Ep 009 - Jessica Bradley Wells : Where the Tupelo Grows
Explicit content warning
10/14/22 • 33 min
In our latest "Earth Stories" episode, Bitter Southerner contributor Jessica Bradley Wells reads her sweet tale, "Where the Tupelo Grows." Since the 1800s (way before Van Morrison's hit "Tupelo Honey" or Peter Fonda starring in "Ulee's Gold,") locals in the panhandle of Florida have been harvesting our rare, sweet, and precious tupelo honey. So put in your earbuds and travel with Jessica to Wewahitchka, Florida, where the white tupelo tree grows and where beekeepers Gary Adkison and his wife, "Miss Pam," joyfully carry on the Tupelo tradition.
This story has it all — a Southern food staple, music, an important ecosystem, and even a Facebook romance. We love it and hope you'll listen!
To taste and savor some Tupelo Honey of your very own, visit Gary and Miss Pam’s website here:
www.blue-eyedgirlhoney.com/
Original Story
Credits
Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones
Produced by Ryan Engelberger
Engineered by Thomas Sully Allen and Morgan Snow
Featuring original music by Curt Castle
Recorded at Chase Park Transduction and Tweed Recording in Athens GA, and Charlotte Star Room in Charlotte, North Carolina
Made possible by the support of Southern Environmental Law Center
In our latest "Earth Stories" episode, Bitter Southerner contributor Jessica Bradley Wells reads her sweet tale, "Where the Tupelo Grows." Since the 1800s (way before Van Morrison's hit "Tupelo Honey" or Peter Fonda starring in "Ulee's Gold,") locals in the panhandle of Florida have been harvesting our rare, sweet, and precious tupelo honey. So put in your earbuds and travel with Jessica to Wewahitchka, Florida, where the white tupelo tree grows and where beekeepers Gary Adkison and his wife, "Miss Pam," joyfully carry on the Tupelo tradition.
This story has it all — a Southern food staple, music, an important ecosystem, and even a Facebook romance. We love it and hope you'll listen!
To taste and savor some Tupelo Honey of your very own, visit Gary and Miss Pam’s website here:
www.blue-eyedgirlhoney.com/
Original Story
Credits
Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones
Produced by Ryan Engelberger
Engineered by Thomas Sully Allen and Morgan Snow
Featuring original music by Curt Castle
Recorded at Chase Park Transduction and Tweed Recording in Athens GA, and Charlotte Star Room in Charlotte, North Carolina
Made possible by the support of Southern Environmental Law Center
Previous Episode
Ep 008 - Boyce Upholt : Down To The Tide Line
In Episode 8, writer Boyce Upholt notes, “There’s a lot of beauty and joy and wonder in the world. And of all the beautiful places in our country, the Southeastern coast is one of our most beloved and extraordinary.” Oh, how we love our beaches! Unfortunately, our coastlines are now some of the most at risk due to the accelerating impacts of climate change, sea level rise, intensifying storms, and flooding. In “Down To The Tide Line,” Boyce takes the long view of this ever changing place where the land meets the sea, reminding us that it’s by cosmic luck that we’ve wound up on a planet quite so beautiful. We hope you enjoy Boyce’s reading and conversation with our host, Kyle Tibbs Jones. This essay is great and the episode is short — only 30 minutes!
Note: we recorded our conversation with Boyce Upholt prior to Hurricane Ian roaring through Florida in September. And as we publish this episode, we are just beginning to assess the devastating destruction there. Our thoughts are with everyone in Fort Myers and the surrounding area who were impacted.
Boyce Upholt is a freelance writer living in New Orleans. He won the 2019 James Beard Award for investigative journalism, and his work has been noted in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series.
Original Story
Credits
Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones
Produced by Ryan Engelberger
Engineered by Thomas Sully Allen and Ben Lorio
Featuring original music by Curt Castle
Recorded at Tweed Recording in Athens GA, and Music Shed Studios in New Orleans, LA
Made possible by the support of the Southern Environmental Law Center
Next Episode
Ep 010 - Lolis Eric Elie : The Whys
Today, for our last episode in this BATCH of Earth Stories, we look back at one of the most monumental environmental disasters in American history. While many stories have been written about how New Orleans came back after Katrina, at The Bitter Southerner, we were interested in a deeper question: Why did the people of New Orleans come back and rebuild their city?
In episode 10, journalist and filmmaker, Lolis Eric Elie reads his piece “The Whys” - it’s as powerful as anything we’ve ever published, and we’re excited to share it on BATCH.
Among many other works, Lolis’ credits include working on the HBO series “Treme;” co- producing and writing the PBS documentary, “Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans,” as well as co-authoring “Rodney Scott’s World of Barbecue: Every Day’s a Good Day”
A quick content warning for those listening with children or anyone who may not want to hear this right now; this episode has unbleeped adult language as well as mentions of death and suicide.
Original Story
Credits
Hosted by Kyle Tibbs Jones
Produced by Ryan Engelberger
Engineered by Thomas Sully Allen and Mike Casentini
Featuring original music by Curt Castle
Recorded at Chase Park Transduction & Tweed Recording in Athens GA, and The Network Studios in Los Angeles, CA.
Made possible by the support of Southern Environmental Law Center
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