top of page

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.

​

bottom of page