family – Snake & Tree

April 22, 2018

Review: William Gay’s Little Sister Death

William Gay could tell a story. Even a scary one. Especially a scary one.

April 13, 2018April 13, 2018

Calling Him Hitler

Last week, ICE officials raided a slaughterhouse in East Tennessee to detain nearly 100 workers.

March 24, 2018

A Mississippi miss will set you free

Ode to Southern women, the girls who’ve been whooping asses longer than anybody should have to.

March 11, 2018March 11, 2018

Sometimes, Evil Prevails: Dry County Economics

Liquor money is green as anybody’s.

February 12, 2018February 12, 2018

Meth Mouth

As if you needed to know the various ways policies have ignored the meth epidemic.

February 3, 2018February 3, 2018

Guilt, Shame & the Southern Imaginary

We can feel guilt or shame about our ancestors. Or we can drink a lot and get to work.

February 2, 2018February 2, 2018

Posted on The Baffler

DACA, undocumented-gay-boylesque-dancing Alabamans, and what Trump got wrong–per usual–in the State of the Union.

I’m Rachel, a jaded twenty-something English grad student looking to tell some stories. Currently based in Knoxville, Tennessee, born and bred in rural Alabama. Here you’ll find liberal political tirades, stories, book reviews, and folklore focused in on these lower Southeastern thirteen states.

The title “Snake and Tree” comes from the Alabama proverb that if you hang a dead snake in a tree it’ll bring rain. These stories are the snake. The rain is making peace with this broke South.