About the Episodes

Episode 1

In the first of a three-part series, Southern creators of literature, music and film explore deep ties to their native South: Billy Bob Thornton reflects on a life of writing songs and screenplays; Adia Victoria celebrates her music and marriage near Nashville; David Joy laments the disappearance of the Appalachian culture he loves; Jericho Brown reveals the South is essential to his creativity; and Mary Steenburgen remembers her Arkansas childhood in song.

Episode 2

Six of the South’s most influential creators take us home to the places that define them: Mississippi’s Angie Thomas writes to change young lives; Jason Isbell remembers his roots in Muscle Shoals while Amanda Shires invites us home to the Tennessee farm the couple shares; Michael Twitty uncovers his roots in Alabama; Lyle Lovett traces his love of stories back to his childhood; Qui Nguyen reveals the small town that showed him the power of personal stories.

Episode 3

In this third and final episode, some of the South’s most compelling and influential contemporary creators take us home to the places that fertilize the stories they tell in books, songs, poems and on screens large and small: Mississippi author Jesmyn Ward and poet Natasha Trethewey, Georgia screenwriter and series creator Michael Waldron, Arkansas songwriter Justin Moore, songwriter Tarriona “Tank” Ball from New Orleans, and Virginia songwriter Thao Nguyen.