Pawpaw Ain't Got Shorts

About this episode

The episode explores the experiences of a Southern summer in the 80s and 90s, highlighting food, activities, and cultural quirks.

Summer in the rural South wasn't a vacation. It was a system. You got dropped off at grandma's in the morning, ate something, went outside, came back in for more food, went back outside, and came in at dark. Every day. For three months. In this episode, the boys break down everything that made a Southern summer in the 80s and 90s what it was. The ice cream truck. The Little Hugs from the deep freeze. Cornbread and buttermilk for lunch. Watermelon on a newspaper. Magnolia grenade wars in the front yard. Driveway basketball where the only thing worse than missing a shot was losing the ball down the holler. Plus a long detour into pawpaw culture including the khakis, the coveralls, the missing fingers, the steadfast refusal to own a single pair of shorts, carry an umbrella, or learn to swim unless his life depended on it. This is a summer episode for anybody who spent their childhood with grass-stained knees, a belly full of hose-water, and a grandma who'd make you snap beans if you tried to come back inside.

People in this episode

Host: Matt Mitchell

Topics covered

• Southern summer
• childhood memories
• rural life
• food culture
• pawpaw culture
• nostalgia

Keywords

• Southern summer
• childhood
• food
• nostalgia
• pawpaw culture
• 80s
• 90s

Mentioned in this episode

Places: South

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