Few people in Southern history have become as inseparable from a city as Marie Laveau is from New Orleans. She was real—a free woman of color born in New Orleans in 1801 who became one of the most famous figures associated with New Orleans Voudou. She was also a practicing Catholic, a mother, a healer,…
SCarowinds 2026: What’s New, What’s Back, and What to Know Before You Go
I go to SCarowinds pretty much every year, and I was back at Carowinds for opening weekend in 2026. One of the things I enjoy about returning is seeing what has changed. Over the past couple of seasons, the event has felt increasingly ambitious, and this year gives regulars quite a bit to explore: a…
Southern Reads: Wolf Worm
I enjoyed Wolf Worm, but I’m not going to pretend it didn’t test my patience. There were several points while I was reading it — especially when I looked down and realized I was somewhere around page 170 — when I found myself thinking, all right, we need to get going here. Normally, that’s about…
SBP Podcast Episode 22: The Pigeon Forge Murder: The Death of Ann Robertson Jones
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is one of the South’s most familiar family vacation towns. Cabins, pancake houses, souvenir shops, roadside attractions, Dollywood, and the Smoky Mountains have made it a place generations of families know well. But in July of 1987, that familiar image was shattered. Ann Robertson Jones, a 42-year-old mother and local business owner,…
The Aviary: Great Blue Heron
There are few birds in the South more striking than a Great Blue Heron. Tall, patient, and almost prehistoric in appearance, the Great Blue Heron is the kind of bird that can make an ordinary creek, marsh, or pond feel suddenly wild. One moment the water looks quiet and still, and the next there it…
SBP Podcast Episode 20: Abraham Shakespeare: Lottery, Lies, and Murder
In 2006, Abraham Shakespeare went from working-class Floridian to multimillionaire overnight after winning a $30 million Florida lottery jackpot. For most people, that kind of money sounds like freedom. For Abraham Shakespeare, it became the beginning of a nightmare. As word of his fortune spread, so did the requests for money, the business schemes, the…
Southern Reads: The Walls Are Closing In On Us.
The Walls Are Closing In On Us feels like a book pulled from the riverbank after a hard rain — muddy, mournful, strange, beautiful, and still carrying the weight of whatever happened upstream. And this is exactly the kind of book that belongs in our Book Club. Join us by heading over to Patreon at…
The Aviary: The Passenger Pigeon
The Passenger Pigeon once traveled across North America in numbers so immense that its flocks could transform the appearance and sound of the landscape. Observers described skies darkened by birds, the thunderous noise of countless wings, and migrations that continued overhead for hours or days. The birds gathered in colonies containing millions of individuals and…
SBP Podcast Episode 19: Pom Pom Mom
In January of 1991, a bizarre story out of Channelview, Texas, became a national obsession. Wanda Holloway, a mother from a blue-collar town east of Houston, was accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill the mother of her daughter’s junior high cheerleading rival. But behind the “Pom-Pom Mom” headline was a deeper story…
The Aviary: Brown Thrasher
Want to talk birds with us? This Bird of the Week post continues inside The Aviary — our birding corner in The Hidden Pine Lodge. Members share feeder photos, bird sightings, backyard notes, questions, and observations from around the South. The Hidden Pine Lodge is $4/month and includes The Aviary, our private Discord community, book…