On this episode of Salvation South Deluxe: Chuck Reece explores the evolution of Southern fiction through conversations with acclaimed authors David Joy, Tayari Jones, Michael Farris Smith, Chris Offutt and S.A. Cosby. From Appalachian hollows to Atlanta's streets, these authors craft thrilling narratives that challenge stereotypes and confront issues of race, class and justice.

A friend of Salvation South editor Chuck Reece had a hard year because of things that were out of his control. Chuck didn’t have any answers to the hand that life dealt his friend, but he did have a few ideas about certain uniquely Southern constants we can turn to when the rough patches come, as they inevitably do.

Next month, the bestselling novelist Percival Everett, who was born in Fort Gordon, Ga., could take home one of the most prestigious prizes in publishing, the National Book Award, for his novel James. The National Book Awards are Salvation South editor — and avid reader — Chuck Reece’s favorite awards show. Here’s how he gets ready to watch.

The birthday of legendary New Orleans trumpeter and champion of traditional jazz, Wynton Marsalis, is this week. The prospect of the occasion reminded Salvation South editor Chuck Reece of a long-ago night, when a sound from a New York City basement and changed the way he heard the music of his home.

The American South is quire familiar with hurricanes. But none has ever wreaked the widespread destruction we’ve seen over the last two weeks from Florida up into the Appalachian Mountains. Salvation South editor Chuck Reece is here with a few stories he’s gathered in calls with friends and contributors.

All throughout this sweltering Georgia summer, people across our state have bravely gone into their yards with dangerous implements—mowers, shears, weed whackers, and other weapons of lawn maintenance. Salvation South editor Chuck Reece did the same, until he learned this painful lesson.

In this episode of Salvation South Deluxe: Chuck Reece details the United States's brutal program of forcibly assimilating Native American children through boarding schools in the late 19th and early 20th century. He learns the historical context of this act of warfare; the lasting trauma it created; and the Native-led efforts to heal its generational wounds.