Writing on Regional Identity

We’re all from somewhere. Sometimes, that affects who we are. This is what these pieces are about.

on the origin of flyover country

The term “fllyover country isn't quite the elitist insult we imagine. And it's not even all that old.

know what I mean, ron?

Why did Ronald Reagan’s press secretary invite Ernest P. Worrell to talk to reporters at the White House?

the southern monkee

Forty-five minutes into our conversation, Michael Nesmith wonders if it’s getting “a little cosmic.” We’re talking about the differences between genres of music, and, by extension, the people who play them. Instrumentation, rhythm, clothes, attitude … all these come together to form the borders between honky-tonk and heavy metal, rock and rhumba.