Our New South Podcast Returns: Cultural Shift Defining The New South

 Podcasts that offer the unexpected are simply the most invigorating mentally, emotionally, and as a confirmation bias destroyer.

Our New South fits that bill. It is produced by the Levine Museum (almost always a good sign for podcast quality when a museum is involved) and returned for its second season on January 21.

Washington Post Journalist Kevin Blackistone and Professor Robert Greene II take listeners on a Journey into the Challenges and Cultural Shifts Defining the Modern South.

Building on the success of the debut season, Washington Post journalist Kevin Blackistone and history professor Dr. Robert Greene II host a series of conversations that explore the complexities of the many Souths that make up today’s New South.

The ten-episode season highlights the stories, communities and challenges shaping the region, diving into censorship and healthcare, tourism and religion, struggles for rights and resources, and the global reverberations of New South culture.

Inspiring stories from guests including Aarón Sánchez (chef, TV personality & philanthropist), Amanda Jones (librarian & author), Speech (hip-hop artist from Arrested Development), Dr. Tonya Matthews (President and CEO of Charleston’s International African American Museum), and more provide unique perspectives on how the South is changing, how it remains familiar, and how it may look in the future.

“Listeners from across the nation and beyond have fixed ideas about what the South is,” says Richard Cooper, Levine Museum President & CEO. “With this podcast, we aim to unravel the complexity of today’s New South: how it came to be, how it’s changing, and how it can evolve equitably. We want listeners to reflect on what progress for all can look like and challenge their beliefs about this region we call home.”

 Our New South, is produced by Next Chapter Podcasts for the Levine Museum of the New South. Levine Museum of the New South connects the past to the future to realize the promises of a new South.

For over 30 years, Levine Museum has sought to confront some of the most difficult issues facing the South today in a historical context that deepens understanding, fosters empathy, and inspires action toward a better future.

Kevin Blackistone is a journalist, author, filmmaker, and professor. He is currently a sports columnist at The Washington Post, a panelist on ESPN’s Around the Horn, and a professor of journalism at the University of Maryland. 

Dr. Robert Greene II is an Assistant Professor of History at Claflin University. He is also the Publications Chair of the Society of U.S. Intellectual Historians and the incoming President of the African American Intellectual History Society. Dr. Greene II has written extensively on the South, Black history and memory, and political history for publications such as Oxford American, The Nation, Dissent, Scalawag, and Jacobin, among others.

Blackistone is the secret sauce. He's superb in any project he puts his name on. I could listen to him announce arriving buses at Penn Station in Manhattan.

Our New South bristles with creative energy because it tells an unexpected story. A tale of new beginnings for The South in the U.S.

Next Chapter Podcasts (www.nextchapterpodcasts.com) is an independent podcast production studio with superb shows like

The Ten News, and award-winning Beef with Bridget Todd on its roster.


Next Chapter Podcasts is also the parent company of Play On Podcasts, the flagship enterprise of NCP’s scripted division, bringing epic audio adventures to listeners in the form of podcast re-creations of Shakespeare’s legendary plays. Play On Podcasts reached three-million downloads less than three years after its debut on April 9th, 2021.