After eight years and more than 200 episodes, American Rambler is wrapping things up. This might not be the end of Colin's podcasting career, but this podcast is ending. Colin wants to thank everyone who has listened over the years and the guests who have appeared on the show. He also gives shout-outs to podcasts he currently enjoys if you want some recommendations.

Thanks for your support, and good luck in 2024. We're gonna need it! 

Billy Don Burns is an Outlaw Country legend. Born and raised in Arkansas, he has crisscrossed the country repeatedly over the years. He just got back from Ireland, and he has a new album out, I've Seen a Lot of Highway, which chronicles decades of heavy touring and drugging, drinking, and "kicking ass." A survivor of bad bar fights, an 18 month prison stretch, and six marriages, he turned 74 this year. Has he changed from the hellraiser he once was? You decide. Along the way, Billy Don talks about working with Shooter Jennings and the late Mack Vickery as well as encounters with Waylon Jennings and Jerry Lee Lewis.

You can buy the album here: https://found.ee/bdbhighway

To check out tour dates, BDB merch, and other music: https://www.billydonburns.net/

Robert Mann returns to the podcast to talk about his latest book, Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU. Long--known as "The Kingfish" after a character from the popular radio show Amos 'n' Andy--was the governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and then senator until his death in 1935 (a fact that did not stop him from effectively being governor while serving as senator). In the seven years in which he had a virtual dictatorship, he accomplished a lot, perhaps no more so than he did at LSU. 

Long brought LSU into the ranks of modern southern colleges. For better or worse, it was Huey Long that made LSU what it is now: a football powerhouse with good academic departments. He also added to the state's odd and colorful history with his antics. As he did with everything, Long bent the law to his will so long as a pet project benefited. During Long's tenure, LSU grew considerably.

LSU has changed quite a bit from the 1930s. But in other ways, it has not. Bob and Colin talk about what Long did, how it created a distinct LSU culture, and why Long might be saddened by what the university has become today.  

Buy Bob's book here!

Dewar MacLeod is a Californian by way of Canada. He teaches in New Jersey now, but he grew up in L.A. in the 60s and 70s. And it was a 1969 album--the Who's rock opera Tommy--that blew his mind. In his latest book, Tommy, Trauma, and Postwar Youth Culture, he looks at what Tommy meant for the 60s, composer Pete Townshend, and the legions of Who fans who continue to love it to this day.

A double album that put the Who into the ranks of premier rock bands, Tommy is a story of a "deaf, dumb, and blind boy" who goes on a spiritual journey. Along the way, he meets unsavory characters such as Cousin Kevin, Uncle Ernie, and the Acid Queen before achieving enlightenment and starting his own religion full of rebellious followers. 

Tommy was not only a smash record, it became transcendent when the Who played it live. It also inspired a memorable, albeit over-the-top 1975 Ken Russell film and a Broadway and London musical. Pete Townshend has talked about the album often since it came out. But why did he not want to talk to Dewar about it? And how consistent are Pete's takes on is own songs? Should we trust what Pete has had to say? And what does the album tell us about his own trauma and that of his generation?

Dewar takes on many complex themes in his book. But then again, Tommy is a complex album. While bands don't often do double album rock operas anymore, Tommy addresses issues that are still relevant in the 21st century. In a world facing existential threats (as always?), aren't we all a little traumatized by now? So, put on your headphones and prepare for a true Amazing Journey!    

J. P. Miller is an Atlanta-based writer of numerous books for young readers. As she tells Colin, she served in the military for many years before joining the forest service. Eventually, she decided she wanted to write fulltime. She hasn't regretted that decision. And she's been prolific, penning titles in the Leaders Like Us and Black Lives Matters series. Her latest book is about Juneteenth, and she has another one coming out soon on HBCUs. She and Colin talk about her path to writing, her discipline, and some hard lessons she's learned about publishing along the way.

Order her book on Juneteenth! 

https://www.amazon.com/Juneteenth-Pogo-Books-Holiday-History/dp/B0BY17HFCG/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2BVULRJGAHOHD&keywords=juneteenth+j.+p.+miller&qid=1688928220&sprefix=juneteenth+j.+p.+miller%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-3

Chris Graham returns to the podcast to talk about his new (and first) book, Faith, Race, and the Lost Cause: Confessions of a Southern Church. His book looks at the history of St. Paul's in Richmond. The church became famous for being where two prominent Confederates--Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis--worshipped during the Civil War. In the latter years of the 19th century, the church became a centerpiece of the Lost Cause in Richmond. 

Before the civil rights movement swept the South in the post-WWII era, St. Paul's was a conservative place that believed--as did most of the South--in paternalism and the wisdom of Jim Crow society. Even more progressive movements, like the Social Gospel of the 1920s, failed to make a dent in the church's racial attitudes.

By the late-60s, though, Richmond's politics and racial demographics had changed significantly. St. Paul's finally began to break down barriers between the races, though the struggle continues to this day. Dr. Graham's book is a result of the church reckoning with its past, and Faith, Race, and the Lost Cause is a timely book that addresses issues made only more important in the wake of the Black Lives Matter and the removal of Civil War monuments in Richmond.  

John C. Rodrigue returns!

John is a professor of history at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, where he has been since 2007. He was one of Colin's professors at LSU when they were both in Baton Rouge in the early 2000s. John's new book is Freedom's Crescent: The Civil War and the Destruction of Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley (Cambridge University Press). It's John's third book.

Influenced by everything from Eugene Genovese to Timothy Snyder's book on Eastern Europe, Bloodlands, Freedom's Crescent looks at the process whereby the Union went from freeing (some) slaves via the Emancipation Proclamation to the eradication of slavery through the 13th Amendment. As John makes clear, it was a complicated and frustrating process.

Building on work of Armstead Robinson, James Oakes, and Michael Vorenberg, John provides a detailed look at how Union commanders and politicians grappled with thorny military, political, and constitutional issues in the western theater of operations. Historians have written many books about slaves fleeing to Union lines and thus "emancipating themselves." But what happened when the Union army came to them, and how did this affect the North's ability to maintain the loyalty of former slaveholders?

Colin and John also talk about the state of the history profession generally, wondering whether it makes sense for undergraduates to pursue a Ph.D. in history these days. 

Buy John's book here!

https://www.amazon.com/Freedoms-Crescent-Cambridge-Studies-American/dp/1108439349/ref=sr_1_1?crid=W5WEZTCUCD03&keywords=freedom%27s+crescent&qid=1679492796&sprefix=freedom%27s+crescent%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-1

Greg Wells is a hustler. The owner of Records and Relics in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond, he's been buying and selling vinyl for a long time. As he tells Colin, he sold sold records at antique stores, vinyl shows, and on Ebay before he decided to get his own place.

Greg has been in Richmond for over 25 years, and he's seen the city change quite a bit. But he's always been devoted to vinyl. Now he's the owner of a thriving business in a neighborhood humming with coffee shops, bars, and restaurants.

An in-store podcast, Greg walks Colin through the process of setting up a small business, dealing with Covid, and not becoming a "record store guy" cliche. 

So, stop by the shop! Records and Relics is open Friday-Sunday, 12-5. Used vinyl only, but Greg is open to buying and trades. You can follow the store here:

https://www.facebook.com/recordsandrelicsrva

https://www.instagram.com/recordsandrelicsrva/?hl=en