S1 E10. Portland, OR

In the final episode of season 2, I volunteer as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army and get talking to a woodworker named Chip. We chat about his past addiction to drugs and alcohol, the Christian motorcycle group he rides in, and the analogies between woodworking and life. There’s even a Christmas miracle… 

In episode six, I compare the experiences of two black women in Mississippi: T’Keeyah, a news reporter who was born-and-raised in Corinth at the top the state, and Deborah, an author who moved to Columbus from Rome. T’Keeyah discusses everything from the issue of hunger in the community to racism and the KKK in her hometown. Deborah and I talk about her experience moving in as an outsider, the dichotomy of writing her books in the South and some of the nuance in the state. 

In this double-interview episode, I speak with Columbus’ Mayor, Keith Gaskin, about the polarisation of American politics, the removal of the confederate statue from downtown, and the split in attitudes towards the spring pilgrimage where homeowners open their houses to the public. I then meet Dick Leike, president of Historic Home Tours, to hear the other side of the debate, the risks associated with removing historical artefacts -  as well as “all this woke stuff”

I sit down to chat with Laura Beth, who I met at the Preservation Society Gala. Our meandering conversation takes us from southern accents and politics to religion and Laura Beth’s moving story adopting her children.

A near miss with a tornado prompts me to take stock of my life… so I visit a strip club for the first time and end up interviewing one of the dancers - Penelope. We discuss Russian literature, feminism, Mississippi’s “velvet ditch”, mental health, antidepressants and the less-obvious reasons one might go to a strip club.

I get invited to a swanky fundraiser for Columbus’ Preservation Society, then sit down to interview its president, Ralph Null. We discuss the split in attitudes towards the town’s historic homes, Ralph’s career in floral design and his experience being openly gay in small-town Mississippi for several decades.

For series 2, I’m headed to housesit in Columbus, Mississippi, a state with a painful history and perhaps the worst reputation in the US. I wanted to immerse myself in the community and paint a picture of a town in the heart of the Bible Belt, interrogating the stereotype and looking at the nuance which is left out by telling peoples’ stories. In the first episode, I spend a week getting to know a few locals. We talk about the legacy of segregation, how it plays out in the community and if change is on the horizon for Columbus. 

11 weeks and over 3,000 miles later, I finally make it to Los Angeles. As the California sun sets on my journey, I flip the interview on myself. Having asked others to open up, I bare my own soul and discuss the trip, how I felt it went and what I can learn from the experience.

In part two of my Portland adventure, I go through intensive training with Darryl Purpose - learning to count cards and play blackjack basic strategy. Then we make our way to the casino, where I stake my last few hundred dollars and try to turn it into thousands. Will I lose everything or take the house for all it’s worth?

This week I'm in Portland, staying with Darryl Purpose - one of the world’s best blackjack players, now a folk singer-songwriter. We talk about card-counting, earning a living as a gambler, his music, creating art when you don’t understand the rules and how his mum supported him on these very different paths.