On air online: Thursday, August 13 – Sunday, August 16
Guests:
Author: Tayari Jones – Kin – Motherless daughters coming of age in Honeysuckle, Louisiana
Debut #3 NY Times Fiction; Oprah Book Club; “… smart and funny and deftly profound.” —Ann Patchett
Music: Stephen Simmons – Hunch – New album from Nashville songwriter – finger-picking folk to rugged blues
Music: Chinese Connection Dub Embassy – Memphis-based soul reggae – Tyrant!
Hosts: Jim Dees with Paul Tate and the Yalobushwhackers with guest vocalist Melissa Dunnam
Photos: Bruce Newman
Recorded 3-19-26 at Off Square Books, Oxford, MS
Airtimes:
Thursday, August 13 – 8 am (CT) WYXR 91.7 FM Memphis, TN.
Thursday, August 13 – 6 pm (CT) WUMS 92.1 University of Mississippi
Saturday, August 15
5 pm (CT) Mississippi Public Broadcasting
9 pm (CT) Alabama Public Radio
Sunday, August 16
2 pm (ET) WUTC 88.1 FM Chattanooga, TN
3 pm (ET) WUOT | 91.9 FM, Knoxville
2 pm (MT) KNCE 93.5 | Taos, New Mexico
6 pm (CT) Mississippi Public Broadcasting
One month archive: Thacker Mountain Radio Hour – WYXR | 91.7 FM | MEMPHIS
Tayari Jones is the author of Kin, (Knopf), an unforgettable story about two lifelong friends, motherless girls from rural Honeysuckle, Louisiana, whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.
It is a novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South.
“Triumphant.” – Publisher’s Weekly (Starred review)
“Kin is the kind of all-encompassing reading experience I’m always hoping to find: smart and funny and deftly profound. This is Tayari Jones’s very best work.” —Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake
Jones is the author of four novels including, An American Marriage, which was an Oprah’s Book Club selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s 2018 summer reading list.
The book earned an NAACP Image Award and has been published in two dozen countries.
Jones is the C.H. Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and lives in Atlanta.
Nashville singer-songwriter Stephen Simmons has wandered the wide landscape of American roots music, from contemplative country and finger-picked folk to rugged and ragged blues-rock.
On his 12th album, Hunch, released October 24, 2025, he hints at the thread that ties 20 years of ideas together. His additional recent releases include the singles, Chasing Headlights, Decorations Day and Early Rising Moon.
Simmons finished 2025 with a fall tour of the Netherlands and Germany. His 2006 album, Drink Ring Jesus, was reissued in first-time vinyl last year by UK label, Unspun Heroes.
The Memphis reggae/soul band, Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, was created by Omar, David & Joseph Higgins in 2010 combining hard hitting originals with their own Irie spin on reggae classics.
After the passing of their fellow band leader/brother Omar Higgins in 2019, Joseph and David continue the legacy and have added a Dancehall/Roots reggae approach.
Their recent singles include, People Power, Swing My Way, Stay Focused and Reflection (Running). Also available is a full-length album, Crew Vibez and a 5-song EP of covers, Farmers Market.
The band name is inspired by the Bruce Lee film, Chinese Connection.
