David R. Swartz, Professor of History at Asbury University, released his first podcast. “Rebel on Main“ is a seven-episode narrative audio series about Civil War memory. Featuring original music by Barry Blair, Professor of Audio Production at Asbury, the podcast tracks the evolution of memory through an analysis of memorials in a single Kentucky county, which is where Asbury University is located and where Swartz lives.
While the narrative includes Jessamine County’s Camp Nelson National Monument and local cemeteries, it concentrates most on the Confederate statue that stands on the courthouse lawn. It’s an unusual statue, one with a Confederate belt buckle and a Union hat, and as Swartz constructs its biography, he tries to figure out how it ended up wearing such a curious ensemble.
In two months time, “Rebel on Main” was downloaded 9,000 times and reached #34 in the Top Documentary category on Apple Podcasts.