It’s been a busy week for country music and the post-Black Lives Matter, post-Trump, post-white-nationalists-insurrection America. Country music is having its come to Jesus moment, and proving yet again that their Jesus is a blue eyed white man. A music form that is aggressively dedicated to being white had to reckon with the presence of race this week, which it really hates doing. The occassion is one of the biggest up-and-coming stars in country, Morgan Wallen, was caught being racist on tape.

Everywhere I look this week there is a story about how the recent Presidential contest slash white supremacist insurrection slash Trump legacy has torn apart many families. This one from Time magazine is an example: Trump's Presidency Divided Families. What Happens to Them Now? The end of the Trump presidency doesn't mean that the barriers between those who disagree with each other are…time.com A poor woman on Twitter last night was crying in response to this similar story…

When the news broke on January 6, 2021 that the Capitol was “being besieged”, I was scheduled to be in my home studio. That is where I record my podcast with Roxane Gay, “Hear to Slay”. Oddly enough, the day had started going to, er, pot the moment I woke…

For seven years or so now, my friend and I have been dishing about why so many Black women love regency-era romance. As it happens, that good friend is also a foremost scholar on race and British Romanticism**. You would love these conversations. Strangers once followed us around a London…

Mark your calendars: I will be in conversation with best-selling author Isabel Wilkerson on January 6 to discuss the legacy of Zora Neale Hurston. Join us for the conversation by signing up here. I wrote a short piece about Lizzo for Harper’s Bazaar this week. I have said it before…

People who follow me on @instagram know that I dabble in home design. In a hostile world, I choose to nest as radical praxis. People who follow me on @twitter know that I recently moved into what can best be described as a suburban Disneyland. This is the first time…

We are living in one of the most generative eras of Southern cultural production since Dolly went pop and Designing Women said “y’all” once a week on network television. From country music to digital and print media, we are trying to figure out the American South…again. I say “again” because…

That is how my friend and comedian Brandi put it to me. Brandi was responding to my drive-by reflection on the latest comedy drama. Brandi knows how to speak my language. In “Thick”, I have a lot of fun with columnists at elite publications. I use these columnists as…

It is that time of the year. I am deep in my Hallmark Christmas movie grind. Between judging the banality of cults of femininity and laughing at Kellie Pickler, I want to make the case for Hallmark movies as feminist* fare. Like a critical consumer of every Hallmark movie set…