The SouthBound finale: Host Tommy Tomlinson on talking to fascinating Southerners

This week on SouthBound, we air our final episode. WFAE’s Ely Portillo interviews host Tommy Tomlinson about Tommy's favorite SouthBound moment, the future of journalism and what still gives him hope. Please join us.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to author Georgann Eubanks, who traveled the wild South to visit everything from frogs to swans for her new book, “The Fabulous Ordinary.”

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Jeremy Markovich, whose newsletter, the North Carolina Rabbit Hole, covers all manner of strange and wonderful little stories about the Tar Heel state.

This week on SouthBound, we're replaying host Tommy Tomlinson's 2018 talk with Dale Earnhardt Jr. There’s a new documentary produced by Dale Jr. on his dad, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, and the conversation gets into their complicated family dynamic.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to novelist Carl Hiaasen, who has been spinning wild tales of heroes and villains in Florida for nearly 40 years. They talk about his new book, “Fever Beach,” and lots more — including his longtime friendship with Jimmy Buffett.

This week on SouthBound, we replay host Tommy Tomlinson's 2023 conversation with Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen. Keen talks about his beginnings as a musician, his decision to stop touring full time, and his Hill Country retreat where he goes to write songs.

Host Tommy Tomlinson's guest on this week’s SouthBound is Tom Acitelli, who has a new book “The Golden Age of Beer,” that features a different beer style for every week of the year. Acitelli grew up in Charlotte and talks to Tommy about some of his favorite Southern beers.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Annelise Mennicke, a UNC Charlotte professor whose federal grant was canceled as part of the Trump administration’s cost-cutting program. And also because her research involved trans people.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Jim Barger Jr., author of a new book called “Rivers and Dreams,” on former President Jimmy Carter’s life as a fisherman — and how he often used fishing to cast the lines of diplomacy.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Tennessee singer and mandolin player Sierra Hull. She’s got a new album, "A Tip Toe High Wire," coming out next week that continues her musical journey beyond her bluegrass roots.