THE EPISODE AIRS AGAIN TODAY Nov 23 at 12:30E and 10pm on
@SECNetwork
The University of Alabama Honors College has selected “The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South” by John T. Edge for its Common Book Experience in 2021/2022. 📖
#BamaHonors
Read more here →
@johntedge
@SECNetwork
Christmas has come early fellow True South fans, Wright has made it official there will be at least a season 7!! HOHOHO MERRY CHRISTMAS ;)
TrueSouth from
@secnetwork
is streaming on ESPN+. 12 episodes, in all their grease and glory. Travel with us from Brownsville to Beaumont, Athens to Shreveport. All hail
@Bluefoot_tv
We’re back! TrueSouth 2 premiers Sunday, Sep 1 on the
@SECNetwork
In New Orleans, Beaumont, Hodgenville, and Memphis, we talk burgers, neckbones, Louis Prima, man vs nature, and bbq. Proud to work w WWT
@RozDSC
@Bluefoot_tv
@seventhtv
Trailer >
TONIGHT: TrueSouth premiers Feb 22 at 7E on
@secnetwork
. For this season, we lived in a bus for week, hauling across the Deep South. That bus was the brainchild of this guy, Wright Thompson, executive producer of our show. His belief in the power of narrative powered this episode
I resist declaring anything is the best of anything. And I resist that impulse now. But I have to tell you that the jerk fried chicken from Rose’s Caribbean in Columbus, GA, is revelatory. (Monday’s only.)
#TrueSouth
@Bluefoot_tv
@SECNetwork
“Viruses are not partisan. Science itself is not partisan. Nevertheless Covid-19 has become a partisan issue here in the South because our governors have followed the lead of both the president... and Fox News, which downplayed concerns about the pandemic”
OH. MY. GOD.
@TrueSouthTV
ON
@SECNetwork
IS A TWO-TIME EMMY NOMINEE!!!!!!!!!!
I hope everyone who tunes in sees how much we love this show. The passion WWT,
@johntedge
& the team at
@Bluefoot_tv
have for bringing these stories to life is unmatched. So so proud!!! 👏🏻
TrueSouth begins season 3 from two of our favorite Oxford bars, St Leo & City Grocery. In a brutal pandemic that puts restaurants at risk, we check in on people across the South who steward the institutions we love. We take stock of what’s missed, and what’s gained as they reopen
When I moved to MS, two foods perplexed me. Hot tamales: How did they get here and become the state’s preferred drinking ballast? And buffalo ribs: I remember seeing signs by the road. I thought they were selling bison. Stay tuned for the new season of TrueSouth and these beauts.
Proud of latest column in
@gardenandgun
Thankful to editors there for ten-plus years of collaboration. Inspired by this pic, which I took at the end of a very good night at Upperline in New Orleans, I wrote of the joy that great restaurants make possible.
I read this book last year. A great book helps me think in new ways and regard my actions with new clarity. This is that sort of book. In light of recent horrific events, this book offers a path forward, through the thicket of racist thought and deed.
I wrote this book for this moment, for this moment to become a movement, for the movement to transform us as we transform this country. Thank you to the folks reading + recommending
#HowToBeAnAntiracist
. Use it as springboard into antiracist action. Justice needs you, all of you.
Tonight , Nov 7 at 7E
@TrueSouthTV
travels to St Augustine for fried shrimp and smoked mullet and datil peppers and a beer by the beach. Can’t wait for y’all to see our latest on
@SECNetwork
“Weathervanes” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit wins the
#GRAMMYs
for Best Americana Album, while his
“Cast Iron Skillet” wins for American Roots Song.
I grew up 2 miles from Old Clinton Bar-B-Que in Clinton, GA. This was my boyhood lunch, one sandwich, one stew, a sliver of saltines, & a styro of tea. Much has changed here, too. But that vinegar sauce still catches in the back of my throat when I take a bite of sandwich. Bliss
Thank you DC. And thank you
@thelinehotel
for the kindness. When we checked our this morn, after dropping our son
@AmericanU
the bellman hugged us goodbye. Onward..
On behalf of the
@beardfoundation
, I’m honored to announce this year’s America’s Classics Award from the South. Congratulations to Mr. Elihue Washington and the good folks at the Lassis Inn in Little Rock, AR!
#BuffaloFishRibs
forever. (Camerawork: Jess Edge)
Just spoke to a biracial book study group from Grace Church Cathedral, Mt Zion AME Church, and Mother Emanuel. They read and discussed my book, chapter by chapter, over the last few months. When I came to talk they fed me okra soup and opened their hearts. Humbled.
Morning
@TrueSouthTV
If you missed our Dublin, Georgia, ep
@SECNetwork
has scheduled 4 re-airs over the next 3 days. We've heard from hundreds of y'all who were moved by the courage of people of Dublin and the music of
@JasonIsbell
Thanks for believing in our little show.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
@TrueSouthTV
Season Five, Episode Five will premier TONIGHT January 16 at 930E on
@SECNetwork
Promise. Really, truly, it will. Come for Diamond Jim and Mrs Donna's caramel cake, stay for Minute Grill burgers.
Oxford people - Each year my bride
@blairhobbs
and my friend
@Bigbadchef
cook and serve birthday chili dogs and sausage balls to any and all. Join us tonight at 5:30
@CITYGROCERYOXMS
ALL ARE WELCOME. No pretense, no presents, fat drinks, big fun.
I wrote about my love for my father and my regard for the restaurants he taught me to love. If your day allows a quiet moment to read this , I would be honored.
For tonight's episode of TrueSouth, (Feb 22 at 7E on
@secnetwork
) I cooked catfish stew beneath the overhang of a cabin on the Edisto River, near my mother's birthplace of Bowman, SC. All hail
@bluefoot_tv
.
TrueSouth Memphis airs TONIGHT at 6:30/ 7:30 on
@SECNetwork
@zfelice
shows us the way. 8Ball & MJG show us Orange Mound. Enkia Leach (pictured at Ms Girlee's) fries chicken and talks abt the meaning of service. All hail
@Bluefoot_tv
n
@seventhtv
and WWT. Proud, hope you'll watch.
Rough day. Had to cancel
@southfoodways
spring symposium in Brmingham. And travel for other projects too. Right thing to do for all involved. Saving grace is that I get to go rock tonight with
@TheGloryFires
in Oxford
@proudlarrys
Can't wait for y'all to meet my friend Anthony, the beloved madman of pizza.
@TrueSouthTV
HOT SPRINGS AR TONIGHT at 7:00E on
@SECNetwork
AND 7:30E on ESPN+
Apololgies for all the pimping. Proud to share our first TrueSouth episode on
@SECNetwork
tonight (Tuesday) at 6 central/ 7 eastern. Please watch. And tell us what you think. Thanks...
Proud of my new
@oxfordamerican
column "Oaxaca Wreck." In May of last year, a Chevy Tahoe hit my little car head on. I lost time to injuries. But gained insights about why i travel and why I gravitate to bars and restaurants.
NewYear'sDay binge - Watch all 16 episodes of TrueSouth on
@SECNetwork
starting at 4E w/ Birmingham, ending at midnight w St Louis. Proud that we've gotten better. Thankful to y'all for watching. For encouraging us. For seeing your South in ours. Thx!
@RozDSC
for the greenlight.
See y'all tonight September 12 at 730E on
@SECNetwork
for TrueSouth. Season 4 starts in Scott, LA, the buckle on the Boudin Belt. This guy makes only a brief hand model cameo. But so much of what went right for us began with Jo Vidrine, Freelance Cajun fixer, photog, & affineur.
Proud to write about the legacy of John Egerton for
@BitterSouth
in advance of the Egerton Prize ceremony and celebration August 12 in Nashville. Join us
Tennessee journalist John Egerton knew that black and white Southerners could come together over one thing we all have in common: the fact that we eat. 🍽 (
@johntedge
tells the story. )
#bettersouth
NEW TrueSouth this Sunday the 31st at 7E on
@SECNetwork
. Focused on Fort Benning and featuring the 14th Street Grill in Phenix City, Alabama. What a tray! What a joint! All hail
@Bluefoot_tv