Rebel on Main

This is not just a "good" podcast. It is a necessary one. An absolute critical part of the cultural conversation that must be engaged on a local level and the national stage. This is the root of so much of the wrong, dare I say, evil in the heart of our country; a celebration of a revised history and the burial of true history. I do not want to give away any part of this podcast, suffice it to say, listen to the WHOLE thing. Do not stop because you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with someone being interviewed or the direction of an episode. Do not assume that you know or understand what is happening or turn it off because it gets uncomfortable. Listen to it, in its entirety, and sit with what you have learned. If you are local to the Kentucky Bluegrass, buckle up. What may be a very interesting and enlightening podcast to the general public is something very different to those of us who live here. While I was aware of some of the historical contexts that David explores, the breadth and width of what he presents absolutely changes the way you will see, hear, and understand our county and its people. I promise, you will not be able to drive south on 27 again without profound contemplation. I finished the final episode this morning and I am left wanting. Wanting to do something? Wanting to understand more? Wanting to tell the stories that have been buried and to right the wrongs that have been done? Thank you for this raw, real, and relevant podcast and for being willing to engage with this uncomfortable reality of real history and truth-telling.

This thoughtful podcast about a civil war monument honoring confederate soldiers on a Kentucky courthouse lawn is a useful counterattack to the Lost Cause false history that was taught so long in American schools following reconstruction, but it’s more. It also gives a sense of how history was and is manipulated by politicians to divide voters and gain power. It examines arguments about how history is remembered and what is left out from our American experience. This is a thoughtful and respectful series. I hope Kentucky educators will use this podcast to prompt an examination of their own local county history with slavery, reconstruction, and the 1960s civil rights act. It is especially relevant now that the MAGA backlash to the civil rights movement once again wants to erase black history and promote a false white Christian nationalism agenda.

As a former resident of Nicholasville, I had reason to be interested, but this podcast went way beyond my expectations. Carefully researched, thoughtfully written and impressively produced, I'm so thankful for its contribution to our national conversation. I hope it gets a wide hearing.

I am not from Kentucky, but I loved how Rebel on Main gave me a model of what it might look like to bring change in other places. We need more history not less. And we need nuanced history that goes deeper to get at the truth. It’s sad to see how our early compromises following the civil war enabled white supremacy to stay so rooted in our country. I hope too the statue will one day come down and be moved!