Mississippi Arts Hour

Kristen Brandt sits down with zine maker and National Folk Festival Folklife Area artist, Justin Ransburg. Justin is a visual artist who creates illustrations, comic books, murals, and mixed media artworks. He has created numerous murals in Jackson and statewide. They talk about his work and what attendees of the National Folk Festival can expect to see in his booth in the Folklife area. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Larry Morrisey visits with bluesman John Primer, one of the featured musicians at the National Folk Festival in Jackson, November 7-9. A native of Camden, Mississippi, Primer has been an important part of the Chicago blues scene since the early 1970s. He has worked with a “who’s who” list of blues legends, including Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, and Magic Slim. Primer has led his own band since the 1990s. His latest CD, ‘Grown in Mississippi,’ features guest appearances by a number of contemporary Mississippi blues artists, including Charlie Musselwhite, Bobby Rush, and Eden Brent. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Leslie Barker talks with Lucie Wren Cooper and Tyler Tadlock. Individually, they are multidisciplinary artists. Together, they are the Jackson-based music duo, Sad Bath. Lucie and Tyler discuss the inspiration they find in Mississippi, the importance of community and collaboration, and their process of creating across disciplines. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

In this third episode of the Favorite Poem Podcast Project, hosted by Mississippi Poet Laureate Ann Fisher-Wirth, Beth Ann Fennelly reads and discusses Shakespeare’s beautiful sonnet 29, “When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes.” 

MAC Executive Director, David Lewis, chats with author John T. Edge to discuss his new book, House of Smoke. They also discuss Southern culture, John T's show "True South," and their shared work with South Arts, as well as the literary magnet that is Oxford, MS. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Leslie Barker talks with writer and teacher, Catherine Simone Gray. An Emerging Writer in Roxane Gay’s The Audacity, her work has been published in The Bitter Southerner and The Michigan Quarterly Review: Mixtape. Catherine is the creator of the blog Unsilenced Woman and recently released her first book, PROUD FLESH: A MEMOIR OF MOTHERHOOD, INTIMATE VIOLENCE, AND RECLAIMING PLEASURE. In the interview, Catherine will discuss how she came to write this book, her creative process, and what it means to be a Mississippi writer.

David Lewis sits down with Landon Bryant to discuss his new book "Bless Your Heart". They talk about his journey as a social media personality and guru of Southern culture. Bryant shares his past work as an educator with the Mississippi Whole Schools program and talks about his current and future work moving into stand-up comedy. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

Lauren Rhoades talks with author Addie E. Citchens about her widely acclaimed debut novel DOMINION, a searing family drama set in the Mississippi Delta. Citchens is a Clarksdale native who now lives in New Orleans. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Oxford American's "Best of the South." Citchens writings on blues history have been featured in Mississippi Folklife. On the Arts Hour, Citchens discusses how her Mississippi upbringing shaped her writing, the experience of publishing her first novel, and the writers and artists who have influenced her work. If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider contributing to MPB.  https://donate.mpbfoundation.org/mspb/podcast.  

This is the second installment of the Favorite Poem Podcast Series hosted by Mississippi Poet Laureate Ann Fisher-Wirth, featuring C. Liegh McInnis reading and discussing a poem by Margaret Walker.