Whether it's our music, food, literature or politics, we know that most of what's great in America can be traced back here to the South.

But of course we know, too, the South is no monolith.

Welcome to The Conversation, a newsletter from Reckon that digs into the vibrant richness and explores the highs and lows of the South through ideas, perspectives and people that you're not likely to find in other media.

John Hammontree, the host of the award-winning Reckon Interview podcast, curates the weekly newsletter for you with the same lens of thoughtfulness and examination that he brings to his show.

Explore with him the nuances of the South as he explains the Southern influences you can find in American culture, history and politics.

This newsletter isn't about explaining the South to people who have already made up their minds about us. It's about Southerners digging deeper to better understand ourselves and the place that we call home.

For example, we'll tell the stories of descendants of the Civil Rights' generations who are finding their voice through hip-hop. We'll examine efforts to take down confederate monuments and push back against the Lost Cause. And we'll dig into the pervasiveness of Southern evangelical culture despite a lack of biblical literacy.

In this newsletter, we'll move past cornbread and collards and skip the stories of overdone Southern cultural icons to get into the Southern roots of modern American culture that aren't obvious.

We already know the South is home to Marvel movies, Stephen Colbert, The Muppets and Stranger Things. Like you, we also know that Southern menus are a form of storytelling from Vietnamese crawfish in Houston to vegan food in Atlanta to white barbecue sauce in Alabama. We'll talk about the imprint these important institutions, subcultures and people are leaving on the South — and by extension — the entire country.

American culture starts down here. Want to be part of THAT conversation about the South? We do, too.

Sign up and let's talk about it.