by Alex Thiel
Beau York (left) and Chellese Hall (right) are the hosts of a new Podastery Studios podcast, “Red Flag,” which aims to create discussion around the Mississippi state flag. Photo by Stephen Wilson
When Podastery owner Beau York travels outside of Mississippi for speaking gigs and industry events, he often finds himself being a spokesperson for his home state on the national podcast scene.
"Whenever I go anywhere, Mississippi follows me," he says. "I was down in New Orleans for Entrepreneur Week last year, and they had all the flags for where the different speakers were from. When I realized this was the situation, I started having a panic attack, walking through and wondering if they actually put our flag up. They, of course, did not.
"That's frustrating because I think very highly of Mississippi in terms of the people here, the opportunity that's in Mississippi, ... (but) we have this history that's embodied in our flag that is both painful and a poor representation of who Mississippi is today."
York's Podastery Studios on North State Street oversees production of several niche podcasts, including "Let's Talk Jackson," "Truth's Table" and the pipe-tobacco-centric "Country Squire Radio." But his latest podcast will tackle something a little different: the Mississippi flag. York, along with co-host Chellese Hall, envision the podcast, "Red Flag," as an opportunity to share the complicated story of the state flag and its history with a broader audience.
"I'm a firm believer in the power of the medium, the power of podcasting and how it's been able to impact people's lives and thinking," York says.
Instead of following the typical week-to-week release schedule of Podastery's other shows, "Red Flag" will be a miniseries that the studio releases in its entirety later this year. Podastery is currently raising funds to complete the project, but supporters can sign up for updates and download the first episode now.
"The first half of the series is very much a history lesson but (centered on) the flag itself," York says. "The second half is much more about today. We actually started out telling the story of how we're changing the flag, ... (but) we needed to, from a storytelling standpoint, first ask the question, 'Should the flag change?'"
York says that he supports the Laurin Stennis flag proposal but wants any new flag that Mississippi adopts to "focus on where we're going, as opposed to where we have been."
"I'm not trying to erase our history," he says, "but there's a difference in remembering our history and idolizing our history, especially when it's a pretty messed-up history."
For more information, visit redflagpod.com or find Podastery Studios on Facebook.
"That's frustrating because I think very highly of Mississippi in terms of the people here, the opportunity that's in Mississippi, ... (but) we have this history that's embodied in our flag that is both painful and a poor representation of who Mississippi is today."
York's Podastery Studios on North State Street oversees production of several niche podcasts, including "Let's Talk Jackson," "Truth's Table" and the pipe-tobacco-centric "Country Squire Radio." But his latest podcast will tackle something a little different: the Mississippi flag. York, along with co-host Chellese Hall, envision the podcast, "Red Flag," as an opportunity to share the complicated story of the state flag and its history with a broader audience.
"I'm a firm believer in the power of the medium, the power of podcasting and how it's been able to impact people's lives and thinking," York says.
Instead of following the typical week-to-week release schedule of Podastery's other shows, "Red Flag" will be a miniseries that the studio releases in its entirety later this year. Podastery is currently raising funds to complete the project, but supporters can sign up for updates and download the first episode now.
"The first half of the series is very much a history lesson but (centered on) the flag itself," York says. "The second half is much more about today. We actually started out telling the story of how we're changing the flag, ... (but) we needed to, from a storytelling standpoint, first ask the question, 'Should the flag change?'"
York says that he supports the Laurin Stennis flag proposal but wants any new flag that Mississippi adopts to "focus on where we're going, as opposed to where we have been."
"I'm not trying to erase our history," he says, "but there's a difference in remembering our history and idolizing our history, especially when it's a pretty messed-up history."
For more information, visit redflagpod.com or find Podastery Studios on Facebook.
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