The Turf of Hankering

The title of this program is taken from one of Joseph Bathanti’s essays, which traces his journey of 20 years, literally and spiritually, from growing up in a large, northern city to becoming a citizen of the rural South. Bathanti reads from his essay, looking at the phenomenon of place and ideology in a writer’s life and that time-honored, often comical, conflict between so-called Yankees and Southerners.