Kiese Laymon and Deesha Philyaw ponder how to tell true stories and live with success

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to David Hale, college football writer for ESPN and co-host of the show “Inside ACCess” on the ACC Network. They talk about the huge changes in college football this season, from conference realignment to an expanded playoff.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to author Alice Driver. She spent years talking to injured and debilitated workers at Tyson chicken plants in Arkansas, and wrote a book about it called “Life and Death of the American Worker.”

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to author Valerie Bauerlein, who has written the definitive account of the Alex Murdaugh murder case in South Carolina. Her book is called “The Devil at His Elbow,” and she traces the Murdaugh family’s saga of crime and power back for more than 100 years.

Josh Burford is an expert on the LGBTQ history of the South, and at the time we talked, he was about to leave Charlotte for Alabama to co-found the Invisible Histories Project, which aims to document queer history throughout the South.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to LB Prevette, who grew up on a chicken farm in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and is now a grassroots organizer with the Aspen Institute. We talk about how she decided to do good in the world by coming back home.

This week on SouthBound, we’re replaying our episode from last year with ESPN personality Ryan McGee. We talk about his work at ESPN and also about the book he wrote about his adventures in minor league baseball.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to Deesha Philyaw, author of “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies,” and Kiese Laymon, author of books including “Heavy” and “Long Division.” They’re teaming up for a new podcast on nonfiction writing, and they have lots of thoughts about it.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson talks to North Carolina author Kristy Woodson Harvey, whose 11th novel, “A Happier Life,” comes out next week. They talk about her new book, how she stays inspired, and how her career started with a squash that looked like Elvis.

This week on SouthBound, host Tommy Tomlinson interviews a legend: the mystery writer James Lee Burke, who has written 46 books and is still going strong at age 87. He’s got a new novel out in his Dave Robicheaux series, and he talks to Tommy about that — and a lot more.

This week on SouthBound, we’re re-airing host Tommy Tomlinson's 2022 interview with Stephanie Stuckey. Her family founded Stuckey’s, the iconic roadside stands of the South. And after a long fallow period, she bought the company and is resurrecting the brand.