...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat as they continue to travel the highways and byways of Arkansas in search of the best of Arkansas history, culture, and (most importantly) food.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat on their latest adventure travelling and eating across the state of Arkansas.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat on the morning after the third annual Arkansas Food Hall of Fame induction event. They carry on about how hard it is to be on the selection committee and all the wonderful food they get to eat and nice people they get to meet and try to make people feel sorry for them, contrast the red-carpet experience at the …

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott sits down with Matt DeCample to talk about growing up in Southwest Little Rock, what he hopes to see change as a newly elected mayor, and the unique path he took from being a shy child to an outspoken public speaker and politician.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about the recently released list of the 2019 finalists for induction into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame and talk about where to get great fried chicken, famous sons of Fordyce, how Rex certainly did not buy dirty books at a newsstand known for such, how classic restaurants and cafes got started, where to get t…

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about their sojourn in western Arkansas (part two), starting up Rich Mountain on a cold afternoon. And being dazzled by the drive up the mountain and rapidly dropping temperatures, checking in at the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism's wonderful Queen Wilhelmina Lodge, admiring Lum and Abner at theDepot …

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about their sojourn in western Arkansas (part one), starting at Texarkana and heading north. And admiring four beautiful lakes, checking out the museum at Ashdown, pondering the origins of the name De Queen and admiring cool things going on there, humoring Rex's sore feelings about a football state championship…

In a special edition of Primary Sources, James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, speaks about his book Our Towns, a vivid, surprising portrait of the civic and economic reinvention taking place in America, town by town and generally out of view of the national media.” This CALS’ J.N. Heiskell Distinguished Lecture for journalism too…

...in which Rex and Paul offer end-of-summer musings, describe their recent farm-to-table expeditions, and discuss Paul's award-winning pig from 4H days. Rex utters the oddest statement in the history of Chewing the Fat in reference to eating, "We had had enough,"" as the boys celebrate dining experiences at Greers Ferry Lake, Palestine, Des Arc, D…

From 1959 to 1961, George McKinney helped lead the Arkansas Razorbacks to three shared or outright Southwest Conference championships in football, getting new Coach Frank Broyles off to a good start. He sat down with a teammate from his freshman year, U.S. District Judge Billy R. Wilson, to recall some of the great moments in Arkansas sports histor…

Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward discusses the present and future state of Arkansas's biggest industry, how his time in the Marines has helped him as a leader, and about growing up in Lake City, Arkansas.

Outgoing Associated Press Bureau Chief Kelly Kissel talks with Matt DeCample about 24 years of covering Arkansas people and politics.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about Paul's retirement and the rigorous schedule he keeps now that he doesn't have to bother with going to work, their World Tour of Arkansas, going around spreading glad tidings of Chewing the Fat at various civic organizations, universities, and other unsuspecting audiences, Rex's tips on how to avoid being …

Matt DeCample has conversations with three authors featured at the 2018 Arkansas Literary Festival: Carmen Boullosa, author of seven volumes of poetry, two books of essays, ten plays, and eighteen novels, including "La otra mano de Lepanto" which has been deemed among the top works of literature written in Spanish in the last twenty-five years; Kor…

Matt DeCample has conversations with four authors featured at the 2018 Arkansas Literary Festival: Bill Worthen, co-author of "A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America"; Laverne Bell-Tolliver, associate professor at the UA Little Rock's School of Social Work and the author of "The First Twenty-Five: An Oral History of the Desegregation of Little …

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about the woes of trying to lose weight while upholding the finest traditions of Chewing the Fat, relive a great trip to Southeast Arkansas and Arkansas City with notorious history professor Tom DeBlack, report on Arkansas's rapid rise as a bicycling state of national importance, recall their latest terrifying …

Arkansas Department of Health Director Nate Smith sits down with Matt DeCample to discuss how his work as a Kenyan medical missionary shaped his approach to public health, this year's rough flu season, and the impact the opioid epidemic continues to have on Arkansas and the nation.

From the 2007 Ira Sanders Distinguished Lecture, Dr. James H. Cone dicusses the Central High Crisis and it's effect on his development of Black Liberation Theology.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about travelling Highway 7, the Hollis County Store, Blytheville barbecue, independent bookstores in Arkansas, the resurgence of Wilson, Arkansas, and more.

Dr. Billie Jean Calloway discusses growing up in Jonesboro, Arkansas and her time as an educator duringintegration.

Willie Booker, Jr., describes growing up in the delta and his experience in the segregated education system. He also discusses his time as a county extension agent and his civic activities.

A conversation with Vietnam veteran Randall Aragon, lieutenant, and later captain, with the 551st Transportation Company. His unit was responsible for stevedore operations and port security at Newport Army Terminal, near Saigon.

An immigrant from Nicaragua by way of Canada, Yolanda Amaya works with the Hispanic community in Arkansas assisting with translation services. among other things. She describes the changes she has seen in the Hispanic communities of Arkansas and difficulties they face.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat on an epic trek across Arkansas on State Highway 7. The only state-maintained roadway that runs completely across Arkansas, Highway 7 starts in the bottom lands on the Arkansas-Louisiana line and ends at Bull Shoals Lake, which sits astride the Arkansas-Missouri line, and cuts through four of the state's six di…

Arkansas native Al Bell is considered the driving force behind Stax Records as a producer, songwriter, and executive during the company’s most productive period, from 1965 to 1975. He was responsible for promoting the careers of such talent as the Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, and Otis Redding, among many others.…

James R. Blaylock enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in January 1948 at the age of seventeen. He served in the Korean War as a gunner in a machine gun platoon. He participated in the Inchon Landing and the subsequent recapturing of Seoul as well as in action at the Chosin Reservoir. Here Blaylock talks about his experiences with Brian Robertson, …

Vietnam War veteran Eddie Odle talks to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Research Services Division Manager Brian Robertson. Mr. Odle discusses his service as a rifleman in the Marines, including a year spent near the Demilitarized Zone.

Eddie Pannell, a Vietnam War veteran who joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967, talks to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Research Services Division Manager Brian Robertson. Mr. Pannell details his experience as an interpreter who assisted South Vietnamese civilians with medical treatment, infrastructure growth, and other humanitarian missions…

Traci Berry, organizer of the annual Raid the Rock Adventure Race, talks with David Stricklin about the challenges and rewards of competing in and organizing expedition races.

This week's Primary Sources podcast features Booker Worthen prize winner Kenneth C. Barnes speaking with the Butler Center's Director David Stricklin about Barnes's new book, "Anti-Catholicism in Arkansas: How Politicians, the Press, the Klan, and Religious Leaders Imagined an Enemy, 1910-1960". Barnes is a professor of history at the University of…

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about Paul's funeral duty and the pleasures of Piggott, Arkansas.

Mark Christ, Outreach Director for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, talks with Matt DeCample about the Arkansas World War I Commemoration Committee and how Arkansans dealt with the war effort a hundred years ago.

James Mitchell, a Vietnam veteran who joined the U.S. Navy in 1967, talks to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Research Services Division Manager Brian Robertson. Mr. Mitchell details his experience as a Navy corpsman.

Charles Stewart sits with Matt Decample to talk about how growing up in a large family help shaped his character, how he started the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, and how they are celebrating the Hall's 25th anniversary.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about Paul's Rotary Club talk at the Church of Christ in Wynne and how he had to change his talk when he realized it was going to be at the church, Paul's mother's elderberry jelly, the difficulties of picking elderberries, the need to go to the Mayhaw Festival in El Dorado and Chocolate Roll Festival in Searcy…

Students from Central High Memory Project and City of Little Rock youth radio interns interview Robin Woods Loucks about her experience offering to share her Algebra textbook with Terrence Roberts, on the Little Rock Nine's first day to attend classes at Central in September 1957. The Memory Project Team, sponsored by CALS Butler Center for Arkansa…

This week on Primary Sources, we've dug through our archives to present an interview with curator, author, and historian Delphine Hirasuna. She is the author of "The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946". She curated a traveling exhibition of the same name in 2010, which toured throughout the United St…

Matt DeCample chats with Little Rock native Jeff Nichols, the writer and director of several critically-acclaimed films ("Mud", "Taking Shelter", "Midnight Special", and "Loving") about growing up in Little Rock, his entrance into the film industry, and the Arkansas Cinema Society.

Judge Reinhold chats with Matt DeCample about starting his acting career to impress a girl and how a warehouse dinner theater in Florida prepared him for Hollywood. He shares behind-the-scenes stories about his roles in "Stripes", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Beverly Hills Cop", and "Ruthless People", and discusses what it was like to be a gues…

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about the fact that Paul is from Imdoden, setting a new Chewing the Fat record—nine seconds—for earliest mention, the Hope Watermelon Festival, the Hempstead County sheriff's otherworldly victory in the watermelon-eating contest, how the boys turned down the offer of a free 150-pounder, despite the generous off…

The Memory Project at Little Rock Central High is a student-led effort to preserve, and share oral history of civil and human rights. For the 60th anniversary of the 1957 Central High Desegregation Crisis, the Memory Project students have produced an audio walking tour recounting the events of September 4th, 1957: the historic first attempt by the …

Arkansas State University History Professor Sarah Wilkerson Freeman sits with Matt DeCample to talk about The Art of Injustice, a show she is curating at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies through the end of the year. Injustice focuses on the WWII Japanese internment camps in Southeast Arkansas and the art that shared the experiences of those w…

Sally Mengel tells Matt DeCample the origin story of Loblolly Creamery and why she thinks it has grown so quickly. She also explains why vanilla ice cream has an unfair reputation as a "basic" flavor.

Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Gretchen Hall sits down with Matt DeCample to discuss how being a student athlete prepared her for a career in tourism, how she helps sell Little Rock to the world, and the city's potential to someday hos a national table-tennis tournament.

...in which Rex and Paul continue chewing the fat about the PurpleHull Pea Festival in Emerson and related fun with motorized tillers, Keeney's Food Market in Malvern and its legendary sausage biscuits, Rex's embarrassing hat, the nervous hospital, Esau's corn, the boys' disappointment at not being the grand marshals for the PurpleHull pea-rade, ho…

Preservation Arkansas Executive Director Rachel Silva-Patton talks with Matt DeCample about her career in Arkansas history, the economic potential that preservation holds for communities throughout the state, and shares the scandalous tale of the Villa Marre.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about the PurpleHull Pea Festival in Emerson and related fun with motorized tillers, Keeney's Food Market in Malvern and its legendary sausage biscuits, Rex's embarrassing hat, the nervous hospital, Esau's corn, the boys' disappointment at not being the grand marshals for the PurpleHull pea-rade, how they picke…

Encyclopedia of Arkansas author Bick Satterfield interviews Capi Peck, owner of Trio's Restaurant and Little Rock City Director for Ward 4. Capi's grandparents were the legendary Sam and Henrietta Peck, who owned the Hotel Sam Peck in Little Rock from the 1930s through the 1970s. This episode focuses on Capi's memories growing up in the hotel, her …

Pulaski County Treasurer Debra Buckner talks with Matt DeCample about being a woman in banking during the 80's and 90's, becoming an elected official, and shares stories of showing up on doorsteps to collect back taxes.

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about their trip to the Delta Regional Council in Cleveland, Mississippi, about the fact that there's more Delta in Arkansas than there is in Mississippi, Sonny Perdue, Rex's troubling lack of seersucker and wholly inadequate headware, the Biscoe IGA and its famous sausage biscuits and meat counter, the charms …