Hey, it's NPR's book at the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Listen, I'm from Brooklyn, and I will be

the first to tell you that when it comes to their standing in, you know, like American culture,

New Yorkers can be arrogant, condescending even. Journalists Cynthia Tucker and Fry

Gileard are not from New York. They're from different parts of the South.

And they've got a book out that makes the argument that the South is the true carrier of American identity.

It's called the Southernization of America, a story of democracy and the balance.

And in this interview with NPR's Deb Elliott, they're not just like rah-rah, chest-pumping cheerleaders for the South.

They're clear-eyed about the South's racism and history and the myths that so many people are trying to cling to.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

The South shapes the nation's political and cultural landscape for good and bad,

according to a new book from journalist Cynthia Tucker and Fry Gilliard.

It's called The Southernization of America, a story of democracy in the balance.

Cynthia Tucker is a syndicated columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner

as former editorial page editor at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Welcome. Thank you.

Historian Frye Gileard is author in residence at the University of South Alabama in Mobile,

and he's also with us. Welcome. Thank you. So let's start with the

concept for this book. You took your inspiration from a book another Southern journalist wrote back

...