Author. Historian. Educator.
Selected Publications:
Forthcoming Book: Out of the Silence, Simon & Schuster, 2023.
Hot, Hot Chicken: A Nashville Story, Vanderbilt University Press, 2021.
“Owning Up.” Bitter Southerner. October 2020.
“Hoods in My Hymnal.” Oxford American. Summer 2020
“Let Me Tell You About Coal Creek,” Oxford American, Summer 2019.
“Some People Stay,” Oxford American, Spring 2019.
“The Utopian Colony Around Tennessee’s Oldest Library,” Failed Utopia, Catapult, March 2019.
“When You're the Last Remaining Member of a Failed Utopia,” Failed Utopia, Catapult, February 2019.
“The Cedars of Lebanon,” Bitter Southerner, June 2018.
“The Clinton 12,” US of America Magazine, February 2018.
“Cherisse Scott: Sex Ed Evangelist,” O: The Oprah Magazine, January 2018.
“The Truth Behind UNC Football’s Dark Confederate Past,” Ozy, November 2017.
“Making Eyes on the Prize, An Oral History,” The Ford Foundation, February 2017.
“Walking in Nashville,” CityLab, January 2017.
“Can Technology and a New Way of Teaching Help Ghana’s Schools?” The Kernel by the Daily Dot, June 2016.
“Salvaging Education in Rural America,” The Atlantic Online, January 2016.
“How Hot Chicken Really Happened,” Bitter Southerner, July 2015.
“Chasing Nashville’s Ghosts,” Narratively, April 2015.
“Swedish in a Southern Drawl,” Graze, April 2015.
"Swedish in a Southern Drawl," The Inquisitive Eater, February 2015.
“The Brave & Tragic Trail of Reverend Turner,” Narratively, January 2015.
“Casting Scarlett: Reflecting on ‘Gone with the Wind,’” O Say Can You See? Stories from the National Museum of American History, January 2014.
Media & Appearances:
Radio:
WXNA, “Arts & Activism on WXNA with Ariel Bui & Rachel Martin, Writer & Historian,” Hello Hurray. 2018.
BBC World Service, “Hot Chicken & Race: A Nashville Debate,” The Food Chain. 2017. (Interview begins at 6:05)
Progressive Voices, “Salvaging Education in Rural America,” The Michelle Meow Show. 2016.
KCRW, “The Story of Nashville Hot Chicken,” Good Food. 2015. (Interview begins at 10:40)
Lectures & Roundtables:
Panelist, Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Lecture Series, 2021.
Presenter, Southern Festival of Books, 2021.
Presenter, Robert Penn Warren Center, 2021.
Host, Oxford American’s Landmark Sessions with Amythyst Kiah, 2020.
Invited Lecturer, Belmont University Humanities Symposium, 2020.
Panelist, American Historical Association, 2020.
Invited Lecturer, "Scientific Ethics, Race & History," The Westminster Schools, 2019.
2018 OAH Annual Meeting, “What Does It Mean To Be a Writer With a PhD? Narrative Challenges in the Writing of History." 2018.
Invited Lecturer, "Scientific Ethics, Race & History," The Westminster Schools, 2018.
Women’s March 2.0, “Hearing Voices: Harnessing Stories for Change” in “Practical Artivism—Artists Explore Activism/Activists Get Creative.” 2018.
Closing remarks. Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event. 2013.
Moderator. Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Signature Event. “Commemoration & Memorialization.” 2013.
Chair, Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series, “Capstone Panel: History & Truth, Reconciliation & Justice,” 2012.
New Perspectives on African American History & Culture, “Casting the Mythology: Remembering the Twelve Students Who Desegregated Clinton, TN, High School,” 2011.
Stanford L. Warren Public Library Lecture Series, “Voices of Hayti: A Community Remembered,” 2009.
Oral History Association Annual Meeting, “Powerful Memories: Using Oral Histories in the Commemoration of the Desegregation of Clinton, Tennessee, High School,” 2009.
Triangle African American History Colloquium, “Memory & Black History,” 2009.
Fellowships & Awards:
Nonfiction Scholar, Mendocino Coast Writer’s Conference, 2018.
Included in Cornbread Nation 2015: The Best of Southern Food Writing.
The Five College Program for Crossroads in the Study of the America’s Fellowship, 2011-2012.
Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow, 2010-2011.
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, University Research Fellow, 2010.
The Center for the Study of the American South Summer Research Grant, 2009.