American podcasts with Southern accents?

November 3, 2014 8:18 AM

What podcasts feature speakers with Southern American accents? I love how these accents sound and want to listen to long stretches of people speaking with them. I'm from New England; the accents I'm thinking of are anything from the southeast US, West Virginia, Texas, and inbetween.

Preferred topics: Storytelling, history, health and medicine

Not preferred, rather avoid: Politics, sports, religion, angry debates

posted by cadge to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

Silas House has one of the great southern accents of all time, and this is his podcast.
posted by jbickers at 8:27 AM on November 3, 2014 [1 favorite]

If you can find audio clips of Shelby Foote, his voice is like Southern Comfort. He worked with Ken Burns on a history of the Civil War, so I'm sure there are lots of clips.
posted by effluvia at 8:29 AM on November 3, 2014 [2 favorites]

Would an audiobook fit your needs? There is one on Librivox called "A Short History of the United States" that is read by a woman in Georgia or South Carolina.
posted by soelo at 8:51 AM on November 3, 2014

I think you'd like Sawbones - it's sort of medical history storytelling/comedy, and the two hosts are from West Virginia. To my ear, both have pleasant, mild accents.
posted by insectosaurus at 8:54 AM on November 3, 2014

I think coldchef has been on the Mefi podcast at least once. He's got a lovely southern accent.
posted by mollymayhem at 8:57 AM on November 3, 2014

Sidewalk Radio with Gene Kansas out of Atlanta.
posted by whileseated at 9:04 AM on November 3, 2014

And BackStory.
posted by whileseated at 9:06 AM on November 3, 2014 [1 favorite]

Just One More Row is a knitting and spinning podcast by two women from Tennessee.
posted by dipping_sauce at 9:13 AM on November 3, 2014

Stuff You Missed in History Class is fun. I believe the hosts are from Georgia.
posted by zeptoweasel at 9:27 AM on November 3, 2014

"Jason Sims Puts You in Your Place" - "A series of conversations with creative people about how the places in their lives effect them and their work."
-Jason (from Huntsville, Alabama) was a regular caller on The Best Show on WFMU (Tom Scharpling often affectionately referred to him as "The Alabammy Comet"). I haven't gotten a chance to listen to much, but I guess it is sort of geographic, comedic personal history/story-telling. I'm pretty confident that it's good, based on his history as a regular caller on The Best Show. The drawl is strong with this one -- but I'm not sure how many of his guests are from the South.
posted by mean square error at 9:33 AM on November 3, 2014 [1 favorite]

My Brother, My Brother And Me -- one half of the Sawbones couple plus his two younger brothers -- is made up of West Virginians. Two of them no longer live in WV and all three have pretty mild accents that you might not pick up on unless you were very familiar with the South but I love listening to them!
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 9:54 AM on November 3, 2014

Find episodes of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me where Roy Blount is one of the panelists.
posted by matildaben at 9:59 AM on November 3, 2014

If parenting podcasts interest you (or don't repel you), one of the hosts of One Bad Mother is southern and has a pretty thick accent.
posted by pitrified at 10:07 AM on November 3, 2014

Tales from the South is a This American Life clone but with exclusively Southern stories.
posted by crazy with stars at 10:26 AM on November 3, 2014

I need to second Backstory. Three college history professors hailing from Virginia discuss American history through a topical lens. Each one specializes in a different century (18th, 19th, and 20th), and they use a series of stories, vignettes, and interviews with other academics and knowledgeable, articulate people to expound on a theme (cleanliness, political gridlock, food, holidays, war, etc.). Ed Ayers in particular has a delightful, Appalachian-tinged Southern accent.
posted by jeoc at 5:42 PM on November 3, 2014

Response by poster: These are wonderful! Thank you all for these suggestions!
posted by cadge at 10:04 PM on November 3, 2014

Virginian Vince Gilligan on the official Breaking Bad Insider podcast.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 8:15 AM on November 4, 2014

I'm from Philippi, West Virginia (though I've lived in London for the past 15 years), and you can hear me reading a chapter from Daniel Pinkwater's novel Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy From Mars in this episode of Pinkwater's podcast. However, as you will hear from that recording, not all West Virginians have Southern accents; it's really only the southern half of the state that has any identification with "the South," either cultural or linguistic. My hometown is closer to Pittsburgh than to any southern city.
posted by Perodicticus potto at 3:27 PM on November 6, 2014