The Bulwark Podcast Wright Thompson: The Ghosts of Mississippi
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Jan 16, 2026 Wright Thompson, a senior writer for ESPN and author of 'The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi,' dives into the unsettling history of Emmett Till's murder and the ongoing efforts to erase it from public consciousness. He reflects on Mississippi's past, discusses the parallels between historical and modern political violence, and critiques personal and systemic silences. Additionally, Thompson ranks the best SEC college towns and shares memories of Bob Weir, blending history with culture in an engaging and thought-provoking way.
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Local Grid, National Story
- Mississippi's history and economy are shaped by centuries of land policy and commodity dependence, concentrating power and decline into small places.
- Wright Thompson shows how one 36-square-mile grid reveals national patterns of credit, politics, and racial violence.
Author Didn't Know Emmett Till
- Wright Thompson admits he didn't know who Emmett Till was despite growing up 23 miles from the barn where Till was killed.
- He finds the local silence and erasure around the murder baffling and personally infuriating.
Witness Rebuilt Life Under New Name
- Willie Reed (later Willie Lewis) fled Mississippi after witnessing the murder and rebuilt a life under a new name in Chicago.
- When asked to revisit the case decades later, he returned and found nearly all traces of his old life gone except the barn.
