"Why not put a statue of unity up here?
Hell, I don't care. Put SpongeBob up there, but something besides something that means something about hate. Take it down. Take it down. Make a new day.
Make our own history."
— Jeremiah
ABOUT
Cast in bronze, he clutches a rifle. His left foot thrusts forward. His eyes stare defiantly past the courthouse yard to the north.
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But this soldier with a Confederate belt buckle also wears a Union hat. He is not what he seems.
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Join historian David Swartz as he investigates the Confederate statue that stands in his hometown in Jessamine County, Kentucky.​ This long-form podcast chronicles the statue's bizarre biography—and the haunting story of the community that now decides its fate.
As anti-statue protests erupt in 2020, a colorful cast of characters emerges. A Black preacher-turned-activist. A sixteen-year-old homeschooler. An armed statue-defender. A local judge caught in the crossfire. 125 years after it was erected, this statue made of granite and bronze has flesh-and-blood implications.
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Over seven sound-rich episodes featuring first-person narration, deep historical and field research, and an original music score, find out what the statue's fate reveals about the soul of this divided southern community.
It's a monument to soldiers past, present, and future. It's not a monument to anything else.
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To move it is to say that we're ashamed of our past."
— Brandon
CREATOR
David R. Swartz is the writer and host. He is a professor of history at Asbury University and lives in Jessamine County, Kentucky.
PRODUCTION
Barry Blair, audio mixing and original music
Stephen Smith, story editing
Lisa Weaver Swartz, photography
Josh Smith, cover art
PARTNERS
